January 2012 Archives

The word around Heritage Hall tonight is that USC expects to sign at least one receiver: Stefon Diggs or Nelson Agholor. Or if they are lucky. Both.

Looks at the moment like wide receiver Bryce Treggs might stick with Cal tomorrow.. USC is better-positioned with receivers Stefon Diggs and Nelson Agholor.

Wide receiver Jordan Payton's and the probable commitment of Jaydon Mickens to Washington means Steve Sarkisian gets two guys who originally committed to USC and were dropped because of the 15-scholarship limit. So Washington can thank USC. And Cal for their recruiting successes.

A Pac-12 coach I spoke to this morning thinks offensive tackle Zach Banner could start next season in Matt Kalil's spot for USC.

Who will be an unexpcted recruit tomorrow?

Time to talk smack one last time before signing day beckons!

As expected, recruiting is the dominant topic today with reader questions.

Quarterback Cyler Miles of Denver, Colo., told media outlets he was sticking with his commitment to Washington. This means USC, which made a late run at Miles, will not sign a quarterback in this class.

USC moved up to 11th in Rivals.com's recruiting rankings following offensive tackle Zach Banner's commitment.

Offensive tackle Zach Banner announces at his press conference he will attend USC today.

A USC spokesperson refused comment today on whether safety Gerald Bowman enrolled in time to attend spring classes. That means Bowman will probably end up being a Wednesday signing . . . if he qualifies.

USC basketball coach Kevin O'Neill will be happy that offensive tackle Zach Banner will play football and basketball next season. Banner's commitment means USC will now try to close by getting Kyle Murphy and/or Andrus Peat.

In this segment, a question about hidden impact players.

Recruiting questions in this segment.

Recruiting, the Pac-12, the tight-end position are among the topics in this segment.

USC will finish second in the Pac-12 recruiting rankings according to predictions of Rivals.com. Stanford is first.

Here is this week's ballot for the Associated Press basketball poll.

Defensive end Leonard Williams of Tampa, Fla., told Rivals.com he was down to USC and Florida. However, his high school coach later said he did not trim his list down to two schools.

The failure of USC to clear Armond Armstead not only cost the Trojans two defensive linemen next season (Armstead and his brother), it now means USC will face Arik Armstead next season and possibly highly regarded safety Shaq Thompson, who might also now commit to the Ducks.

Former USC commit Arik Armstead announced today he will sign with Oregon.

Back to the answers!!!

Lots of different reader questions in this segment.

Defensive lineman Arik Armstead makes his college choice today at 3 p.m. Offensive tackle Zach Banner announces Monday at 2:30 p.m. Offensive tackle Andrus Peat makes his decision Signing Day at 10:35 a.m. while offensive tackle Kyle Murphy decides at 1:15 p.m.

``I don't really focus on things like that. I don't like to focus on how many I've scored. I'm just happy we won. It's been frustrating for everybody for so long.''

``I'm glad this streak is over. I've been through many and they are hard to deal with. Especially for young people.''

USC plays UC Santa Barbara in women's basketball on Tuesday night at the Galen Center. Admission is free.

The Trojans shot 54 percent and made 4 of 9 shots 3-point range in building 32-14 lead. Garrett Jackson led USC with nine points.

USC is threatening to snap its 8-game losing streak in the Pac-12 with a 27-12 lead over Utah.

The Trojans hit their first four shots. When's the last time that happened?

Time to answer some reader questions.

Will USC surpass 50 points at tonight's game against Utah?

Wide receiver Nelson Agholor from Tampa, Fla., is on campus today. Right now it looks like he might be a better bet than wide receiver Bryce Treggs, who is committed to Cal but visited USC on Thursday.

Is there a running back out there USC could sign following D.J. Foster's decision today to commit to Arizona State?

The Denver Broncos announced tonight that former USC linebacker Jack Del Rio is the team's new defensive coordinator.

USC needs offensive tackles for its recruiting class, which means it probably has to get two of the following three tackles: Zach Banner, Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat. One reason is because the previously committed Max Tuerk and Jordan Simmons project as a guard with some analysts.

These members of the 1984 USC football program, which won the Rose Bowl, became NFL head coaches.

Dave Wannstedt: head coach of the Bears, Dolphins and Pitt
Norv Turner: head coach of the Raiders, Chargers (and Redskins)
Chuck Pagano: head coach of the Colts
Jack Del Rio (player): head coach of the Jaguars

USC is currently 17th in Rivals.com and 32nd in Scout.com's, which obviously reward more commitments.

Here's the latest on the Armstead saga as home visits finally concluded with Lane Kiffin among those who visited Sacramento.

USC coach Kevin O'Neill spoke about adversity after tonight's 74-50 loss to Colorado.
``How about you come home and your wife takes all your furniture? I've had that happen one time,'' O'Neill said. ``That's the way it goes. Exercise bike. Big-screen TV. Bed. That was it. I didn't know where to sit.''

USC coach Kevin O'Neill said he second-guessed himself for one thing this season.
``After we played two games in our tour of Brazil, I said I would rest Jio and (Maurice Jones) the third game,'' he said. ``I asked them if they wanted to play and they said for 10 minutes. Jio then tears up his knee.''

Forward Dewayne Dedmon on his knee injury.
``I'm pretty confident it's not the ACL,'' Dedmon said. ``I'm not really sure what's going on in there. (A Colorado player) took a charge and fell back into me and hyperextended my knee.''

Well, USC gets to play Utah on Saturday night and the Utes are 2-6. USC mustered 50 points in tonight's 74-50 loss to Colorado. The Trojans shot 32 percent.
Center Dewayne Dedmon injured his knee in the first half.
``He had a knee (injury) and they said he couldn't come back. He'll have an MRI tonight or tomorrow,'' USC coach Kevin O'Neill said.

USC was outscored 18-2 to start the second half against Colorado and might not score 50 points. The Trojans trail 62-39 with 6:42 left.

Speaking of Mel Kiper, remember how he said during Matt Barkley's senior year of high school (and first spring practice at USC) that Barkley would be the No. 1 pick in three years?
So why did Kiper list Barkley as the No. 6 pick overall before the quarterback announced he was returning for his senior season?

USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil is listed as the No. 2 overall pick by ESPN's Mel Kiper.

Do you think USC can afford to sign a quarterback in its 15-member recruiting class?

Here is my column on the final days of recruiting and how Lane Kiffin is dealing with sanctions heading into signing day.

New Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano was a graduate assistant at USC in the mid-1980's.

USC is going to give out 2,000 bobbleheads of point guard Maurice Jones at the March 3 game against Washington State. Hopefully they will give out all 2,000 unlike the Harold Miner bobbleheads.

Former USC tailback Dillon Baxter started workouts at San Diego State.

We hear wide receiver Bryce Treggs, who visits USC on Thursday, will probably end up Cal although his family likes UCLA.

With signing date a week away, it is time for questions. One per person please.

Which number is bigger? Fans at tomorrow night's Pac-12 thriller with Colorado? Leftover Harold Miner bobbleheads from the UCLA game?

USC's late rush to sign quarterback Cyler Miles shows that even with the Internet, summer football camps and recruiting combines, coaches are still unable to make definitive calls on some prospects. It took a high school all-star game to convince Lane Kiffin to institute a full-court press on Miles.
Last year Kiffin went several months without speaking to Marqise Lee before deciding he wanted him.
The only mild surprise is that Kiffin is trying to steal a recruit from his good buddy Steve Sarkisian, who doesn't want to lose a rare Husky commitment that is not a three-star.

USC coach Lane Kiffin visited defensive line recruit Arik Armstead last night. Kiffin visits quarterback Cyler Miles on Saturday.

Here's what we referred to about USC's high-per-star ranking for recruiting according to Rivals.com

USC 3.92
Florida State 3.81
Florida 3.74
Ohio State 3.74
Alabama 3.67
Texas 3.67
Auburn 3.6
Oklahoma 3.58
Michigan 3.57
Notre Dame 3.53

WR Stefon Diggs 65 percent
QB Cyler Miles 45 percent
DE Leonard Williams 60 percent

Here's an interesting story on USC recruit Nelson Agholor.

By our count if Lane Kiffin signs 15 recruits next week he will need to find about five scholarships to keep the Trojans at 75. Of course that doesn't take into account who might be ineligible or will be nudged to transfer.

With signing day looming it is worth noting the schools barely recruited against each other this year. USC only offered a few players currently committed to UCLA and wide reciver Bryce Treggs, who visits USC on Thursday, is a rare recruit considering both schools near signing day.

Here's a couple more names and their chances of going to USC:

CB Tracy Howard 30 percent
WR Darreus Rogers 98 percent

Offensive lineman Zach Banner, who is believed to favor USC, will announce his college choice on Monday.

USC would like to shore up its running back depth following Amir Carlisle's transfer but it is probably too late in the recruiting process to find a suitable replacement. USC would like to sign tailback D.J. Foster, but he is more of a combo tailback/slotback, so it is debateable how much of an answer Foster would be for the Trojans.

Whatever USC finishes in recruiting rankings, the Trojans are in a good position to have the highest per-star average even with only 15 scholarships.

Here's a couple more names and their chances of picking USC:

WR Nelson Agholor 80 percent
OT Andrus Peat 65 percent

Chip Kelly's decision to stay at Oregon benefits everyone. The Ducks keep their dynamic coach and remain a national power. The Pac-12 keeps what little national respect it has with Oregon and USC carrying their water. And USC benefits because it has a foil to keep it hungry and also gains stature with two strong programs in the conference.
Kelly also benefits because his offense would not have the same impact in the NFL and he would be just another coach struggling to win there.

Two potential topics today: Will either school reel in a commitment by signing date that the other school really wanted? Or thought it would get?
And what is worse: USC being 12th and winless in the Pac-12 or UCLA tied for seventh?

Here are some percentages on where a few recruits select USC:

OT Zach Banner 70 percent
OT Kyle Murphy 50 percent
TB D.J. Foster 65 percent
WR Bryce Treggs 60 percent
DL Tyriq McCord 45 percent

Here is this week's ballot for the AP basketball poll with a new No. 1 following Syracuse's upset loss last weekend.

For Lane Kiffin anyways, who must be ecstatic at the news Oregon coach Chip Kelly is close to leaving for Tampa Bay. Aside from the recruiting implications, Kiffin is undoubtedly thrilled that he might not need to prepare for the Ducks' hurry-up offense anymore. Even if a new coach copies it, it will be hard to replicate at Kelly's pace.
When is Phil Knight going to intervene and pull a Hail Mary?

Here's a report on Oregon coach Chip Kelly finalizing a deal to become the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Somehow the 8,447 that attended last weekend's UCLA were not enough to give out 2,000 Harold Miner bobbleheads. That's fine but do they need to charge $20 for the leftovers? And if they are so ``limited'' how come you can get two per order?

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian's been trying to steal Cal commitments since hiring a couple of their assistant coaches. But there rumors today that Lakewood, Wash., offensive tackle Zach Banner committed to USC during his weekend visit. And the Trojans hosted Husky commitment, quarterback Cyler Miles.

Here's a report that quarterback Cyler Miles of Mullen High in Denver, who is committed to Washington, quietly visited USC this weekend.

USC tailback Marc Tyler gained 34 yards in 7 carries in the East-West Shrine Game. Wide receiver Brandon Carswell caught a 22-yard pass and rushed once for six yards in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Wide receiver Bryce Treggs from St. John Bosco, who is committed to Cal, is at UCLA this weekend. He will visit USC next weekend.

USC started 5-10 walk-on Daniel Munoz tonight against Oregon State with only seven scholarship players.

Here's a mock draft sent to us from a reader that has Matt Kalil as the No. 3 pick but that is not Kalil in the photo.

Lane Kiffin will make a home visit with defensive lineman Arik Armstead, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Darreus Rogers looks like USC's only wide receiver commit this year. The Trojans are recruiting wide receiver Stefon Diggs from Olney, Md. But Diggs is believed to favor Auburn and is visiting Florida this weekend.

Which recruit stands the best chance of committing this weekend, silently or otherwise?

In this segment why some top recruits chose other schools over the years instead of USC.

Time to resume answering questions, including one off topic.

Or one of the most important. It might be wide receiver Darreus Rogers. If only because USC might sign only one receiver with 15 scholarships. And because depth is now a significant issue. Rogers will enter training camp with a legitimate chance to be the No. 3 wide receiver.

It's one of the biggest recruiting weekend's for USC as several top uncommitted recruits are scheduled to visit today: offensive tackle Kyle Murphy, offensive tackle Zach Banner, defensive end Aziz Shittu, defensive end Leonard Williams and center Hiva Lutui are expected to visit.
Previously committed recruits Jahleel Pinner (fullback), Pio Vatuvei (defensive lineman) and Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick (tight end) will also make official visits.

USC announced Thursday that Dan Shell was hired to the newly created position of vice president and general manager of USC Sports Properties.
But I doubt during his job interview he mentioned an article he wrote last March where he said USC was the ``team least deserving to be in the field,'' for the NCAA Tournament.
``Taking a look at USC, they lost 14 games, yes 14!'' Shell wrote for CSNBayArea.com.

USC did not have any players selected for the Senior Bowl for the first time since 1993.

I mentioned before that USC (19th) and UCLA (21st) are ranked pretty closely in Rivals.com's recruiting rankings. So who will finish ahead? Will USC with only 15 scholarships even though the rankings favor more commitments?

FoX Sports Media Group and Home Team Sports have named Dan Shell, vice president and general manager of USC Sports Properties, a newly created entity that will manage the marketing and media rights for USC athletics.
The real news is that ``USC Sports Properties'' is a new marketing/media arm of the athletic dept. being outsourced to Home Team Sports and Fox Sports Media Group. Shell's got an interesting background: He was an assistant basketball coach at St. Mary's from 2001-2008.

Scholarship numbers are on the readers' minds in this segment of the Open Forum.

The college football punditocracy is generally falling all over themselves congratulating Washington coach Steve Sarkisian for hiring Cal assistants Tosh Lupoi and Eric Kiesau (along with Tennessee assistants Justin Wilcox and Peter Sirmon).
For the moment, let's just focus on the hiring of Lupoi and Kiesau. The fact Washington raided a fellow Pac-12 school for its coaching staff and is now attempting to co-opt Cal's recruiting class is dismissed as ``part of the business.''
But here's another way of looking at it: How bankrupt was Washington that its coach enters his fourth year with his best hope of getting better stealing another school's recruits to beef up a barely three-star recruiting class?
The recruiting class, ranked 46th by Rivals.com, will surely improve now but is this where a program the Huskies' size should be entering Year 4? Maybe this is a reason why the Pac-12 went 2-5 in bowl games.

USC's freshman guards are feeling some pressure to pick up the offensive slack as the Trojans head into tonight's game against Oregon.

Here's the joint announcement from USC and Stafon Johnson on the settlement of his lawsuit against the university.
``The University of Southern California and former student-athlete Stafon Johnson wish to jointly announce that Mr. Johnson has resolved his lawsuit against the university arising out of his September 28, 2009 weight room injury. The parties have agreed that the terms and details will be confidential.''

Pretty much every pundit and poll lists USC as the No. 2 or 3 team for next year. The reasons are plentiful. Matt Barkley is back. The schedule is not too challenging, etc. No one seems to think the departure of Matt Kalil or Nick Perry makes much difference. Fair enough.
But since the season ended some depth issues look problematic at tailback and wide receiver. If Robert Woods or Marqise Lee suffers an injury, how much less potent does the offense become? Can George Farmer fill the void? Victor Blackwell?
Is USC the nation's No. 2 team if an injury to Curtis McNeal leaves D.J. Morgan as the only tailback with college experience?
This is a byproduct of the 75-scholarship limit. But also because Lane Kiffin is not troubled to see the program lose players like Brice Butler and Kyle Prater. Kiffin's theory is USC can always recruit elite skill players even when the Trojans are down.
They are not down right now. But they seem fragile at the skill positions going into 2012.

Recruiting is a dominant theme in this segment.

Rivals.com currently ranks USC's recruiting class 19th and UCLA's 21st. USC has 12 commitments overall while UCLA has 28.

USC commit Jordan Simmons of Crespi High School has been selected to play in the PrepStar Classic All-Star Senior football game at the Home Depot Center on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.

Finally finishing up last week's forum!

Questions on a new and a departing player highlight this segment of reader questions.

USC will host uncommitted recruits Kyle Murphy (offensive tackle), Zach Banner (offensive tackle) and defensive end Aziz Shittu this weekend. The Trojans will also host Florida State commit Dante Fowler Jr. (defensive end) and UCLA commit Hiva Lutui (offensive line).
Shittu is one of the high-profile recruits USC could get simply because of assistant coach Tosh Lupoi's move from Cal to Washington.

The buzz is the Armstead brothers favor going to Notre Dame. Hopefully this is true because it will increase scrutiny on the fact USC did not clear Armond Armstead to play next season. He joins Jarvis Jones and Frankie Telfort. But Jones did not go to an archrival.
In the past coaches like Pete Carroll (see Rocky Hinds) played hardball on transferring to rivals. That no longer appears to be the case with Amir Carlisle.
But I digress. The point is some transparency on this medically unable to play issue needs to occur.

Ellis McCarthy is probably a good starting point for today's forum.

Amir Carlisle is the featured topic in this segment.

Time to start a new round of questions. One per person please.

Is a verbal commitment more meaningless now than ever before? Quarterback Gunner Kiel went from Indiana to LSU to Notre Dame. Defensive end Ellis McCarthy went from Cal to UCLA. Defensive tackle Arik Armstead committed to USC and is expected to announce his latest choice this week.
Let's not forget colleges are responsible for this too. USC happily took a commitments from Jordan Payton and Jaydon Mickens and then discarded them.

In this segment, wide receiver depth is still an issue and the tailback situation.

Remember on Signing Day in 2010 when Lane Kiffin said he knew right away if a recruit was a USC or UCLA player? Well, Monrovia defensive end Ellis McCarthy apparently does not fit that profile because he decommitted from Cal and switched to UCLA last night and USC is still recruiting him.
Would he amazingly make a second switch in college choices? Who knows but former USC assistant Demetrice Martin (one of Jim Mora's first hires) went hard after McCarthy as soon as he got hired.

Here's another one that lists Matt Kalil as the third pick and Nick Perry as the 12th to the Seahawks!

If you read this blog, you know that is our standard explanation for why Cal is not better in sports with its sometimes apathetic attitude toward its programs, especially football (Jeff Tedford's seems to never be on the hot seat).
That became apparent again Monday when Cal assistant Tosh Lupoi left for Washington. His departure immediately jeopardized possibly the Pac-12's best recruiting class as defensive lineman Ellis McCarthy and safety Shaq Thompson are now considered up for grabs after committing to the Bears last week. Cal could also lose highly rated defensive end defensive end Aziz Shittu, who visits USC this weekend. The Bears were also in the final three for former USC commit Arik Armstead, who is also looking at Notre Dame and Auburn. Other recruits, like linebacker Michael Barton, could also leave.
In other words, the Bears' recruiting class could be in shambles because it allowed Lupoi to leave. Yes, his pay increased dramatically but Cal's decision not to try and match Washington's offer (reportedly more than $500,000) showed that Cal remains Cal.
What about USC? It believes it can land McCarthy. The Trojans never felt Thompson liked them that much, however.

It was fashionable at the Galen Center last night to make comments about whether this was the worst USC basketball team? But remember that Henry Bibby went 9-19 in 1998 and then had back-to-back 13-win teams in 2003-04.
Bibby and Jim Saia won 12 games in 2005. Charlie Parker went 9-19 in 1995.
And then there were two teams I'm very familiar with: George Raveling's 1988 team went 7-21. And his 1987 team was 9-19.
Also worth noting is none of those teams played a schedule as difficult as this year's team.

In this segment, depth at tailback and wide receiver are prime issues.

Defensive line recruit Ellis McCarthy makes an appearance in this segment of reader questions.

USC still intends to sign 15 recruits on Feb. 1, according to sources. That means the Trojans, who currently have eight commitments, will need to take 5-6 scholarships off the current roster in order to get to the NCAA-mandated limit of 75.

Here is this week's ballot for the Associated Press poll.

USC athletic director Pat Haden spoke to Daily News columnist Jill Painter after the UCLA game about the basketball program and Coach Kevin O'Neill.
Money quote: ``Kevin deserves (more time),'' Haden said. ``I think he's a good coach and a good man. He does a lot of things that are important for this university other than just basketball.
``The kids are good kids, good character-kids and he graduated 100 percent of his seniors last year. Those things at a university mean a lot. At the end of the day, Kevin knows and I know and everyone knows that we've got to get the program rocking.''

Perhaps it was only fitting with USC's shooting woes that Byron Wesley threw a pass that went into the basket in the second half.
``I was happy as hell to see that go in,'' Kevin O'Neill said.

Former USC guard Harold Miner was honored at halftime and surprised by former teammates from his playing days.
``I always played with two goals,'' Miner said. ``First, to win and second, to give everyone who saw me play get their money's worth each and every night.''
Miner's wife and children also attended the ceremoney and a large banner was unfurled with his number in the Galen Center rafters.
``He had a lot better NBA career than people think, including him,'' Kevin O'Neill said.
USC guard Alexis Moore said he met Miner during Friday's practice.
``It was a privilege to meet someone that did so much to put USC basketball on the map,'' Moore said.
USC gave out 2,000 Miner bobbleheads but apparently some went unclaimed because the game announcer told fans they were still available on their way out of the arena.

Here's a telling comment from USC freshman guard Alexis Moore after the loss to UCLA at the Galen Center.
``I think honestly we embarassed ourselves,'' Moore said. ``And did a disservice to the university with our effort tonight.''

Looks like tonight's game did not provide any inspiration for an underdog USC team to outplay its crosstown rival. Some fans already left at halftime as UCLA leads by 20 with 19 minutes left.

USC will experiment a little bit at tonight's game with UCLA by trying guard Byron Wesley at power forward.

Oregon might not suffer a dropoff in QB play next season based on the way Bryan Bennett played this season.

The USC-UCLA basketball game tomorrow night will include a ceremony to retire the jersey of former Trojans star Harold Miner. USC is going to give Miner bobbleheads (pictured above) to 2,000 fans at the game.

The crosstown rivalry takes place tomorrow night. Make your game predictions here. Maybe it should be called the cross-street rivalry this year because the rematch will be played at the Sports Arena.

USC guard Aaron Fuller did not practice this week but said he will play against UCLA tomorrow night.

This is a busy recruiting weekend for USC. But next weekend is also going to see some activity as offensive tackle Zach Banner, wide receiver Nelson Agholor and defensive lineman Leonard Williams are expected to visit.

Here are some of the recruits visiting USC this weekend: safety De'van Bogard, offensive tackle Kyle Dodson, tailback D.J. Foster, cornerback Tracy Howard, offensive tackle Andrus Peat and center Isaac Seumalo.
Bogard is officially committed to Ohio State. Foster is an interesting recruit because he could add to the depleted tailback depth chart.

Is Washington coach Steve Sarkisian sabotaging Cal's recent commitments of Ellis McCarthy and Shaq Thompson by trying to hire Bears recruiting coordinator/defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi? Oh, also indirectly helping Lane Kiffin? Details here.

A question here about offensive line recruiting.

The SEC has 51 players participating in different all-star games. Here's the complete list of players selected for games:

BCS apologist Bill Hancock was asked to name a legitimate downside of a playoff system during an interview with radio station The Fan in Cleveland.
``Well the contention over No. 4 or No. 5 to me will always be a downside just the contention in the NCAA tournament between 60 and however many they have now and 68 and 69 [teams],'' Hancock said. ``You also have to think about can fans travel to a quarterfinal in Miami one week, a semifinal in Pasadena the next week and back to Phoenix for a final next week.''

In this segment, a soccer, football and basketball question all get answered.

Back to reader questions!

USC tailback-wide receiver George Farmer is academically ineligible and will not be able to participate in spring practice, according to sources. It is conceivable Farmer could get a grade changed to improve his status but as of right now he will not be able to practice.
If he cannot participate in spring practice, it would be a costly blow because Farmer figured to play a prominent role in the spring with tailback Amir Carlisle, wide receiver Brice Butler and wide receiver Kyle Prater no longer on the roster.

Here's a story on recruiting services that is worth checking out from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

In this segment, Buck Allen and George Farmer are the topics.

Another reader question.

Time to answer more reader questions.

USC trustee Alan Casden told me in late November he expected to bid for the Dodgers for a second time (he originally tried to buy the team in 2003). Now Casden joins fellow USC trustees Rick Caruso and Stanley Gold expected to submit bids.

USC and the Coliseum released details of a modified lease that would see the university begin minor improvements before next season and start significant improvements before the 2013 season.
Under the tentative deal, USC could tear down the Sports Arena in 2015 and build a soccer stadium or amphitheater. USC would also take over the large electronic billboard next to the 110 Freeway.
USC wants to replace every seat for an estimated $26 million. The deal is still not expected to be finalized for a couple months. Here's a recap of what's happened.

Wide receiver Kyle Prater is looking at Illinois, Wisconsin and Northwestern. His teammate, Brice Butler, officially announced he is transferring to San Diego State and could be joined by tailback Dillon Baxter. USC announced today that Florida safety Josh Shaw enrolled this week. Offensive line recruit Zach Banner is expected to visit USC on Jan. 20 instead of Jan. 13.

USC's released a tentative spring schedule with Pro Day scheduled for March 7 and the spring game at the Coliseum on April 14 at 1:30 p.m.
Other practices after the jump:

Here's what Matt Barkley had to say about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow when asked during an interview with XX Sports Radio in San Diego.
``When I heard what happened, I was both shocked and in awe that he's been able to do this,'' Barkley said. ``I'm proud of the guy. He's a winner; he's a gamer. And he can certainly capture a team, just a passionate player who stands up for what he believes in. I love that about him. ... When he needs to make plays, he makes plays."

Former Ohio State coach John Cooper, who was an assistant at UCLA in the mid-1960's, made the following comment with Cleveland radio station The Fan.
``I never coached anywhere where 6-6 was a good year and this year UCLA went to a bowl game and they were 6-7.''

USC quarterback Matt Barkley discussed the LSU-Alabama game and why he tweeted he was ``bored'' during an interview with Darren Smith of XX Sports Radio in San Diego.
``I actually got excited toward the end with Trent Richardson. For a second there, I thought the kicker was going to get MVP of the game,'' Barkley said. ``I just think it was something that people weren't used to. You could definitely tell Bama had more juice from start to finish and earned that championship.''

On whether he watched the game thinking USC could be playing in it next season?

``A little bit of both. I think every USC fan thought that at one point during the game that that could be us next year. And we can say that all we want, but it doesn't mean anything right now. We're not really going to say much about where we think we should be or where we should end up.''

D.J. Morgan and scholarship limits are topics in this edition of reader questions.

You just knew there would be plenty of drama in New York with the Jets not making the playoffs and here's a prime example from the New York Daily News with players anonymously criticizing Mark Sanchez.

Here's an Associated Press story where poll voters, including myself, explained why they did not vote Alabama No. 1 last night.

We hear from a good source that USC remains in a strong position with Shabazz Muhammad, the nation's No. 1 basketball recruit, despite Internet buzz the Trojans were not a finalist. It could even come down to USC and Kentucky.

Hue Jackson joined Lane Kiffin as a former USC assistant coach who can say he was fired as coach of the Raiders.

Dillon Baxter. T.J. Bryant. Amir Carlisle. Kyle Prater. Perhaps Brice Butler. Who is the next USC football player to ``decide'' he is leaving the program during these scholarship crunch days?

Here's where you find out that Matt Barkley is the favorite (7/2 odds) for the Heisman Trophy and bet if Matt Kalil will be the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft?

That's the Trojans' current ranking in the MaxPreps.com recruiting rankings done by Tom Lemming. I might add that Lemming is known for being Notre Dame friendly.

Will USC's BCS title chances be affected by UCLA's hiring of strength coach Sal Alosi if he tries to trip Robert Woods on the sideline next season?

Here's a look at Sports Illustrated's cover of Alabama winning the BCS title game.

USC against LSU in next year's national title game? That seems to be a growing consensus the morning after Alabama's victory over the Tigers. There seems to be a cottage industry these days that forces ``pundits'' to immediately proclaim next year's champion as soon as possible.
Last year, I remember a lot of talk that Oklahoma would be nationa champs. The Sooners weren't even the best team in their state.
But is is fun to play along. And it reinforces that USC will be ranked in the top 3 going into 2012. It also is something to talk about besides how many players Lane Kiffin intends to run out of the program.

Here is my final ballot for the Associated Press poll:

1. Oklahoma State
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Boise State
6. Oregon
7. USC
8. Stanford
9. South Carolina
10. TCU
11. Michigan State
12. Georgia
13.Wisconsin
14. Southern Mississippi
15. Oklahoma
16. Michigan
17. Kansas State
18. Baylor
19. Houston
20. West Virginia
21. Clemson
22. Auburn
23. Cincinnati
24. Virginia Tech
25. Northern Illinois

Will Kyle Prater transfer to Notre Dame? He is from suburban Chicago and then the Trojans might have four potential transfers to Notre Dame if the Armstead brothers decide to go there.

USC wide receiver Kyle Prater said he will transfer today but did not announce a destination. This is probably a good moves for both sides. He gets to go somewhere and play. And he frees up a scholarship for Lane Kiffin, who never seemed to like Prater anyways.

Defensive lineman Devante Wilson enrolled today which should complete the fall class. With the departure of Amir Carlisle, it does open a scholarship but Lane Kiffin will still need to trim the roster if he signs 15 players next month.

How hard do you think Notre Dame, fresh off the transfer of Amir Carlisle, is going for a sweep of Armond and Arik Armstead? That's three impact players eligible for next season.

Time for more reader questions. One per person please.

Tonight is the Big One: LSU v. Alabama. Make your score predictions here.

Here is this week's ballot for the Associated Press basketball Top 25 poll.

I understand Amir Carlisle transferred to Notre Dame to be closer to his family as his father works at Purdue. But if that is the case why not transfer to Purdue?

They opened the curtains Sunday at the Galen Center and allowed the sunlight to come through the big window that shows the skyline of Los Angeles. They should do it every game especially when things are going badly like this season.

Attendance on Sunday at the Galen Center: 5,112.
Attendance on Thursday at the Galen Center: 3,112.
I'm sure that is a complete coincidence and not because anyone might be fudging attendance figures.

``We're looking for someone to make a shot. It would be the nicest thing in the world. We don't turn the ball over. We defend well and we rebound well.''

USC shot 7 percent today on 3-pointers against Arizona (1-15). That is quite possibly a school record.
UPDATED: USC shot 0-15 on 3-pointers against Cal State Northridge. I was busy with the USC-Washington football game and totally missed that accomplishment.

With USC down a tailback with the departure of Amir Carlisle, it Lane Kiffin going to be more forgiving if someone fumbles next season? D.J. Morgan is probably happy that the doghouse might no longer exist if he and Curtis McNeal are the only two dependable backs.

USC fans are used to hearing almost only good news about this time of the year during high school all-star games but the Trojans suffered a big loss Saturday when defensive end Ellis McCarthy committed to Cal. Another defensive end USC tried to get, Tyriq McCord, committed to Miami. And safety Shaq Thompson, who USC may have cooled on a bit recently, also selected Cal.
The player to monitor now is offensive tackle Kyle Murphy. He fits the bill of someone who should choose USC. However, USC got on him late and he likes Stanford. So we shall see.

USC tailback Amir Carlisle's decision to transfer to Notre Dame was unusual because schools usually do not release players to a school on their schedule. It also leaves USC a little light at tailback with Curtis McNeal, D.J. Morgan and George Farmer (who doesn't want to play tailback but probably will be forced to anyways).
According to the South Bend Tribune , Carlisle's move was based on his family moving Indiana.
But this also shows the folly of Carlisle being used strangely this season, with his redshirt year wasted on 19 carries. If he redshirted this year, it is doubtful he would transfer and sit out another season.

USC, which plays Arizona on Sunday at the Galen Center, is shooting 60 percent on free throws, which ranks last in the Pacific-12 Conference. Only one Trojan (James Blascyk) shoots better than 63 percent.

Finally finishing up the readers' questions.

Earlier today cornerback Kevon Seymour of Muir High School committed to USC. This was no surprise but it does make Seymour official and UCLA did make a late run at him. New UCLA cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, a Muir graduate and former USC assistant, had already for Seymour's teammate, tailback Tairen Owens, to decommit from Washington to UCLA.

Despite the popular theory Jio Fontan's knee injury doomed USC's season, I think Nikola Vucevic's decision to go pro made a far bigger impact in this season's struggles.

It's Friday so the readers can debate anything they want. Recruiting, next week's basketball game. Jim Mora's ``Southern Cal'' references. Why the suites at the Galen Center were virtually abandoned for last night's ASU game.

More reader questions including one on my favorite college football uniform.

In this segment, Matt Barkley and Norm Chow are the highlighted reader questions.

Here is a copy of Norm Chow's contract with the University of Hawaii with the previously mentioned $40,000 bonus if he can win a nationally televised road game. Translation: Beat USC.

We hear Carson wide receiver Darreus Rogers remains a solid commit to USC even though he will still visit other schools.

Former USC assistant coach Kirby Wilson was hospitalized this morning after suffering burns to his arms and legs in a fire at his house. Wilson is currently an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

``Everyone contributed on our team, even walk-ons who hadn't played up until this week.''

That's about the best thing to say about tonight's basketball game at the Galen Center. USC (5-11, 0-3) lost its seventh game in the past eight but should never have lost to the Sun Devils, who were without leading scorer Keala King and and starter Kyle Cain.
And now the Trojans face an angry Arizona team, fresh off a loss to UCLA.

And it's a final from the Galen Center. This ranks as one of the worst losses for Kevin O'Neill because the Sun Devils were without two starters and suited up six scholarship players. Last year's 20-point loss to Rider might be worse but this one is pretty bad.

We had some problems the past couple days with ads spilling into blog posts. Looks like it is fixed now.

If the poor radio reception is an issue, the Trojans trail Arizona State by 3 (40-37) with 10 minutes left.

Walk-on Eric Strangis averaged 16 minutes in USC's past two games and is now ahead of junior-college transfer Greg Allen, who played only five minutes against Stanford and Cal last weekend.
``We're playing Strangis spot minutes,'' O'Neill said. ``Greg Allen hasn't gotten job done. It's not his fault. We thought about redshirting him before (top returning player) Jio (Fontan) got hurt.''

One reason USC are 0-2 in the Pacific-12 Conference is free-throw shooting. USC made 16 of 32 free throws against Cal and Stanford.
``If we made any free throws or shots, we'd win some games,'' Kevin O'Neill said. ``We held Stanford hold scoreless for 7 minutes and only scored seven points.''

Tim McDonald, the father of USC safety T.J. McDonald, was hired as the secondary coach at Fresno State.

The Baby Quarterback (David Sills) could be on the move as Red Lion Christian Academy in Delaware no longer aspires to be a national prep football power and fired its coach..
Sills, who committed to USC in seventh grade, completed 165-for-250 passes for 2,340 yards with 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as a ninth grader last season.

That's my new nickname for the Cal-Stanford game. No other self-respecting rivalry would pass on Thanksgiving weekend to play Oct. 20. The post-Andrew Luck era is upon us. Cal is Cal. And Stanford is back to being Stanford.

Larry Scott continues to want to make change for the sake of change. What's worse? Playing your rival in October? Playing a bad Big Ten team every year? Playing a game in China?

Today's announcement that the Cal-Stanford game is going to be Oct. 20 is an indictment of Larry Scott (the Pac-12) and the two schools.
Scott released a statement that said ``with the addition of our Championship Football Game the last week of the season, and new television agreements commencing in 2012, there will be additional priorities that need to be balanced when making the schedule that will mean occasional date adjustments to rivalry games.''
Everyone gets schedule adjustments because of the championship game but the key phrases are really ``television agreements'' and ``additional priorities.''
USC and all the other schools were also informed their rivalry games might change in the future.
You can bet Scott is thrilled to have a marketable rivalry game in October for his new TV partner ESPN (or Fox). It might even be a great game for his Pac-12 Network.
How are Cal and Stanford culpable in this? They refused an offer to play the game on Thanksgiving weekend. That shows the true apathy for college sports in the Bay Area. No fans apparently would go to a game on a holiday weekend.
Can you imagine USC-UCLA, Oregon-Oregon State, Washington-Washington or Arizona-Arizona State turning down playing on Thanksgiving weekend because of fan apathy?

Sept. 1 Hawaii
Sept. 8 vs. Syracuse (@ E. Rutherford, N.J.)
Sept. 15 at Stanford
Sept. 22 California
Oct. 4 (Th.) at Utah
Oct. 13 at Washington
Oct. 20 Colorado
Oct. 27 at Arizona
Nov. 3 Oregon
Nov. 10 Arizona State
Nov. 17 at UCLA
Nov. 24 Notre Dame

Here is the complete Pac-12 schedule for all 12 teams. And here is USC's schedule:

USC plays at Stanford on Sept. 15
Cal plays at USC on Sept. 22
USC is at Utah on Thursday, Oct. 4
USC is at Washington on Oct. 13
Colorado is at USC on Oct. 20
USC is at Arizona on Oct. 27
Oregon is at USC on Nov. 3
Arizona State is at USC on Nov. 10
USC is at UCLA on Nov. 17

It's already Wednesday? Time for more reader questions.

The Pac-10/12 is 6-12 in bowl games the past three seasons.