College athletes generate a ton of money for their respective universities. Most of the time, it's football and basketball players that bring in the majority of cash for schools. Now, it may be time for cheerleaders to contribute, at least for USC.

That's right. The USC Song Girls, called the "Crown Jewel of USC Spirit" and the "most photographed spirit group in the country", are now for rent. And they only cost $150.00. Ah, no -- scratch that. They cost a buck-fitty per lady that you want to attend.

The Georgia Bulldogs opened the college football season as number one overall for the first time in the history of their school. It didn't last very long. Like, until this afternoon. Blame USC. Blame the pollsters. Or blame the athletic department for scheduling Georgia Southern.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

The voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

That's not to over-qualify Virginia as a team that deserves that much respect (sorry; no real offense intended but the ACC will take it from everyone all week long and like it whether they want to or not) but the truth of the matter, which Mandel also pointed out, is that pollsters no longer want to reward teams heavily for playing cream puffs early on in their schedule.

So, lesson: play a tougher pastry with some name value like Virginia, and you'll end up better. Oh, and do yourself a favor: don't lose to someone like App.

Grab a beer, open the pretzels and kick some kid off a right field wall -- it's football season. Get the 10 things we'll be watching this weekend as we fail life like a Nick Saban recruit on test day.

Can Clemson Block Anyone?

The Tigers have three possible Heisman candidates in their backfield in quarterback Cullen Harper and the nation's best running back duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller. But for the No. 9 Tigers, extracting results out of the trio might be like trying to play a CD on a turntable, unless they get a better than expected performance from a rebuilt offensive line. Clemson is breaking in four new starters in the trenches, including Harper's entire blind side. Both all-ACC performers Chris McDuffie and Barry Richardson are gone from last year's unit. Keep an eye on Jamarcus Grant, the Tigers' starting left guard, who played just 86 snaps in two years and who has in the past apparently taken conditioning hints from Dom DeLuise. The Tigers backfield has plenty of flash, but against Alabama, they'll need to prove they have the spark up front to light it.

Score that two former USC players running smack ahead of the Ohio State game. Everyone's favorite not-so-slightly doughy back made sure to let everyone know what he thinks of Ohio State before ESPN cameras. There's some context of course, as it was a friendly -- if random -- comment as the Jim Rome show followed Titans lineman Kevin Mawae for a feature.

Audio

Sayeth Rome: "White's comment was a complete non sequitur"

The segment will broadcast Friday on "Rome Is Burning" (4:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN), the game will be played Sept. 13th in Los Angeles. The Trojans would probably be heavy favorites with White, but the continued noise coming from former USC players can only have the effect of working against USC in Las Vegas.

(Via: Sports by Brooks)

Well, at least, those are somebody's words, and he's in the picture doing that Urban Meyer pointy thing. At right is what appeared in yesterday's Los Angeles Times. Notice the big, bold, capital OVER. Now technically this isn't so much a shot across the bow as a call to an end to USC's hegemonic grip on football success in Los Angeles. But we all know the other message implied here: I'm coming for you, USC. Cue the High Noon audio.

Bold. And idiotic. Pete Carroll being Pete Carroll, he'll laugh this off in public and promptly save it for bulletin board material at suitable leisure. It's not that the ad is wrong in anyway, as the mandate for any football coach at UCLA is to achieve parity with and if possible exceed USC. But one can't laugh at how ridiculous it sounds given the position USC is in, having gone places UCLA simply can only imagine in its football history.

As a USC alum it is assumed I should be typing the obligatory IT.IS.ON. But that's not how we roll, UCLA's the irritating kid brother when it comes to football. This is quiet reflection and amusement time. Then its off to the memory hole to be recalled sometime around early December before the ritual stomping. At least, we hope.

(Orange County Register via WildWest)

Myles Brand is the President of the NCAA. He makes nearly a million dollars a year as the steward of college athletics. He's adamant about those athletes not getting paid. And now he's been published in the Huffington Post (guess we know where his politics lean).

Neither higher education, of which college sports is only a small part, nor intercollegiate athletics is truly capitalistic. They do not generate revenue to make a profit; they generate revenue to fulfill a purpose, to meet the mission of higher education. If they were models of capitalism, many academic programs and nearly all sports other than football and men's basketball would be dropped because they are too costly and do not generate enough revenue to pay their own way.

Read the whole thing. I'm not necessarily in favor of institutions paying the athletes, but the argument itself isn't the most convincing.

Brand is right that most collegiate sports don't make money just as many college departments don't make money. They're still part of a broader, profit-driven institution however. Just as the janitorial crew that cleans up a pro sports stadium contributes to the product but doesn't add to the bottom line, some college sports are around and contribute something without profiting. However, the janitorial crew gets compensated because they are an essential part of the machine. So are the athletes, but without cash reimbursement.

After transferring from the banana republic that is Arkansas football to the Shangri-La that is USC, it was expected that Mitch Mustain would seriously challenge to become the next quarterback at USC. NCAA rules forced him into a year on the practice squad where he appeared all but even with Mark Sanchez in the battle to replace John David Booty this year.

That's all changed. Sanchez was named the starter after the spring, but the gap was seemingly narrow between the competitors. Sanchez then dislocated his kneecap in a freak injury, creating the most golden of golden opportunities for Mustain to take the job and possibly never look back. Handed the world, Mustain appears to have balked, badly. Says longtime USC reporter Steve Bisheff, formerly of the Orange County Register:

[I]nstead of being aggressive and taking control, he seemed to back off, appearing tentative and unsure of himself. In the first of three scheduled preseason scrimmages at the Coliseum, Mustain was outplayed by Aaron Corp, the redshirt freshman who had been the star of the spring game. Some said it was because Corp was playing with the first-team offense for most of the scrimmage and that things would change in the second scrimmage.

Except that wasn't really the case. Most observers rated Mustain and Corp even in scrimmage No. 2, although some felt Corp had come out slightly ahead again.

Carroll hasn't said anything officially, but in practices this week, Corp, the more mobile of the two, has appeared with the first-team offense more often than Mustain. That is not a good sign for the Arkansas transfer.

Clearly. Sanchez has recovered remarkably fast and may be ready in time for the Virginia game, but he's now a marked man making it important for USC to determine his backup. Many observers at this point think USC may just settle for athletic but inexperienced redshirt freshman Corp. So much for Mustain's 8-0 record in SEC play!

With the expected arrival of No. 1 quarterback recruit Matt Barkley next year, things are looking bleak for Mustain if he can't even hold on to the No. 2 job. Heading to USC was a good choice for Mustain, away from a bad situation and onto a good and stable team. Unfortunately something appears to have gone horribly wrong in the process.

It's more than a little hard to hear, but we get a rare glimpse at Pete Carroll's serious voice. The end reward isn't the most exciting thing around, but the players get to skip practice and Carroll's plenty fired up.

It's not exactly Carroll jumping around in a Wonderbread racing suit, but that's ok.

Duh. Not that it's news around these parts, but USC should be good this year. Potentially really good. Talent abounds and there's plenty of energy in the program. On the field USC will field a tremendous defense and potentially an offense better than last year's.

The Trojans aren't as interesting or as successful as they once were, but they're so far ahead of most opponents with their talent that its nearly impossible to remove them from early conference and national title consideration. Obligatory introductory yammering, complete.

WHY THEY'LL WIN

Talent and defense. Since Pete Carroll arrived at USC in 2001, his ability to recruit and create a tough, dominant defense have been the constants. This year is no different with a bevy of future NFL stars on the roster (nevermind those 10 they lost to the draft, there's more like them on the way), particularly on defense. Linebackers Rey Mauauga and Brian Cushing are the headliners, but guys like defensive tackle Fili Moala, safeties Taylor Mays and Kevin Ellison and defensive end Everson Griffen could all star anywhere, no hyperbole. USC will have yet another great defense to keep them in ballgames. On offense the talent will be there, from currently injured quarterback Mark Sanchez to tailbacks Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight and C.J. Gable. Mix in any of a dozen or so receivers and fullback Stanley Havili behind a top notch line and the pieces are there to be above average offensively -- if USC wants to be. The schedule is easy enough outside of that Sept. 13 game against Ohio State. The Pac-10 looks down this year and all last year's road toughies are now at home. The prize is there for the taking.

Now I'm not a religious person, but it's difficult to overlook the symbolism of the Southern Cal football team, who have over the last few years been the very embodiment of decadence, excess, and godless hedonism, being savagely struck down by a biblical plague of crotch-gnawing jock itch.

That's right, folks, you read that correctly. Fully 25% of the Trojan football team has contracted a particularly ornery strain of jock itch, whose virulent epidemiology has left even Pete Carroll speechless, and I'm sure he's seen damned near every groin-related malady in his long tenure as a football coach.

The preliminary suspect for this outbreak is the new stretch pants the team is breaking in this year, although there's plenty of room for alternative theories. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for the groins of the lads of Southern Cal. Nah, just kidding, I hope they burn for years.