The Bowl Championship Series announced Monday it has stripped Southern California of its football national championship in 2004, the final act in a saga tied to the ineligibility of former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.

This marks the first time a football or men's basketball championship has been vacated in major college sports since the polls began.

The Trojans beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl to claim the title that season. Bush carried six times for 75 and had two receptions for 31 yards in victory.

Bush was later found by the NCAA to have received impermissible benefits during his playing career. Last summer, USC was banned from a bowl game for two years and given scholarship reductions as a result of the finding.

The BCS title for the 2004 season will remain vacant.

"It leaves a real void, and there is always a question of whether someone deserved that trophy," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, which gives its national championship to the BCS title game winner. "And the simple answer is this is a trophy that goes to the winner of the BCS championship, and as of today, there was no winner of that ballgame."

The Associated Press said it would not change its decision on crowning Southern California national champ after the 2004 season with its news media poll. "We'll still say it was a national championship season," USC athletics director Pat Haden said recently.

The BCS, which had said it would make no decision until the NCAA process played out, waited until the school's appeal was denied last month before its presidential oversight committee acted. The oversight committee is chaired by Penn State's Graham Spanier and includes presidents from the 12 major conferences and Notre Dame.

"The BCS arrangement crowns a national champion, and the BCS games are showcase events for post-season football," executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement. "One of the best ways of ensuring that they remain so is for us to foster full compliance with NCAA rules. Accordingly, in keeping with the NCAA's recent action, USC's appearances are being vacated. "This action reflects the scope of the BCS arrangement and is consistent with the NCAA's approach when it subsequently discovers infractions by institutions whose teams have played in NCAA championship events."

The crystal trophy given to the game's winner is awarded by the AFCA. USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said the school has begun the process of returning the trophy.

"The BCS alerted us today that their presidents have voted to vacate USC's 2005 BCS Championship Game victory," Haden said in a statement. "This was not an unexpected outcome. We will comply with all requirements mandated by the result of this BCS vote."

The BCS expects no money to be returned. Payments are made to conferences, not specific teams. According to Pac-10 spokesman Kirk Reynolds, USC will not be subject to financial penalties.

Contributing: Thomas O'Toole

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