How Much Will USC Fall vs. Online Gambling Odds?. USC was hit with major punishments by the NCAA that will affect their success vs. the online gambling odds. The question to answer is how the penalties will affect the Trojans this year vs. odds at Internet gambling companies and how they will affect them down the road.
Online gambling odds on USC are going to change. What is unclear right now is how much they will change. Keep in mind that USC was a major power under former head coach Pete Carroll. They were considered a national title contender every season and rarely were they an underdog against the online gambling odds. Those days are over. The question is how far will the Trojans fall?
USC will still be good this season vs. the college football odds at Internet gambling companies. They will not be as good though. The latest news has some USC players considering transferring. The NCAA has said that players can transfer from USC and not have to sit out a year as they normally would. With USC facing a two-year post-season ban and a huge loss of scholarships, some players may want to go elsewhere. It will be up to new head coach Lane Kiffin to convince the players and his new recruits to stay.
USC was penalized with a two-year bowl ban and a loss of 30 scholarships over the next three years. USC is set to appeal the penalties so it is possible that the Trojans could delay the penalties for a while if they so choose. Appeals to the NCAA almost never win so it will be interesting to see what USC does.
USC is going to be hurt by the penalties. The postseason ban for two years hurts, but the loss of 30 scholarships is huge. USC will not be able to afford to make any mistakes when it comes to recruiting. All of their recruits will have to come through just for USC to compete at a high level in the Pac-10. The Trojans are not going to be as good because of the loss of scholarships. It won’t hit them this year very hard but in future seasons it is really going to hurt.
Pac-10 teams that figure to benefit from USC’s penalties are UCLA who can offer a big name coach in Rick Neuheisel and the same locale and Oregon, who is favored in online gambling to win the Pac-10 title this season.