The final BCS rankings will not include the USC Trojans. They'll have to wait until 2012 when they are off probation. Only the Oregon Ducks (5th) and the Stanford Cardinal (4th) are left among the Pac-12, who both finished in the top five.
To relate this to the LA hometown teams (no, not you UCLA!), let's think about where USC would have been ranked if they were eligible for the Bowl Championship Series. Considering they always play a tough non-conference schedule (and a road matchup in Notre Dame), USC would probably have finished somewhere close behind Oregon and Stanford, perhaps even ahead of either of them. And the Trojans would probably have been an attractive choice for a BCS bowl like the Fiesta, even over Andrew Luck and Stanford.
In fact, if USC could have triumphed over Stanford in their triple overtime thriller, they would probably have the top ranking among all these teams and set up a dream national championship matchup with LSU. So close!
Here are the official rankings. Click here for a more comprehensive look at the final standings.
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma State
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
6. Arkansas
7. Boise State
8. Kansas State
9. South Carolina
10. Wisconsin
11. Virginia Tech
12. Baylor
13. Michigan
14. Oklahoma
15. Clemson
16. Georgia
17. Michigan State
18. TCU
19. Houston
20. Nebraska
21. Southern Miss
22. Penn State
23. West Virginia
24. Texas
25. Auburn
To talk about USC football, head to Conquest Chronicles.