USC claims eleven national championships, third most of any program, and they were won by four coaches across three eras: Howard Jones in the 1920s and 1930s, John McKay and John Robinson in the 1960s and 1970s, and Pete Carroll in 2003 and 2004. The NCAA vacated the 2004 title in 2010. USC still counts it, which is why the number is eleven in Los Angeles and ten elsewhere.
The Eleven Claimed Titles
| Season | Coach | Record | How it was decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Howard Jones | 9, 0, 1 | Dickinson System |
| 1931 | Howard Jones | 10, 1 | Consensus, Rose Bowl over Tulane |
| 1932 | Howard Jones | 10, 0 | Consensus, Rose Bowl over Pittsburgh |
| 1939 | Howard Jones | 8, 0, 2 | Dickinson System, Rose Bowl over Tennessee |
| 1962 | John McKay | 11, 0 | Consensus, Rose Bowl over Wisconsin |
| 1967 | John McKay | 10, 1 | AP and Coaches, Rose Bowl over Indiana |
| 1972 | John McKay | 12, 0 | Consensus, Rose Bowl over Ohio State |
| 1974 | John McKay | 10, 1, 1 | Coaches poll, shared with Oklahoma; Rose Bowl over Ohio State |
| 1978 | John Robinson | 12, 1 | Coaches poll, shared with Alabama; Rose Bowl over Michigan |
| 2003 | Pete Carroll | 12, 1 | AP poll, shared with LSU; Rose Bowl over Michigan |
| 2004 | Pete Carroll | 13, 0 | BCS title game over Oklahoma; vacated by the NCAA in 2010 |
Gold rows are undisputed titles. The red row is the 2004 championship, which the NCAA and BCS vacated and USC continues to claim.
Howard Jones and the Rose Bowl
Jones’s four titles all ran through Pasadena, and he never lost there. The 1931 team beat Notre Dame in South Bend to end a 26 game Irish unbeaten run, then beat Tulane in the Rose Bowl. The 1932 team allowed 13 points all season. The 1939 title, the last of his life, came with a 14 to 0 Rose Bowl win over a Tennessee team that had not allowed a point in the regular season. Our Tennessee national championships page covers that side.
McKay’s Four
The 1962 team went 11 and 0 and beat Wisconsin 42 to 37 in a Rose Bowl that was the highest scoring in the game’s history to that point. The 1967 team had O.J. Simpson and beat UCLA 21 to 20 in the game that decided the Heisman, the conference, and the championship. The 1972 team went 12 and 0, beat every opponent by at least nine points, and is routinely named the best in program history. The 1974 title followed the 55 to 24 comeback against Notre Dame.
USC beat Alabama 24 to 14 in Birmingham in September, lost once, to Arizona State, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The coaches poll named USC champion and the AP named Alabama, which had lost only to USC. Both schools claim it, and the head to head result is the Trojans’ argument. Our Alabama national championships page has the other view.
2003 and 2004: The Carroll Titles
The 2003 team was ranked first in both human polls but left out of the BCS championship game by the computer rankings, beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and took the AP title while LSU took the coaches’. The split is the reason the BCS formula changed. The 2004 team went 13 and 0 with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush and beat Oklahoma 55 to 19 in the Orange Bowl, the most lopsided BCS title game ever played. It was also the team the NCAA erased.
The Vacated Title
In June 2010 the NCAA found that Bush had received improper benefits, and vacated USC’s final two wins of 2004, including the Orange Bowl, and all of 2005. The BCS withdrew its recognition of the 2004 championship in 2011. USC’s official materials list eleven titles, the NCAA records book lists ten, and the 2004 team’s 34 game winning streak, which ran into the 2006 Rose Bowl, is officially fourteen games shorter than it was on the field.
The Six Unclaimed Titles
At least one recognised selector named USC champion in 1929, 1933, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2007. The 1979 team went 11, 0 and 1 with Heisman winner Charles White and finished second to Alabama. The 2002 team with Carson Palmer won the Orange Bowl and was named champion by one system. The school claims none of the six. Our page on most national championships explains how counts diverge.
The Bottom Line
USC claims eleven national championships: four under Howard Jones, four under John McKay, one under John Robinson and two under Pete Carroll. The 2004 title was vacated by the NCAA and remains on USC’s list, and the 2003 championship was split with LSU. The 1972 team is the program’s best, and 2004 is the last. Our national champions by year page has every season.