Times wires
Monday, June 6, 2011
LOS ANGELES — The Bowl Championship Series on Monday officially stripped USC of its 2004 championship as a result of major infractions involving running back Reggie Bush.
The BCS title will be vacated for that season. The Associated Press previously said USC will remain its 2004 champion.
"The BCS alerted us today that their presidents have voted to vacate USC's 2005 BCS Championship Game victory," USC athletic director Pat Haden said in a statement. "This was not an unexpected outcome. We will comply with all requirements mandated by the result of this BCS vote."
The ruling came less than two weeks after the NCAA denied USC's appeal to have some of the sanctions reduced. The Trojans were slapped with a two-year ban on postseason play and the loss of 30 scholarships.
USC effectively forfeited its 2004 title last year when it admitted Bush was an ineligible player during the run to the title. USC claimed the championship with a 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
The BCS was only waiting for the appeal process to be completed. USC would have lost its title even if the NCAA had ruled in its favor because the Trojans' appeal was asking only for the sanctions to be reduced.
The official ruling came after a meeting of the NCAA's Presidential Oversight Committee.
"The BCS arrangement crowns a national champion, and the BCS games are showcase events for postseason football," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement. "One of the best ways of ensuring that they remain so is for us to foster full compliance with NCAA rules. Accordingly, in keeping with the NCAA's recent action, USC's appearances are being vacated."
Ohio State: The university must "scrub everything" as it works to restore order after the resignation of Jim Tressel, president Gordon Gee said one week after the football coach's departure.
University trustees are looking at compliance issues across the university, not just in the athletic department.
"Any time that there is a mistake, or any time that there is an issue that flares up, and we go back through and scrub everything very, very carefully," he said. "We want to make certain that we're asking all the right questions."
Tressel resigned after revelations that he failed to report allegations that several players had sold or traded memorabilia for cash and tattoos. The NCAA continues to investigate the football program, particularly in regard to improper benefits and cars.
Gee said his biggest concern is making sure the university looks at mistakes it made and corrects them.