USC’s 2004 team selected by AP as the best of the BCS era

USC’s 2004 national championship team was the best of Bowl Championship Series era.

That was the determination by a panel of 32 Associated Press top 25 voters -- some of the 60 who rank teams each week.

The BCS era lasted from 1998 to 2013.

The 13-0 Trojans of 2004 edged Miami’s 2001 and Alabama’s 2009 teams, both of which won BCS titles.

USC’s 2004 roster included Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

Leinart and Bush led USC back to the BCS title game in 2005, but a Texas team that finished fourth on the all-time list defeated the Trojans.

The BCS vacated USC’s 2004 title because of NCAA sanctions. The Trojans’ AP national title from that season still stands.

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