BCS Rankings: Where USC Would Be If Trojans Weren't Banned from Postseason

If perfect justice existed, college football would be unrecognizable compared to where it is today.

Side by side with the travesty that is the BCS is the NCAA.  Because of the dishonest recruitment of a player that left years ago and a coach that’s long gone, the NCAA placed a two-year ban on the USC Trojans football team. 

I don’t believe in karma, but if I did, Lane Kiffin had it coming to him.  Matt Barkley and the vast majority of the Trojans’ players didn’t, though.  This 2011-2012 USC squad is a talented one, and it should be in position to win the Rose Bowl, not watch it.

If the Trojans weren’t on a postseason ban, they would’ve played in the Pac-12 title game.  Because of the ban, UCLA, a team USC had massacred 50-0 the week before, held the opportunity to face off against Oregon instead.  LaMichael James rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-31 Ducks victory.

While Oregon looked impressive, it’s pretty safe to say that the scoreboard would’ve looked quite different if the Trojans took the field instead of the Bruins.  USC woke the Ducks up from their national championship dreams, upsetting Chip Kelly’s ballclub 38-35 on November 19^th.  No reason exists to doubt that the Trojans could’ve roasted the Ducks again.

Continuing on this what-could’ve-been rant, what if the refs gave USC that one second to kick a 50-yard field goal and knock off Stanford in regulation in late October?  All of a sudden, the Trojans would have only a loss to Arizona State on their resume.  With wins against the Cardinal and two against the Ducks, the Trojans wouldn’t be preparing for the Rose Bowl; they’d be pitching their case for a national title bid.

If perfect justice existed, USC may just be slotted for a matchup with LSU on January 9^th.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer. Follow him on Twitter.