Yes, I realize it's late and I'm sorry, but I can't even find this game on TV. It's not airing on either of the Fox Sports channels, I suppose. That said, I wish it was -- after reading about James Harden in Sports Illustrated earlier this week, I was excited to get a look at the Sun Devils.

If you are/were at the Galen Center or it's appearing on TV in L.A. on some channel I don't know about, talk about it here, of course -- and here's a piece on DeMar DeRozan by Yahoo Sports' Josh Peter.

FIGHT ON!!!!

There's a lot of mess going around regarding today's presser with Mark Sanchez going pro and Pete Carroll talking about his ability to succeed. I'd rather just present both videos from All Things Trojan, without too much editorializing by yours truly early on. First, Sanchez's decision:

Next, Carroll's comment on the decision:

I'd be remiss personally if I didn't think Sanchez should stay. It's better for the program and generally, I am loath to believe that one year of starting as a QB in college is even close to being ready prep-wise for the NFL.  However, the reality is that if your goal is to play on Sundays and an opportunity presents itself to be a first or second rounder, it's worth taking a flyer on -- particularly if you're going to get your degree this spring, like Sanchez is.

With Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow all staying for another season, there's a shortage in top-flight QBs in the draft this year -- on most draft charts, it's Matthew Stafford and then Sanchez. (Arguments about whether Tebow is or will ever be an NFL QB prospect are for another time and another forum, same goes for McCoy and Bradford, who don't play in anything too close to a pro-set -- but the latter would be ready to run a hurry-up going in.)  Given the glut at QB in 2010 and the NFL collective bargaining agreement needing to be renegotiated before 2011, Sanchez made the right financial move. Whether it's the right professional move in terms of development and success is what Carroll is challenging.

No matter what or how it turns out, best of luck to Mark and his family -- and thanks for a great season.

(Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit are really just a symptom of the problem.)

Look. I'm not gonna argue or say that the Trojans couldn't have kicked some major butt in a playoff system. It's what I want to see personally; I've been an advocate of the 16-team playoff (11 conference champs, five at-larges) for a while now, and I think you could give our pie pieces to everyone, with Florida having the most this season as BCS champion. I can't wait for the thing to be blown up.

But I've accepted the fact that USC wasn't gonna sniff the Mythical National Championship after a bad first half in Corvallis that led to the sole loss of the season, considering that USC was the only elite team in a conference stacked with mediocrity (although that's 5-0 mediocrity in bowl games, mind you) and two complete abominations in U-Dub and Wazzu. 

This is why watching the post-BCS talk shows and hearing Four-Letter talking heads like Lee Corso continually repeat that USC is the best in the country is so darn frustrating: because I know that those kind of analysts piss other fans off, and rightfully so. Really, they are not helping matters at all.

It's a flawed system, but Pete Carroll and the squad had every chance to take advantage of it by not playing a bad game on Thursday night. We didn't do it, and were stuck with the whims of the Coaches' Poll and Harris voters, along with the computers, who had our strength of schedule very low, and it didn't work to our advantage. Such is life, but it's really way too late.

So let it go, analysts -- the Trojans were very, very good, but no quite good enough. To suggest as much is an insult to Florida, who won the BCS trophy, and particularly to Utah, a school with a real complaint on its hands more than a week after the fact.

Paragon noted this in a FanPost a few days ago, but I thought it merited further discussion: Scott Wolf of the L.A. Daily News reported that USC, in exchange for releasing wide receiver Vidal Hazelton from his scholarship, has restricted where he can transfer: he can't go to another Pac-10 school or Notre Dame, which seems appropriate because the Trojans always play those teams every year. Part of Hazelton's reasons for transferring involve being closer to his family on the East Coast, so it's probably easy to say that Hazelton wasn't even considering any of these institutions to begin with.

This probably wouldn't even be noteworthy if there hadn't been a more obnoxious and harsh example set down by the University of Miami with quarterback Robert Marve prior to the Emerald Bowl: originally, Marve had been restricted from going to any school in the ACC, SEC, or in the state of Florida -- which screwed the pooch, because the reason he was transferring was to be closer to his parents, who had various personal issues. (Eventually, these restrictions were lessened to Florida, LSU, and Tennessee, along with the rest of hte ACC.)

This prompted Every Day Should Be Saturday's Orson Swindle to dub Hazelton as getting the "Marve Treatment," as he stated that where a transfer goes in D-IA shouldn't be subject to restriction; that it reeks too much of treating players as cattle.

Even though Hazelton is in no danger of going to a Pac-10 school or ND, by my estimation, Pete Carroll, or any other coach, seems to be well within some rights to request that a transfer not attend an in-state rival or within a conference (and I am highly sensitive to the cattle argument.)  The problem is kind of two-fold with the nature of recruiting: you are expecting 18-year old kids to make solid decisons about their future, and we are dealing with teenagers. That said, these young men and women who sign athletic scholarships (along with their parents, if underage) have signed something binding, and you can't just throw that out the window.  In exchange for a free education, you've made an obligation to the university that's paying for it.

There's also the double standard of coaches being able to drop everything and leave a program for a better job (if the buyout can be handled, of course) while transfers have to wait a year. This can't be helped, in a sense. If students play a couple years at a D-IA school, then decide to switch to replace a valued player in a bigger, more successful program....well, you can see where that's headed.

Hazelton is merely the latest case to come to our attention, but what would you do if you could alter the NCAA's transfer rules? Would you leave them in place or make modifications?

A couple of years back, Deadspin included the L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke in its series' titled "Why Your Hometown Columnist Sucks."  Two years later, founder Will Leitch penned a similar note in a "Media Approval Ratings" post on the man:

Plaschke is the master of the five-word, one-sentence paragraph that so many newspaper columnists employ to make their columns run longer with less work....When we lived in Los Angeles, back in 1997, we thought Plaschke was a compelling read. Then we discovered Rob Neyer and intelligent thought and the notion that sometimes people win because they're lucky and lose because they just weren't as talented, not because they were "chokers," or "champions." This revelation destroyed Plaschke's schtick pretty quick.

Generally, I am loath to pay too much attention to a man who arbitrarily decided last year that South Florida, Boston College, Hawaii, and West Virginia running near the top of the ranks of college football was bad for the game (his reasoning? It's not good when teams no one has heard of are kicking butt); my brain cells are better served by dying via alcohol than poor writing.

But now the man has determined that USC's body language at Media Day is enough to suspect that they're taking Penn State lightly.

The Penn State players spent Tuesday's 30-minute Rose Bowl media session sitting upright, quiet, attentive.

The USC players lounged. Some buried their heads in their hands and slept. Some talked on cell phones. Others bounced to iPods.

One player spent nearly the entire session stretched out on the floor underneath his table. A couple of others used their hands to pound out rhythms on top of the table.

As a giant clocked ticked off the final moments of the interview session, many of the Trojans chanted "3 . . . .2 . . . 1 . . . Happy New Year!"

Hmmm. Will it be?

If media day was any indication -- and it usually is -- there are two ways to look at how USC has handled The Week That Nobody Wanted.

1) The Trojans are loose enough to be dominant.

2) They are bored enough to be ambushed.

One thing for certain is, Penn State is neither.

You have to be kidding me. Is this the best you can do on Media Day?  Dredge up implications of how teams would play based on the faulty premise of players swaggering in with iPods, acting loose, being, y'know....kinda typical SoCal people, somewhat a reflection of their coach, who isn't anywhere near uptight (at least in public)?

I really have a hard time believing any columnist or beat repoter could tell you anything significant about how a team will play in a game based on their attitude during a mandatory media session. Go watch a practice, see how the players do there, but since Plaschke knows next to nothing about college football (never mind his supposed base in any other sport), this is all A Sign Of A Possible Letdown, which does a disservice both to the Trojans and to the Penn State Nittany Lions -- because if USC lost on New Year's Day, it will be because "they beat themselves," if only to fulfill the premise of hte earlier column.

But let us return to said column:

Once or twice a year, it seems, this Trojans monster takes on a life of its own.

No matter what their creator preaches, they hear only an inner voice that reminds them of their incredible skill. They interpret this to mean their immortality. A humbling loss usually follows.

Could they be tuning out Carroll and hearing that voice now? Considering Carroll was the one who first referred to this repetitive Rose-Bowl-as-consolation-prize-business as, "Groundhog Day," maybe they are getting the voices confused?

"No, this is an extraordinary challenge. They want to go out and show who they are," Carroll said of his team.

That will certainly happen Thursday, when they will play for a fourth consecutive January in a stadium down the street, against a team from a conference with no juice, in a game that has zero bearing on a national championship.

As witnessed Tuesday at a downtown hotel, the Trojans will be locked in a battle with their toughest opponent.

Yeah. Themselves.

A team who dominated the conference with no juice, who clearly shouldn't be tarred with the brush that taints the rest of the Big Televen right now -- hell, if you were a PSU backer and read Plaschke, you'd have fought off some contradictory impulses: either your team is the best challenge to USC in years or guilty of transitive properties of suck thanks to being in your particular conference.

Could it be that Oregon State was just a better football team that Thursday night, that they effectively run blocked, allowing Jacquizz Rodgers to hide between the tackles?

Could it be that Stanford just played out of their heads on that fateful night last season?

Could it be that Plaschke has no clue what he's talking about when it comes to the dynamics of a team?

Yeah. Most definitely.

The motto gleaned from Plaschke's work, and that of many other sports columnists these days, is pretty simple: don't bother breaking down the actual match-ups on both sides of the ball in the Rose Bowl when you can mail in a column on Media Day without referencing one single statistic that might tell you something about what to look for on Thursday afternoon.

(If you're interested, Plaschke butchers baseball worse than he does football, if that's possible. Fire Joe Morgan tore him apart mercilessly.)

Or: Why Everyone Who's Entirely Sure That USC Will Win By Double Digits Is Lying.

(Note: I know some of this was covered by Paragon in the post below, but it's worth expounding on the defensive showdown coming on both sides.)

Per stats stolen from Yahoo, here are the top five teams in defense so far in the 2008 season:

1. USC (7.8 ppg, 206.1 yds per game, 17 INT)
   
2. TCU (10.9, 215.1, 15)
   
3. Boise State (12.3, 294.5, 22)
4. Penn State (12.4, 263.9, 16)
   
5. Florida (12.8, 279.3, 24)

No matter what you may think of the Big Televen's schedule or its relative downslide in the wake of the past two national championship games (never mind last year's defenestration of Illinois), it does not apply here, because giving up fewer than two touchdowns a game in a BCS conference is a mark of a very, very good team.

Where We Stand

When you break it down by individual category, USC's #1 overall ranking is due to topping the ranks in passing D (122.8) and finishing 4th in rush D (a stingy 83.3 yards per game, 7 rushing TDs allowed). 

The most points allowed? 27 in the loss to Oregon State, much the result of one very sloppy first half. Stanford was the only other opponent to break 20 points, and that again came in a game with a large point differential at the end (45-23.) 

Strength: the linebacking corps led by Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga, teaming up with Fili Moala on the D line.  A solid secondary led by Taylor Mays ties together a pass rush with good coverage downfield to break up plays or to keep receivers in front of them after the catch. With Daryll Clark and Evan Royster putting much of the LCD power into the Spread HD, the standouts need to get past the Nittany Lions' offensive line. This can be done: the Lions have given up a sack a game, on average -- but that still isn't a ton in the scheme of things. It's on Mays and the rest of the secondary to keep Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood, and the rest of the Lions' receivers covered so that the front seven can get to Clark and disrupt his timing.

Obvious concern? Clark's mobility. One of the linebackers is going to have to play the "spy" role to catch him while rolling out or when he decides to take it himself. Secondary possibility? Derrick Williams taking direct snaps, although since you are already defending for 11 with Clark under center, that shouldn't throw the defense off guard.

The Formidable Opponent

Penn State gets to #4 overall with a 7th in rushing (93.9 ypg), despite being 12th in passing defense (168 per game, still stingy.) They allowed 24 points twice: first in an Illinois game that was not as close as the score indicated, then in their sole loss to Iowa on the road in Kinnick Stadium, mostly thanks to tough yards dug out by Shonn Greene. No one else got more than 18 points against them, and this was mostly done with a four-man line both holding feature backs of the likes of OSU's Chris Wells, Michigan State's Javon Ringer, and Wisconsin's P.J. Hill under 100 yards and putting the hurt on opposing QBs.

Aaron Maybin has been a beast, racking up 12 sacks while Jared Odrick's 300 lbs. helps stuff the run. LB Navorro Bowman is the latest star to emerge at "Linebacker U"; he recovered the crucial fumble leading to the game-winning score over Ohio State.

The only spot to exploit: possible weaknesses in the secondary. Anthony Scirotto is a fierce, hard hitting safety, but the team's #12 ranking in passing D suggests that a medium-range passing game, with the occasional bomb to take advantage of possible man coverage could yield benefits for Mark Sanchez, Patrick Turner, and Damian Williams -- and an opening for Joe McKnight to work for yards after the catch. Whether Steve Sarkisian will be creative enough to use those wrinkles in his last game as OC and QB coach is another question.

The thing is, the Trojans are going to need to establish that run first. It's to PSU's advantage to make USC lean on Stafon Johnson, C.J. Gable, and Joe McKnight. The benefit for the Lions is that the Trojans' offensive line is young -- and with that in mind, the offense has had moments alternating between utter domination and intense confusion on timing. Sanchez can throw on the run well, so the Penn State defense faces a similar challenge to USC's: disrupt his timing and have Bowman or someone else in the front seven catch up with him when he leaves the pocket.

Punching Each Other In The Mouth

Do not, I repeat, do not be surprised if this game ends in any of these scores: 17-10, 14-10, 13-7, etc., no matter how much crap you might hear about the talent gap.  This reads like the best and most competitive of the BCS bowls on paper for a reason, and I expect a close, low-scoring game based on the defensive numbers alone.

Quite psosibly the worst kept secret about who will take over Steve Sarkisian's duties as QB coach has been all but confirmed in the L.A. Times by Gary Klein.  After a four-year break, it sounds like Carl Smith will be taking over the tutelage of Mark Sanchez, Mitch Mustain, and Aaron Corp.

Asked if Smith would officially be in place by the end of the weekend, Carroll said, "Carl's here and sitting with us and working with us -- it looks good. We've got some stuff we've got to work out. If we can get that thing all ironed out, I'll be really happy about that."

Sarkisian will remain with the Trojans and call plays in the Rose Bowl against Penn State.

Receivers coach John Morton will succeed Sarkisian as offensive coordinator, but Carroll has not yet determined who will call plays next season.

Morton has said he would remain in the coaching booth in the press box. Smith, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, would be on the field.

Earlier this week, Smith declined to comment about the possibility of rejoining the staff, saying only "I love watching this team practice."

Obviously, nothing's truly official until it's put out by the athletic department, but I want to guess that they're waiting on this until after the Rose Bowl, because Sark will still be calling plays and running the offense during that game before heading up to Seattle.

Honestly, the hires to fill Sark's roles don't mean a whole lot to me right now, until we actually see in spring practice what they mean for play-calling, as well as who will be doing the play calling. With the Nittany Lions coming to town, that's kind of putting the cart before the horse.

From the USC football official webstie, both Taylor Mays and Rey Maualuga are part of the first team All-America choices for ESPN.com and the Sporting News. That makes nine All-America first teams for the senior LB and 8 for the junior safety.  Brian Cushing and Fili Moala made their way onto the second team choices for the Sporting News.

Naturally, congrats to the guys on making their names and impacts felt on the best-of lists this year.

The real question on minds after the Rose Bowl, of course, is whether Mays will be sticking around for another year or joining Maualuga and Cushing in their goals of playing on Sundays next season.

Love it if Mays stayed, but if he's predicted as a high first round pick, he's got to make a run for the draft.  There are too many teams in the draft that could use secondary help in the NFL, and 2009 could possibly be the last season with the rookie scale for first-rounders being a crazy amount of jack.  If you didn't know, the owners have dropped out of the collective bargaining agreement come 2011 with the NFLPA, and one of the things the union might be willing to concede on is the guaranteed contracts for rookies

There are plenty of instances in which top draft picks are making more in guaranteed money off being lottery guys or high-first rounders than free agents who feel they've earned the payday.  It's gotten to the point where front offices are looking to trade out of a lottery pick more often than not in order to save themselves between $10-15 million on a first rounder, or at least get more picks for that money rather than throwing it into one high-profile player's guaranteed salary.

If Mays stays, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Look for him and plenty of other juniors who rate well with the scouts that are hired to evaluate position to make the leap even if they could actually use a final year of seasoning. 

(By contrast, I think Stafon Johnson will be sticking around, judging by the way most NFL teams are avoiding anything less than the sure thing star RBs in the higher reaches of the first round. There were five taken in the 2008 first round, only Darren McFadden was a lottery pick. Jonathan Stewart went 13 to Carolina; Felix Jones, Rashard Mendenhall, and Chris Johnson went 22-24. Given the brutal nature and short shelf life of RBs, teams aren't gonna jump to give massive bonuses to less than absolute sure things right now.)

Please join me in welcoming Signal to Noise to our editorial team here at Conquest Chronicles. I am really excited as S2N does some fine writing over on his own site. He will continue to write there while also sharing his witty prose with us here...Welcome!

It's about that time of year again. between the final game of the regular season and the bowls, when the perfect storm of talk regarding which top-flight college football coach might consider leaving the D-IA ranks to press his luck in the NFL. As we USC backers well know, this speculation invariably involves surmising what it will take to get Coach Carroll back to the NFL.

Hey, there are analysts at ESPN and columnists who need to fill air time and space on the page until the bowl games get underway. I understand. Before these things reach a real full head of steam for yet another news cycle, let's first state the obvious, as far as we know: any report of Carroll leaving Heritage Hall for the NFL is not to be trusted until he actually signs on someone else's dotted line.

With that, let's run through a few phrases you might hear or read and what they really mean:

Talking Head: "Candidates for the position with Franchise A include Coach A, Coach B, and Pete Carroll."

English: These are the trial balloons floated by owners, GMs or other front office folks to gauge interest from said candidates. It serves two purposes: to make the offer interesting and seem enticing. This is done to flatter the ego of the men they'd like to interview.

TH: "It has to be a dream situation for Carroll to leave USC to return to the NFL."

English: After running a championship program here at USC, he probably wants full personnel control. This is an arrangement that doesn't work very well in the pros any more unless you are Bill Belichick. (I am a Broncos fan in the pro game -- ask us how we feel about Mike Shanahan holding on to his prez of football ops title.)

TH: "GM A has talked with Pete Carroll about Franchise A's head coaching vacancy."

English: Bunk. If a GM is doing the talking, it's not going to happen. They're shooting the breeze, for reasons noted in the previous entry.

TH: "I'm told that Owner A has spoken to Pete Carroll about the job."

English: Phone conversation, but it's at least semi-legitimate. Not much will come of it, and you'll hear repeated mentions of things like this until --- whoops! -- Carroll decides he'd prefer to stay at USC.

Frankly, it won't happen again this year -- there are no coaching opportunities in the NFL that could offer Carroll the money he'd probably like and the authority, either -- but it won't stop the chattering class (including yours truly, so, grain of salt!) from discussing it because they've got time to fill.