Go USC!

I've always been a USC football fan, going back to my schooldays in Arizona and California. When I came back to Indiana for college, I took obnoxious pride in the (then) annual Rose Bowl victories by the Pac 8 (now Pac 10) team. One year I worked the main desk in the union building on New Year's Day and was able to proudly announce that--yes, once again--the Big Ten had been defeated in the Rose Bowl.

My college years were 1975-1979. Each year, the Pac 10 won--USC in 1975, then UCLA, the USC, then Washington, and then USC again in 1979 and 1980. In fact, the Big 10 won just one Rose Bowl during the 1970s--in 1974 (OSU over USC). And their rep was always either Ohio State or Michigan. Meanwhile, the Pac 10 mixed it up with a variety of schools, any of which were up to the challenge of drumming Bo or Woody--Stanford (2 wins), USC (5 wins), UCLA (1), and Washington (1).

During the 1970s, of course, USC had that great string of running backs--Sam Cunningham (4 touchdowns in the Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State), Anthony Davis (I remember watching his 6 touchdowns against Notre Dame), Ricky Bell, and Charles White. And bookending them were OJ Simpson (1968) and Marcus Allen (1981).

A Google search tells me that USC has had more first-round draft choices than any other school--67, with Ohio State close behind at 63. I look forward to seeing those two teams meet in the championship game this year. Though I admit: Michigan has a very good claim to USC's spot.