Thursday Hot Links

Football

• John Walters explains why the Rose Bowl winner could have a legit claim as the best team in the nation. [NBC]
• Darren Everson says USC is the best team, though not the most deserving. [Wall Street Journal]
• Mark Sanchez is one of 10 finalists for the Manning Award. Matt Leinart won the inaugural award in 2004. [Sugar Bowl]
• David Buehler was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week. [USC]
• Vidal Hazelton is transferring out of USC. [LA Times]
• Former USC star Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint. Bad week for Giants and guns. [ESPN]
• Mark Sanchez and Clay Matthews made the Pac-10 All-Academic first team. [Pac 10]

Also at USC

• Solomon Hill decommitted from Arizona and plans to become a Trojan. [LA Times]
• The colors cardinal and gold are now protected under trademark law. [LAist]
• Undefeated men's water polo wins back-to-back conference championships. [USC]

Elsewhere

• Lane Kiffin is already under fire from other SEC coaches. [ESPN]
• Penn State's mascot was arrested. Remember when the Stanford Tree was arrested? [Mondesi's House]
• Club sports are growing in popularity nationwide. [NY Times]
• For your best laugh of the day, read this entire article -- especially the last sentence. [Sports by Brooks]
• The holidays can create awkward family moments. Some are more public than others. [Sports by Brooks]

Finally, an observation from Jerry Crowe:

"Noting that USC is 27-0 in November under Carroll and obviously aware that a December loss to UCLA kept the Trojans out of the Bowl Championship Series title game two years ago, USC announcer Pete Arbogast told his radio audience Saturday that this week's game would be played not on Dec. 6 but rather Nov. 36."

-- Adam Rose