The USC football team’s BCS national championship from the 2004 season could be in jeopardy of being stripped based on penalties that are expected to be handed down by the NCAA on Thursday, a source told Yahoo! Sports. The sanctions come in the wake of a four-year investigation by college sports’ governing body into alleged extra benefits received by former Trojans Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and ex-USC basketball player O.J. Mayo. Penalties the school is expected to face include the vacation of victories from both the 2004 and 2005 football seasons. USC won the BCS title in 2004 after a victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl in January 2005. The NCAA is expected to announce that Bush was ineligible for both the 2004 and 2005 seasons after receiving extra benefits from two men who tried to start a marketing company with Bush.The NCAA probe into the Bush case began in March 2006. Mayo allegedly received money and benefits from promoter Rodney Guillory. The probe into the Mayo case started in May 2008. The BCS, which is independent of the NCAA, could rescind the football national championship. The Heisman Trophy Trust will decide if Bush should be stripped of the award he won in the 2005 season, his final year at the school. Both penalties would be unprecedented. According to published reports, USC is expected to face a postseason ban and the loss of scholarships. Both ESPN and the Los Angeles Times reported late Wednesday that the Trojans will face a two-year ban on postseason play and the loss of scholarships. The Times reported that the school will lose a total of 20 scholarships. USC can appeal the penalties. The USC men’s basketball program, which sanctioned itself in January, is not expected to receive significant further penalties Source: Rivals.com
Update ... The USC football program will receive a two-year postseason ban, a reduction in scholarships and a forfeiture of wins from at least the 2004 season when the NCAA releases its sanctions on Thursday, a source told ESPN's Shelley Smith. The Los Angeles Times reported the NCAA sanctions include the loss of more than 20 scholarships. ESPN The Magazine's Bruce Feldman confirmed the two-year postseason ban and a reduction in scholarships from a second USC source. USC will respond Thursday to the NCAA's findings following its investigation into possible violations by the Trojans' football and men's basketball programs, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad. There is no news conference scheduled for Thursday. According to an SID at USC, the school plans to issue a statement in response to any NCAA announcement addressing penalties. A different source had said earlier in the day that the school would have a news conference following the NCAA announcement. The NCAA infractions committee held a hearing in February in which USC presented its responses to allegations of NCAA violations. Results of the report have been expected for several weeks. The Trojans' football team won seven straight Pac-10 championships and two national titles during the past decade under Pete Carroll, who left to coach the NFL's Seattle Seahawks after last season. No BCS conference football programs have 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. USC football players will be informed about the sanctions at a mandatory meeting Thursday morning, a source told Feldman. "For real it's out of our hands but I'm praying that the things they are saying aren't true," senior linebacker Malcolm Smith wrote on his Twitter account Wednesday night. Once released, USC would have a chance to appeal. USC already admitted wrongdoing with the basketball program and sanctioned itself, including a ban on postseason participation, a reduction of scholarships and vacating all of its wins from 2007-08. 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. USC chose to contest the allegation against the football program, hoping to overcome the perception of a lack of institutional control, which could result in significant sanctions, including scholarship reductions, TV and postseason bans, recruiting restrictions and probation. If USC is found guilty of major violations, the NCAA also could rule that the Trojans are "repeat violators." Per NCAA rules, "An institution shall be considered a 'repeat' violator if the Committee on Infractions finds that a major violation has occurred within five years of the starting date of a major penalty." The athletic program was last sanctioned in August of 2001. ESPN LA
