Updated: May 25, 2011, 7:34 PM ET
Source: USC's appeal to NCAA denied

By Joe Schad
ESPN.com
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USC has been notified by the NCAA infractions appeals committee that all penalties and findings against the athletic department have been upheld, according to a person close to the situation.

USC had pointed in its appeal to precedent as a reason that their penalties were excessive. But the appeals committee stated that those cases were not directly applicable, the source said.

USC will lose 30 scholarships over the next three years and won't be eligible to play in this year's Pac-12 title game or a bowl game.

Also continuing is the provision allowing USC upperclassmen to transfer to any FBS schools without the typical one-year penalty, which Trojans coach Lane Kiffin called "free agency" last year. Any USC senior can transfer this offseason and play his final season at a school of his choosing.

The NCAA imposed those penalties in June 2010 after ruling Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and basketball player O.J. Mayo received improper benefits. The university also was cited for a lack of institutional control. Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy.

Two weeks after the June ruling, school officials said they would appeal some of the penalties, calling them excessive. The Trojans were given four years' probation, had to vacate 14 wins and were required to banish Bush from the program.

Wednesday's news presumably closes the book on USC's case with the NCAA, as USC athletic director Pat Haden said in January that the school would take no further action following the announcement of the appeal decision.

USC issued a statement Wednesday, declining specific comment until Thursday.

"USC has received a response from the NCAA regarding our appeal of NCAA sanctions," the statement said. "However, under NCAA rules, we cannot comment on this response until the NCAA releases the decision to the public tomorrow morning (May 26)."

Joe Schad is a college football reporter for ESPN.com. Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Pedro Moura and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Updated: May 26, 2011, 2:14 PM ET
USC 'vehemently' disagrees with ruling

By Arash Markazi
ESPNLosAngeles.com

LOS ANGELES -- The NCAA infractions appeals committee has upheld all penalties and findings against USC, the university announced Thursday.

USC will lose 30 scholarships over the next three years and won't be eligible to play in this year's Pac-12 title game or a bowl game.

"We respectfully, but vehemently, disagree with the findings of the NCAA's Infractions Appeals Committee," the university said in a statement. "Our position was that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion and imposed penalties last June that were excessive and inconsistent with established case precedent."

USC was appealing the NCAA to reduce its two-year bowl ban to one year and limit football scholarship reductions to five in each of the next three years instead of the scheduled 10. The university pointed in its appeal to precedent as a reason why its penalties were excessive but the appeals committee stated that those cases were not directly applicable.

USC athletic director Pat Haden said he was "gravely disappointed" in the NCAA's ruling.

"I can assure our student-athletes, coaches and fans that we made every possible argument -- forcefully and vigorously -- for modifying unjust penalties," Haden said.

Haden and USC president Max Nikias, along with the university's legal representatives, attended an appeals hearing in Indianapolis on Jan. 22 and made the case for the school. A decision was initially expected in four to eight weeks but ended up taking four months, finally closing the book on a case which began five years ago.

"I respect the NCAA's decision to uphold the sanctions against USC," football coach Lane Kiffin said. "That being said, I am disappointed for our players, our fans and our staff that another bowl game and now a possible Pac-12 championship game has been taken away from them."

The appeal's rejection also means USC's seniors will be able to transfer without sitting out a year as was the case last year when the penalties were initially announced, a sanction that Kiffin has criticized as "free agency."

"We have been operating with these sanctions for a year now and have felt their effects on multiple fronts," Kiffin said. "We will continue to execute the plan we have in place to make the most of the hand with which we have been dealt. I am proud of how our players have performed on the field and represented us off the field under very difficult and trying circumstances. I look forward to them continuing to do so as we move on to make the best of our situation."

Reacting to the NCAA's decision, USC quarterback Matt Barkley tweeted, "Our team will embrace the challenge as one and be stronger for it. Times of adversity are special opportunities to Fight On!"

In June, USC was penalized for a lack of institutional control by the NCAA following its four-year investigation into numerous improper benefits received by Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo. USC was put on four years' probation, hit with a two-year bowl ban, lost 30 football scholarships over three years and vacated 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season. The NCAA took no further action against the men's basketball team, which had already banned itself from postseason play last season and vacated its wins from Mayo's season.

Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy two months after USC removed its replica of the trophy and Bush's jersey from places of honor in Heritage Hall.

While USC felt it had a good case in arguing the NCAA's penalties as excessively harsh, a change to the NCAA bylaws in January 2008 has made appeals by institutions especially difficult to win. The new bylaw states that the appeal will be granted only if the institution can show the penalty is excessive "such that it constitutes an abuse of discretion" by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. Since the new bylaw was put in three years ago, only one in 11 appeals has been successful.

"We are extremely disappointed in this result," Nikias said. "We are very concerned that the historical value of case precedent and the right to fair process in the NCAA adjudicative process, both in terms of the ability of an institution to defend itself or prove an abuse of discretion on appeal, have been substantially eroded.

"Further, the decisions of the COI and IAC have set a standard that leaves little, if any, room to discipline more egregious violations that will be addressed by the NCAA in the future without irreparably damaging athletic programs across the country."

Haden previously has said he wouldn't sue the NCAA if the appeal fails, which means the formidable recruiting skills of Kiffin and defensive coordinator Ed Orgeron will be tested by scholarship limitations for the near future. Kiffin replaced Pete Carroll five months before the NCAA imposed its extensive penalties last June, and Haden replaced Mike Garrett in July.

USC also made wholesale changes in its athletic department during Haden's tenure, dramatically beefing up its compliance staff.

Kiffin and Orgeron stocked up on players earlier this year while the sanctions were under appeal, signing 22 recruits to letters of intent or scholarship agreements shortly after eight additional players enrolled in January.

Kiffin said he has been "impressed with the reception we have received from recruits. They understand the value of a USC degree and the opportunities afforded them by playing football here."

Arash Markazi is a columnist and writer for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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