OT: USC Sanctions

isn't nearly as much of a problem when you use 12 of them on top 100 kids.  It'll hurt for sure, but they need less margin for error than most given how well they recruit.  

Wait....what?  

People are saying USC is going to be ok but you don't think so and somehow this has struck a nerve with you?  Maybe I'm late to the party but I'm not sure I follow you here.

It bothers you that college sports fans are delusional?? I'd find a new hobby.

Not that i have anything against USC in particular, just the front runners that have no perspective on college football past the last 5-10 years or so. Do people really think USC will be anything in 3-4 years? ND 2.0

  I'm well into my nightly desobering ritual, but I'm not sure that I'm picking up what you are laying down.

  It seems like we care what people at OSU think about USC... like they are seeking some sort of reassurance that USC will see their day, or won't, but like so... some people in Columbus are butt hurt or something.  I don't know.  All your schollies are belong to us.

  USC is losing 10 people a year ... some years that's half a recruiting class.  That's a big deal.  Being forced to cut your numbers by 3 a year, which is likely going to be a walk-on or some low ranking dude who isn't going to ever see the field, isn't going to make a big difference.  Especially when you get great classes year in year out and depth isn't an issue.  They may be down a tad, but not too much.  USC, especially under Kiffin's strong leadership, will probably implode.

  So, I guess I agree.  Or not.  I don't know.  What was your point?

My two cents...This symbolic bowl ban they are slapping Ohio with doesn't mean much in the larger scheme of things. This is a program that cheated for close to a decade and yet they get to skate with 9 scholarship reductions!?! Don't be fooled by the bowl ban. The NCAA has slapped Ohio on the wrist...USC had 30 scholarship reductions. At the very least that's what Ohio State should have been hit with...

USC will be "undersigning" for the next 3 years.  It will hurt them as much as oversigning helps the SEC.

Delusional college football fans are indeed frustrating to deal with, but here we all are on this blog! Yay!

I'm in the camp that says USC is in for a fall in the coming 2 or 3 years because they'll be really young at key spots on defense and won't have the depth when injuries come knocking. It could be pretty bad too, except UCLA is not and will not capitalize on this situation. Oregon is the only team really kicking ass (if you can even call it that) on the PAC-12 recruiting scene, and the Ducks will probably get their just desserts by the NCAA someday soon.  Everyone else in the league is on shaky ground or undergoing a major coaching change.  USC got a nice haul last year including two fine QBs in Max Wittek and Cody Kessler, which could tide them over. 

 Also, there's Lane Kiffin, who is a really loose cannon when it comes to recruiting. I don't consider him to be a very good football coach. He's always going to be under the microscope by Pat Haden for years to come. Their situation is a lot like OSU's. They can't eff up anymore, which Toejam fans really aren't thinking about, but probably should start.

USC won't be that badly hurt.  They won't be national championship regulars the next handful of years, but if you look at the class they've got going right now, it will be probably 12 4-5 stars and 3 highly rated three star guys.  Their classes will still be top-25 in the country, and higher than that based on quality alone. 

Most schools take in ~25 kids, 5 of which bail at some point because of PT, and a handful more who never play anything beyond special teams.  USC will have classes of 15, none of whom will be threatened by PT, so attrition will be lower.  And they won't have as many career back-ups like most teams.  If the injury bug really bites them, they'll be in tougher shape, but their second string will be as good as the first string for most of the Pac-12 anyway. 

Like someone said, they took 30-some in 2011, most of whom were blue chips, and their team is already pretty young.  I promise they'll be just fine.

USC will continue to have a strong program mostly because they are committed to it.  It's still a priority for the school, its administration and its alumni.  

A brand new $70 million football facility is under construction and will be open next year.  The bowl ban is over -- new recruits can compete for a national championship and enjoy the sun at the same time.  As much as people dislike USC, they aren't going anywhere.  

Despite the scholarship reductions and the bowl ban, they manage to recruit top-tier talent on name alone (although less of it right now, for obvious reasons) and are pretty deep at most positions. They were 9-3 this year, and the only reason they didn't play in the Pac-12 championship game was the postseason ban. I would think that they will suffer a little "wobble", if you will, and they may have a couple less successful years in the near  future when the full effect of the reductions is felt, but that school likes its program very much, and even now, they are keeping it afloat despite restrictions. It might be a middling program for a year or two in the interim, but eventually, USC goes back to being USC. 

OSU's loss of scholarships is nothing. The three scholarships that they can't use are essentially the ones they'd have given to the last three guys in the class. So they might lose some depth players, but it won't be noticeable.

Someday, someone's going to have to explain to me how the head coach can cover up player transgressions, get caught, have the university sweep it under the rug, get caught again, have it revealed that the transgressions were just the tip of the iceberg, have almost as many questionable automobile loans as they have players go unscrutinized for years, have players paid by a booster for showing up at events (or not show up at jobs), and that's not as big of a deal as one player's family taking money and a house from a non-university associated agent. I've heard the excuse about USC's defiance, but OSU wasn't defiant? They've gone around spouting about how they have no systematic issues at the same time as we're finding out that Terrelle Pryor is ransacking the equipment room for items to trade for a new tattoo. 

Sorry for the rant. Redundant, I'm sure, but I've been off the grid since the announcement came down.

USC will be fine because the Pac-12 South is garbage outside of them. USC could take 15 guys a class for the next 10 years and still have a massive talent advantage over the rest of the division.

Man, I hope SC sues the NCAA. Even if it goes nowhere, just for the headaches it'll give them in Indy.

I suppose it helps that they'll be preseason #1 next year in all likelihood (assuming Barkley is back). A team with 50-60 4 and (many, many) 5* guys is still better than all those pac-12 teams with a lot of 3* guys. Even with sanctions, USC will still be better than Utah, Arizona, UCLA, Cal, etc.

It is a stretch, but this is another chance to bring up one of my hobby horses. Ohio will be "decimated" if their recruiting class of 30 is cut by 3. I would prefer that they be "quintated". The NCAA did a military act of mercy by only slaying 10% of the captives, and releasing the rest.