It's pass or fail for USC in 2015
USC is, obviously, back. A Pac-12 and national title contender. Talent-laden. Glittering. Cool. Fight on.
Ohio State? The SEC? Those are touted entities with whom the Trojans pick their teeth. The Buckeyes have lost seven in a row to USC, last beating the Trojans in 1973. The Trojans are 21-11-1 all-time against the SEC and are winners of four in a row in that unfortunately sporadic series, last losing to an SEC team in 1986. Out West, the belief is the SEC won seven consecutive BCS national titles because of its uncanny and often serendipitous ability to avoid playing USC.
And yet this all seems strangely familiar, including an impulse to tweak other national powers about USC's supposed return to relevance.
It happened in 2012, when USC quarterback Matt Barkley shocked many when he decided to return for his senior year. There was gushing about 19 starters returning from a team that finished 10-2 and finished the previous season ranked No. 6. There was seemingly talent everywhere, but Barkley was the linchpin.
The hyperbole concerning USC's resurgence was fairly common across the country, seeing that the Trojans were No. 1 in the preseason AP poll. For our purposes now, 2012 has little to do with this year, other than all fourth- and fifth-year Trojans surely wincing every time it's brought up. But recalling that bedraggled, fractured crew trudging off the field after being embarrassed by Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl to finish 7-6 invites some justifiable skepticism in present day.
Fool me once, shame on you.Fool me twice, shame on me.
Is it enough to say there are only middle seats remaining on the USC bandwagon? Is it OK to sit this one out at least until Oct. 1, by which time the Trojans will have played Stanford and Arizona State, a pair of nationally ranked teams? Can we at least wait until USC accomplishes something before we crown their, er, rumps?
The answer is no.
While some insufferable media sorts will insist on a measured reaction to the Trojans heading into coach Steve Sarkisian's second year -- are they deep enough? is Sark a championship coach? -- what USC represents in college football is surfeit. USC is about excess -- an excess of hype, an excess of Heisman Trophy winners, an excess of media attention, an excess of NFL Hall of Famers, an excess of five-star recruits, an excess of recruiting busts, an excess of national championships.
An excess of penalties from the NCAA. An excess of belief those penalties are no longer consequential.
That excess inspires hate and begrudging respect. It also attracts eyeballs, whether they are looking to cheer or jeer. Yes, we at ESPN aren't going to lie to you: When USC is good, it's good for business.
Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, etc: USC matches all of those programs for on-field success and tradition and pageantry. But it has something else that those programs don't have and can't ever have.
USC is not just big-city football, it's big-city football in the City of Angels. It's Hollywood. It's the flashy roguishness of the program. While USC might now have the best compliance department in the nation and its practices are no longer hosting a who's-who of Hollywood and hip hop glitterati, the perception hasn't changed.
Speaking figuratively, of course, other national powers show up to the party in lettermen jackets. USC shows up in dark sunglasses and a bespoke suit. USC is just different, and that inspires strong feelings.
That also makes USC a unique brand. When a Trojans coach walks into a high school to court a five-star recruit from South Florida, Ohio and Texas, that "SC" interlock on his golf shirt inspires whispers and rubbernecking. Said recruit might not have much interest in traveling across the country to play college football far away from family and friends, but an offer from USC carries a special cachet. Fans from national powers across the country are reading these sentences, hating that notion but knowing it to be true.
Yet celebrities and brands and vibes and media affection won't win the Trojans anything. While USC won a few Pac-10 games during the Pete Carroll Dynasty just by getting off the bus and getting an A+ with the eye test, Pac-12 teams are not afraid of the Trojans. USC went 1-3 against the other top South Division teams last year and most notably was drubbed for a third consecutive time by city rival UCLA.
Jim Mora and the Bruins think they're pretty fancy now. And, by the way, they look pretty sharp getting off the bus, too.
Sarkisian didn't wait long at Pac-12 media days to acknowledge that reporters had picked his Trojans to win the conference. He also didn't wait long to anticipate a skeptical backlash based on the perceived shortcomings of his first season. In fact, it was the first thing he said as he sat at the podium.
"You voted us to be the conference champions, but the reality is we need to go out and prove it," he said. "We need to go out and play our best football week-in and week-out. We're appreciative of that, but the reality is we need to put our best foot forward every time we take the field."
USC put its best foot forward throughout various decades and championship runs. College football seems to glow just a bit brighter when this West Coast colossus is standing tall and smirking back east.
So whether USC goes boom or bust in 2015, you'd best be ready to hear about the Trojans. They inspire an excess of words (cough), and debating whether they merit them is part of the rollicking good time of college football.
