Another Year Without a Bowl at USC
Reggie Bush hasn’t carried a football for Southern California in well over five years. Yet his impact is still being felt today and it’s not positive. For the second year in a row, USC could go undefeated, finish first in their conference and roll through the rest of the country and they still won’t make a bowl game. Year two of a two year postseason ban is in effect, one that has crippled a once proud university, at least in the minds of the public.
Southern Cal is still recruiting, still practicing and still playing games. They are not literally crippled as a program. However, the once evil empire of college football is now nothing but an afterthought for the average fan. How quickly things move these days. Just a few seasons ago, USC would be the first school at someone’s lips when asked about the best teams in the country. Now, Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon and even Boise State would come well before anyone mentioned the Trojans.
The hardest part to swallow is that this is not the fault of anyone currently involved with the team. The coach is new, the players are new, the violations stemmed from individuals who no longer work for or play for the university: a detrimental yet perhaps unavoidable peril of NCAA punishments. There is no way for the NCAA to catch these things as they are happening or even within the next year. Not enough evidence will exist at that point. Years down the road, in USC and Reggie Bush’s case, is how long it takes for people to come forward, evidence to become available and foots to be put down.
This is not to say USC is doomed. Although they cannot make the inaugural Pac-12 title or a bowl game, it is conceivable the rest of the season could be quite successful. Led by Heisman hopeful Matt Barkley, USC is a talented bunch ready to play, perhaps with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder for everyone forgetting about them, for the NCAA punishing those not involved, for Pete Carroll and for their once beloved son Reggie Bush.
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