The 2005 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the college football season of 2005–2006, winning the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and playing for the NCAA Division I-A national championship. The team was coached by Pete Carroll, led on offense by quarterback and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
With many of their starters returning, a highly ranked recruiting class, and a number one ranking before the season, the team had high expectations of repeating as national champions as they had nearly all of their offensive starters returning, although they had only two returning defensive starters from the previous year. The team went undefeated in the regular season with nine of their twelve wins by 17 points or more and were compared with the greatest teams in the history of college football. Once again ranked first in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings, they were invited to the national championship bowl game at the Rose Bowl, where they lost to the Texas Longhorns. With a final record of 12–1, they finished the season ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press (AP) and Coaches' Polls.
A number of players from the team won national awards with running back Reggie Bush becoming the school's seventh Heisman winner before it was later vacated. Following the season, Bush was selected second in the 2006 National Football League (NFL) Draft and was followed by Leinart at tenth and nine other Trojans during the draft, with the team sending eleven players to the NFL that season.
On June 10, 2010, USC was forced to vacate two wins from the 2004 season, and all wins from the 2005 season, after an NCAA investigation into the football program (and men's basketball program) declared Bush retroactively ineligible. Additional sanctions included a bowl ban in 2010 and 2011, and the loss of 30 football scholarships (10 per year in 2010, 2011, and 2012).
Read more about 2005 USC Trojans Football Team: Before The Season
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