What Does the NCAA Sanctions Against USC Mean? (Updated)

Today the NCAA released their report today on the USC athletic department. USC was hammered hard by the NCAA with sanctions against USC's football, men's basketball, and tennis programs. USC already imposed penalties against their own basketball program already. Since I don't know much about the Tennis sanctions, I thought I would take a look at what the sanctions mean for USC football. Here's the cliff notes version of the sanctions.

How Will This Affect USC Football This Year?: Not only will these sanctions affect USC this year, but also the next three years. USC is banned from bowl appearances for the next two seasons. They will still be able to play non-conference and conference games, but will not be able eligible to appear in a bowl game.

Seniors will also be granted the ability to transfer without having to sit out a year. So players such as Mitch Mustain, C.J. Gable, and Stanley Havili will be able to transfer from USC without having to sit out a year as mandated by the NCAA.

How Will This Affect USC in the Long Run?: The loss of 30 scholarships over a three year period is even bigger than the ban on postseason play for two years. This is a lot of scholarships taken away in a short time frame and could affect USC for more than three years. Not every high profile recruit works out for various reasons. With the extra scholarships though players can be replaced easily. With the lack of scholarships USC won't be able to replace those players as easily.

Also with the lack of scholarships programs like UCLA, Cal, Stanford, and the rest of the programs in the Pac-10 and college football in general will recruit players more aggressively in Southern California. Southern California has always been a hot bed for high school recruits and has been the main source of recruits for USC. Take a look at Long Beach Poly's alumni that have played football. Other teams will be able to poach players because USC won't have the scholarships to give them. And if you think these players will just walk on at USC because it's USC, then you're an idiot.

Will USC Have To Forfeit Their 2004 BCS National Championship?: While the NCAA stripped away wins from USC during the years Reggie Bush played there, they don't have the power to strip the BCS National Championship away from USC. It is entirely up to the BCS if they want to strip USC of the National Championship. As of this moment, the BCS will not strip USC of the title.

“No action will be taken until every bit of the process, including any appeals, is exhausted,” BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said.

So USC could be stripped of the title after the appeal process. Which leads me to my next question.

Will USC appeal the NCAA sanctions?: Of course USC will appeal the sanctions. USC will accept some of the penalties but will appeal the sanctions that USC feels that is "harsh." The specific sanctions USC will appeal has not been revealed. If I had to take a guess though, USC will appeal the ban of 30 scholarships.

Is This Why USC Is Paying Lane Kiffin $4 Million Dollars Per Year?: When it was announced that USC will play Lane Kiffin $4 million dollars per year, it was thought of as a joke. At the time I didn't think it was a joke. I thought USC was making a very smart decision. I didn't post about it because it was speculation, but I thought USC gave Kiffin so much money because they new beforehand that their school was about to be punished harshly by the NCAA. The money would give Kiffin a comfort zone for he wouldn't pull a Tennessee on the school and bolt for the next best job.

Could Reggie Bush Have Saved USC From This Mess?: If you're an USC fan or student, Reggie Bush should be the person who you should direct your anger at. Bush could have saved USC from this mess if he would just have paid back Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake the investments the two men gave Bush.

See this whole mess started when Lake and Michaels gave Bush and his family money and a house to stay in because they thought Bush would sign with their marketing company. Bush blew them off so Michaels and Lake were looking to get their investments back from Bush. Reggie didn't repay what he owed so Michaels and Lake blew the whistle on Reggie Bush starting this entire chain of events.

Has Reggie Bush Responded to the USC sanctions: Bush never cooperated with the initial investigation, but all of sudden he wants to. Here's the statement from Bush today.

"I have a great love for the University of Southern California and I very much regret the turn that this matter has taken, not only for USC, but for the fans and players. I am disappointed by today's decision and disagree with the NCAA's findings. If the University decides to appeal, I will continue to cooperate with the NCAA and USC, as I did during the investigation. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on making a positive impact for the University and for the community where I live."

Now Reggie wants to cooperate with with the NCAA? And the nerve of this guy saying he will focus to make a positive impact for USC after all what he has done.

Can Reggie Busch Even Associate with USC?: Nope. As part of the sanctions Bush can no longer associate with USC. So much for making a positive impact for the University.

Can This Guy or This Guy Roam the USC Sidelines?: Nope. Not even the boosters can associate with the football team.

Is This All an Conspiracy?: Believe what you want to.

Update: Pete Carroll has responded to the sanctions.