NCAA: USC Trojans Could Face 2-year Postseason Ban, Scholarship Losses

The University of Southern California Trojan football team, now coached by former one-year Vol head coach Lane Kiffin, are facing a ban from post-season bowl appearances for two years, according to a report from ESPN.com. Additional sanctions include scholarship losses and forfeiture of some past games.

The NCAA had been probing the Trojans for years after report of players including running back Reggie Bush accepting funds from boosters. The violations occurred during the coaching of Pete Carroll who is now with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. He quickly jumped ship to join the ‘Hawks in the NFL near the end of the investigation which led many to believe he had sniffed out potential punishment from the NCAA. Despite the lingering NCAA ordeal, Lane Kiffin bailed on his job at the University of Tennessee to accept the vacant position.

No BCS conference football programs has been banned from postseason play over the past seven years, but the NCAA has been expected to make an example of USC, one of the highest-profile programs in the country.

At stake as well are the BCS Championship that USC won as well as the potential for the loss of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy.

The school’s football team is under investigation for its dealing with Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush, who played at the school from 2003 to ’05. If Bush is found retroactively ineligible, the Heisman Trust could strip him of his 2005 award.

The NCAA and investigators from the Pac-10 Conference have tried to determine whether Bush and his parents took improper benefits, including an alleged rent-free residence provided by a sports marketer. Bush has not met with NCAA and Pac-10 investigators and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.