Sports Realm

The University of Southern California is represented by the USC Trojans to the Pacific-10 Conference of football teams. The team is a member of the NCAA Division I FBS. Since the creation of the NCAA, the team has consistently been one of the foremost. It boasts of eleven national championships so far.

The team was created in 1888. They were first known by the name ‘Methodists’ or ‘Wesleyans’ during different times in their early career. The first game they played was a win of 16-0 over the Alliance Athletic club in the same locality. Their first collegiate game was played on the next year against St. Vincent’s College. They prevailed with a score of 4-0

In their early years, their games were limited within Southern California. Their first game outside was played against Stanford University on Nov. 4, 1905. Although they lost that match 16-0 that marked the beginning of the lasting rivalry between the two colleges. In 1912, the team was named the Trojans by a news writer in reference to the fact that they seemed to be largely unprepared for playing against their more experienced and better trained rivals.

In the years spanning 1920 to 1930, the team saw great improvement. Their coach then was Gus Henderson. With his guidance, the team began attracting the attention of enthusiasts nationwide. Howard Jones replaced Henderson in 1925 and he stayed with the team until 1940. At this time, the team garnered four national championships. They came to be called the ‘Thundering Horde.’

After Jones left the team, its career remained stable but progress was slow. From 1942 to 1953, the team won three Rose Bowl trophies. The first two victories were in 1943 and 1945 under the guidance of coach Jeff Cravath and the third one was won in 1953 with coach Jess Hill.

It was in John Mckay’s time that the team underwent another rise in power. In the years fro 1960 to 1975, two of the team members were awarded Heisman Trophies. Later, after McKay had left the team, two more team members were awarded the same trophy again. The team also won the national championship in 1978.

The teams career experienced another lull from 1980 to 1990. No new championships were won and, in general, the team performed inferiority. Management finally decided to replace the incumbent coach of 2001 with Pete Caroll. Under Caroll’s tutelage the team was once more in perfect shape. In that period they won two BCS trophies and the national trophies for 2003 and 2004 as well. The Pacific-10 Conference was under their control from 2003 to 2008.

A sour note on the team is the way they have been involved in issues. They were placed on probation 6 times all in all. The last case, that of 2010, resulted in a four-year probationary period and a ban from Bowl games for 2 years.

The Jewelled Shillelagh is the rivalry trophy that the USC Hurricanes competes for yearly with Notre Dame. It is the most famous of all the rivalry trophies that the team contends for. Notre Dame leads 42-34.

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