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USC stripped of 2004 title

The Bowl Championship Series stripped Southern California of its 2004 title yesterday, leaving that season without a BCS champion. The announcement was no surprise. BCS officials had said USC was in danger of having its championship vacated after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions last year for rules violations committed during the 2004 and '05 seasons.

The Bowl Championship Series stripped Southern California of its 2004 title yesterday, leaving that season without a BCS champion. The announcement was no surprise. BCS officials had said USC was in danger of having its championship vacated after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions last year for rules violations committed during the 2004 and '05 seasons.

The NCAA ruled star tailback Reggie Bush received improper extra benefits during those seasons and was ineligible when he played.

One of Pat Haden's first moves when he took over as athletic director last year was to give back the school's copy of the Heisman Trophy that Bush won in 2005. Bush later relinquished his own Heisman and the trust in charge of handing out the award announced the '05 winner would be left vacant.

The BCS waited until USC appealed the NCAA sanctions, which included a 2-year ban from postseason play and a loss of 30 scholarships over three seasons, to make a decision about its championship. The NCAA denied USC's appeal on May 26.

The Trojans will not have to relinquish the Associated Press national championship.

In other college news:

* Ohio State must "scrub everything" as it works to restore order after the resignation of Jim Tressel, OSU president Gordon Gee said, 1 week after the football coach's departure.

* Former Dayton guard Juwan Staten is transferring to West Virginia. Staten started 34 games as a freshman for the Flyers last season, averaging 8.5 points and 5.4 assists.

Pro Football

* NFL owners are asking a federal court in Minnesota to dismiss the players' antitrust lawsuit against the league. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has scheduled a hearing on the motion for Sept. 12.

* Longtime play-by-play announcer Marv Albert is joining the NFL on CBS. Albert announced the NFL on NBC from 1977-97.

Sport Stops

* NASCAR has fined team owner Richard Childress $150,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year for his altercation with driver Kyle Busch. Childress approached Busch following Saturday's Trucks race at Kansas Speedway and apparently punched him several times. The car owner was upset that Busch had bumped into Joey Coulter on the cool-down lap after the race.

* Fox made a pitch for the next set of U.S. Olympic television rights, saying it wants to bid on a four-games package through 2020 during a 2-hour presentation to IOC officials.

* Opera great Placido Domingo has been asked by FIFA president Sepp Blatter to join a new committee intended to help clean up world soccer's governing body. Blatter hopes the 70-year-old Spanish-born tenor will sit on a "council of wisdom" alongside former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former Netherlands player Johan Cruyff.