USC keeps piling on (the wins)

It had to happen eventually. The USC Trojans keep playing football games, they keep being successful, and so the victories are just going to keep adding up.

Now, with the Trojans at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., today to play the Oregon Ducks, there’s a milestone in the making.

If USC wins, it’s victory No. 750.

And yes, that’s a lot of time listening to “Conquest.”

The Trojans began their march toward 750 on Nov. 14, 1888, when they snagged victory No. 1, a 16-0 shutout of Alliance Athletic Club, a local club composed of downtown youths.

Other landmark victories for the Trojans:

No. 100, Sept. 30, 1922, 20-0 over an alumni team.

No. 250, Dec. 5, 1942, 38-0 over Montana.

No. 500, Sept. 30, 1977, 41-7 over Washington State.

No. 700, Oct. 11, 2003, 44-21 over Stanford.

USC’s all-time record is 749-301-54, and that’s the 10th-most wins in college football. Tennessee is ninth with 764.

Michigan’s 866 victories are the most, but remember, the Wolverines usually don’t have Appalachian State on the schedule.

Trivia time

How much are the St. Louis Cardinals paying Manager Tony La Russa in his new contract?

Garden turnover

Remember cool, history-drenched Madison Square Garden? Well, forget it, because it looks as if it’s going away.

In the state of New York’s revised $14-billion plan for the Penn Station area, Madison Square Garden would be razed and a new one built.

Traditionalists are probably in shock. What’s next? A new Yankee Stadium?

Oh, yeah, that’s coming in 2009.

Bird nest

Once a teammate, always a teammate and never forgotten. Larry Bird is helping honor former Boston Celtics teammate Dennis Johnson, who died in February, by funding a learning center at a Boston-area YMCA that opened this week.

Green days

Speaking of the Celtics, you may have noticed that they’re getting a lot of love these days in the national media. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are on the NBA preview issue covers of Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine.

It remains to be seen if they’re going to make it on the cover of next spring’s NBA Finals wrap-up issues.

Spin control

If anybody believes this, then there’s some really swell oceanfront property in Arizona that has your name on it.

While guard Claude Terrell was being processed in Harris County (Texas) jail on assault charges, the St. Louis Rams were busy releasing him. Why? “He was released for performance on the field and just because of how he was playing,” said Jay Zygmunt, the Rams’ president of football operations. “This has been contemplated for a while.”

Spin cycle

This just in: Skoda Auto has signed a four-year extension of its agreement to sponsor the Tour de France, through 2011. Come to think of it, that’s probably just about the time Floyd Landis will wrap up his campaign to reclaim his 2006 title.

Trivia answer

More than $4 million a year for two years, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That makes La Russa the highest-paid manager in baseball.

And finally

The experts at Fox Sports on MSN have already come up with college bowl predictions, although it’s still October. The big news? Texas versus USC in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27.

The Sun Bowl would feature UCLA and Texas Tech. The Rose Bowl would be the classic matchup of Arizona State versus Boise State. And West Virginia would play Ohio State in the BCS national-title game.

Feel free to start making your travel plans.

thomas.bonk@latimes.com