Wanted: Replacement for USC

The days of USC having its way in the Pac-10 are over. I say this for two reasons 1. coaching changes. Pete Carrol's departure was bad enough, but the hiring of Lane Kiffin made things worse. I don't understand why USC gave Kiffin a contract worth more than four million dollars. Prior to his arrival at USC, Kiffin had one mediocre year at UT and a pitiful year and a half at the Oakland Raiders , at best he is unproven. Another strike against him is the fact that he brings trouble with him wherever he goes. In the SEC he made enemies with everyone before the season even started and then managed a mediocre 4-4 conference record. After arriving at USC he manged to get them in trouble by committing a secondary recruiting violation. So I guess my question is: What is so great about Lane?

The second reason I think that the reign of USC is over is because of the NCAA sanctions which include two years of no bowl games, they are ineligible for the Coaches Poll and they lose twenty scholarships. Kiffin will not be able to recruit well over the next year or two because of this. They have already lost a few of their commits due to this, most notably the number one recruit Seantrel Henderson who is reportedly leaving for the U. This will not be the last impact these sanctions have on recruiting.

In short, an unproven Coach with limited recruiting ability coming off of a 9-4 season will most likely result in a few down years for the Trojans.

This would mean that Oregon would be the heir apparent in the Pac-10 over the next year or two and with good reason. But The Pac-10 underdog that could benefit from all of this is the newly added Utah Utes. This program has surprised us a few times over the last decade with two BCS bowl wins over Pitt and Alabama (neither of which was a fluke). Even though it will be another year Before Utah Plays a Pac-10 schedule they and Oregon should be the top two contenders to replace USC at the top of the Pac-10.