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The only way the recently fired Ernie Kent will be smiling is if Oregon somehow makes a miraculous run in this weekend's Pac-10 Tournament . (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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It's a rather slow news day here at USC with most Trojan fans continuously glancing at their calendars to check the dates for spring football (note: the first practice is March 30th). Nonetheless, tonight marks the start of the Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center with bottom feeders Oregon and Washington State facing each other in the play-in-game with the winner looking to advance to faced top seeded Cal in the quarterfinals (I know, it's terribly exciting). But still, here's some stuff to keep tabs on this afternoon: 

• Jeff Nusser of CougCenter breaks down one of the least intriguing Pac-10 tournaments in recent memory. Actually, with the postseason contest being just instituted back in 2002, this might be the least compelling event in history. It's not a stretch. Even still, a strong performance from either bubble team Arizona State or Washington could propel either of them into the field of 65. Or could a team like Arizona surprise and earn the conference's automatic birth? 
• It's a tough time to be Ernie Kent right now, as the Oregon coach, who once led the Ducks to two Elite Eight finishes, was fired earlier this yet.  Yet, Kent and senior point Tajuan Porter will look to cap off their careers in Eugene with a solid performance in the conference tournament. 
• It hasn't been an easy season for the UCLA basketball team as evident by their sub-.500 record. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles examines some of the problems that have been plaguing Ben Brat's as they head into the final stretch.
• Things haven't gotten any easier for Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks, as accused running back LaMichael James will change his plea to guilty according to various sources, including The Oregonian. Not exactly a pleasing turn of events for Kelly, who has yet to suspend James for a determined amount of time. 
• After losing 2-out-of-3 to New Mexico over the weekend, the USC baseball team rebounded nicely with a 5-0 shutout victory on the road against Pepperdine. Starter Kevin Couture was particularly impressive, as the senior rebounded from a poor outing on Sunday to throw seven scoreless innings. The Trojans will face an up-and-coming Connecticut team tonight at Dedeaux Field before heading to Hawaii for a mid-season tournament.
• While most of the talk surrounding the USC basketball program has centered around the men's ban from the postseason, it's important to remember that the Women of Troy remain in the hunt for a birth in the NCAA Tournament this spring, especially with the return of redshirt junior and former five-start recruit Jackie Gamelos.

( Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times / October 3, 2009 )

That is the OCR's tag line not mine...

You have got to read some of the "translations" in the slide show attached this article...

Coach Rick Neuheisel said it was his decision to replace Kevin Prince with Richard Brehaut in the fourth quarter against Oregon. On Monday, he tried to downplay Prince's benching.

"Kevin Prince is the guy we chose," Neuheisel said. "We're going to get Kevin Prince prepared to play and he's going to play well this week. But I still want to keep Richard on the come."

Translation: Prince has one more game to get his act together. Once again, we're here to put the coachspeak into context.

Click through to check it out.

Ah, the gift that keeps on giving!

Enjoy...

Alright gents....it is caption this picture time.

Words escape me!

Unbelievable...

(HT - Doc Saturday)

This is from 790 The Zone in Atlanta.

...or should it be, great for business, bad for blogging.

Apologies for being off the radar the past week or so. Things are really busy at work...A lot of the time I have put into some things are now starting to pay off and my reward is having to work some longer hours for the time being.

I am not going to get to crazy with Stanford. SC wants to avenge last years shocker and there is no need to look at stats, numbers or projections. Stanford is a better team than last season but lets not get carried away. SC has the best defense in the land and they will be motivated to make amends for that last Stanford drive last season. It's in the past, simple as that.

Just a couple of quick notes on some things that I have seen in passing...

Joe McKnight - Suffice it to say McKnight has had a pretty uninspiring season.

McKnight's season has been stunted from the beginning. During training camp in August, he was one of many Trojans stricken with what players and coaches described as "jock itch." He also suffered a broken finger when a teammate accidentally slammed a door on his hand, and a hyper-extended elbow during a scrimmage.

McKnight scored his only touchdown of the season on a pass reception in the opener against Virginia, but he was forced to leave the Ohio State game in September because of a migraine. In October he suffered a toe injury while rushing for a career-best 143 yards against Arizona State.

And on and on and on...

There is no question that McKnight can be explosive but his problems securing the ball and his apparent fragility have taken away his ability to be consistent. Another thing that is troubling is that it appears that he is still having some issues in school and that has caused him to be held out of practice because of missed classes and tutoring sessions.

USC tailback Joe McKnight did not suit up for the Trojans' game against Washington on Nov. 1 because he accumulated too many negative points, which are given to athletes for missing classes or tutoring sessions.

When McKnight missed the game, a recurring problem with turf toe was listed as the official reason. But sources said he was held out because of the negative points.

Missing classes kept McKnight from finishing spring ball as well...I am not liking this pattern but there could be a silver lining...

Broderic Green - With Green transferring out it once again opens up questions about the philosophy of having so many backs on the roster, but could his transfer have been avoided?

I have not weighed in with my own opinion on Broderick Green's transfer other to say it's good for him and not-so-good for USC. I was always a proponent of using him in a specific role (like short yardage) because it would keep him engaged and prevent him from being frustrated.

In two years, Green would be an extremely valuable member of the offense. But with so little playing time, he did not want to wait any longer. This could be a haunting decision for the Trojans.

I think Wolf has a good point here. I have defended Pete Carroll's use of the rotation system in the past as long as it is working consistently. For the most part it has but the downside is that there are some unhappy backs. WIth Bradford out with a hip injury and now with Green transferring SC really doesn't have a power type running back available to play. Not that we have used it much this season or any season since LenDale white left but as I have said in the past, if these guys looked so good in practice why not get them in the game.

BTW Green will probably end up at Arkansas...

I don't think I am breaking any new ground here when I say that this could be this teams undoing. Is it possible that the offense being inconsistent is because they can't find a groove with all the substitutions? Like him or not Petros has said it numerous times on is broadcasts. There is no creativity in the player packages so that opposing teams won't see a pattern. In terms of pure talent SC is second to none but now the questions are how that talent is being used. Depending how the season turns out this could receive en more attention. Adam Maya has a pretty good write up on the backfield that is a must read.

Too Little Too Late...

Interesting comments from Oregon's administrator Neal Zoumboukos on the legacy of outgoing Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen.

A former assistant football coach, Zoumboukos is the special assistant to UO director of athletics Pat Kilkenny. While he told listeners he was voicing his “personal” opinions, his position on the staff and the fact he was filling in on a weekly segment on KUGN in place of Kilkenny adds weight to his statements. The comments came during the weekly “Duck Calls” which is promoted as Kilkenny discussing issues related to UO athletics as well as taking telephone calls from listeners.

Hansen is due to retire June 30, 2009 but Zoumboukos stated that the league’s leader “should have retired 15 years ago.”

Zoumboukos also said he had “little or no respect” for members of Hansen’s staff. He also charged that “nepotism” had been prevalent in hirings by the Pac-10 office and said he welcomed new leadership that will change league policies.

I sure hope he has his resume' ready..

Switching to Hoops...

USC hopes to hear about UNC transfer Alex Stepheson's eligibility ruling today.

With the basketball season starting on Saturday the OCR's USC blog has a few quick hits for the upcoming season.

That's all for now...

There is a great post on Burnt Orange Nation about an easy way to post Fanshot’s from YouTube.

Following text taken from BON...

1) Go here and stick the Fanshot button on your browser.

2) Go to YouTube and find any USC highlight you love.

3) Use your Fanshot widget to send it to Conquest Chronicles.

4) Make sure you tag the Fanshot with 'youtube' and 'USC highlights', along with any other relevant descriptors.

And that's it. An instant vault of USC highlights, sortable by tag.

All right, I admit it I have been a bit lazy in posting. I really didn't feel like talking about the foregone conclusion of who would be the starting QB.

Anyway, here is what has been going on around USC and around the Pac-10.

Détente?

From Brian Grummel at Fanhouse?

Hey I'm all for it! This is one of those things that will make the rivalry fun again!

Sure, right...whatever you say!

Maualuga projected to be picked 31st in 2009? From Scouts NFL Experts.

They have Cushing going 24th so I'm not sure what they are thinking. Like Wolf said this is worthless information but interesting to see what some of the experts are thinking.

Johnson bolts Stanford for LSU

Well this is interesting

This was kind of surprising. I know that Stanford was expected to give Johnson and extension but with Stanford's season ending almost two weeks ago what was taking them so long?  With the Lopez brothers committing to the draft the writing on the wall was that Stanford was going to have a rough road ahead. I wonder how Mike Montgomery feels today. If he had waited just a couple of more weeks.....

I wonder what Cal is thinking?

So what about that Coliseum deal?

More going on behind the scenes?

Well, you know how government runs some one always has to have their hands in the pie. Here is an interesting question, anyone think some big SC donor would buy the Coliseum and donate to SC? I don't, but it's a nice dream.

Oregon State finally gets a new basketball coach

And the hire Obama's brother-in-law to be the new coach.

Of course there were some questions about the hire, but Jake over at Building the Dam does an excellent job at defending the hire.

Jake always gives the straight scoop and he makes some fair points.

Finally...

Orson, as usual, has some fun with Brennan Carroll and Mark Sanchez.