Yesterday USC escaped with a victory in the last seconds of its contest in the desert against Arizona State.

Tomorrow, the BCS standings come out, and if the Trojans rise at all from the 12th spot, fantasy will overtake reality in the computerized hype of Saturday football.

The Trojans have a top 10 coach. They have top 10 cheerleaders. They are certainly in the top 5 of the schools from which I earned a degree.

But the only Top 10 the BCS really seems to care about is the Top 10 TV markets. And LA is way up there - in the Top 2.

So, the powers that be want to see a Trojan team matched-up in a highly rated televised event in the post-season.

Unfortunately, this bias sends the wrong signal to everyone.

It overrates the Men of Troy season after season, swelling their heads while chipping away at their concentration and work ethic.

You have to ask yourself, why is it year after year USC gets flattened by a reportedly inferior team, early in the season?

Washington, Oregon State, Stanford and Cal have all been spoilers on Pete Carroll's watch.

Maybe it's an LA thing. The 2009 Dodgers blew the little games repeatedly, missing a complete collapse at the end of the season.

Watching the Trojans this year as they were outplayed in Washington and Oregon, I got the feeling the glory days are over. Other Pac-10 teams have improved while USC has regressed toward the mean.

On any given weekend, half or more of the Pac 10 can put SC through a grinder. If this isn't a change for the worse, maybe I'm out of touch.

Even the most ardent Cardinal & Gold alumni have to admit their '09 team is middling in its achievement, and it doesn't belong in the BCS top 10.

If this is where they're ranked by the BCS this week, you'll know that system is ready for an overhaul.

UPDATE: The BCS poll just ranked USC at #9 -G-