Tim Tebow talked to ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on dealing with the Senior Bowl criticisms of his performances:
``Well I think something that I learned a long time ago and something that I still work on today and everything you do there is going to be a lot of pros and cons. Some people are going to be behind you and some people are not. The more that people say that I cant the more that I want to. That is exciting for me and I love challenges and I got a big one in front of me and I am really looking forward to it.''

Tickets remain available for the USC-UCLA basketball game. The contest will be crucial for the no-sponsorship Gauntlet, which is still at stake despite the disappearance of Lexus.

Still time to deposit a question in the Open Forum.

When the Wilmington News-Journal broke the story of the Baby Quarterback committing to USC, it begged the question who leaked the story? The family? A middle-school coach?
It's a little troubling because it obviously benefits Steve Clarkson (the private QB coach) and Lane Kiffin. And it benefits the Baby Quarterback. Hopefully, his family was not seeking publicity already for their 13-year-old.
Otherwise, we might see him pull up to USC in a limo to formally announce his commitment, like another Clarkson client, Jimmy Clausen.

USC athletics sent out this message via StubHub, which forgets the Trojans' basketball team is not eligible for the Pac-10 Tournament.

``Who says madness has to wait for March?
``Only a handful of home games remain, none bigger than when UCLA heads to the Galen Center. Then it's on to the Pac-10 Tournament, where your Trojans, will battle for a Conference crown. So don't miss a minute of the action! Go to StubHub today, choose your seats, and be there when your school takes on their biggest rivals.''

``I have to tell you, I really do not see an NFL-style playoff coming to college football any time soon.''
-- New Pac-10 deputy commissioner Kevin Wieberg, who made the following statement in 2005 when he was commissioner of the Big 12 Conference and BCS coordinator.

Texas football and allied marketing agencies shipped its leftover 2010 logoed BCS title T-shirts and caps, which are printed for both teams prior to the BCS championship, to areas of Haiti affected by the January earthquake.

Post-signing date questions abound.

Answer Monday continues!

Washington senior forward Quincy Pondexter was named Pac-10 player of the week. USC forward Nikola Vucevic was also nominated.

Wanted: Offensive coordinator.
Job description: Will not call plays.

Anyone interested?

Remember to follow us on twitter.com/InsideUSC.

And now, the post-signing date questions.

The latest poll question is tied 41-41 percent on whether the Baby Quarterback will actually enroll and play at USC.

Former Big 12 commissioner and Big Ten executive, Kevin Weiberg, was hired by the Pac-10 as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. Weiberg starts April 12.

Here is this week's ballot for the Associated Press basketball poll.

Here's a wonderful color picture of USC tailback Jon Arnett during a 1955 game against Washington.
Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos

Reggie Bush earned $500,000 with the Saints winning the Super Bowl. That amounts to $20,000 for every yard gained against the Colts.

The last time the Super Bowl was in Miami, the Indianapolis Colts played the Chicago Bears and former USC basketball coach Tim Floyd secretly flew to the game and then returned to Los Angeles on an early Monday flight so he did not miss practice. He never told the team about the excursion.
Floyd went because his daughter is married to Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer and he is close friends with Archie and Payton Manning.

I wonder who the Baby Quarterback is rooting for in today's Super Bowl? He's only seven years away from turning pro after all.

Here's the last of the pre-signing day questions that remained relevant.

Kevin O'Neill's advice helps Nikola Vucevic score the winning basket against Stanford.

``It felt like a lifetime. I was waiting for it to come off the rim for a long time. But I didn't want to touch it until it did.''
-- USC forward Marcus Johnson on watching Nikola Vucevic's tip-in roll around the rim before going in with 20 seconds to provide the winning points in a 54-49 victory over Stanford.

``Coach O'Neill preached to us before the game that we had a big win (over Cal) and we have a tendency to settle,'' point guard Mike Gerrity said. ``This was huge. The chance to contend for first place (next Sunday against UCLA) is big for us.''

Landry Fields is fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Stanford fouls Dwight Lewis, who makes both free throws to end the game.

Johnson makes both free throws. Stanford ball with 5.2 seconds.

Stanford's Jeremy Green misses a jump shot and Marcus Johnson is fouled with 7.4 seconds left.

Nikola Vucevic tips in a shot after USC took four layups around the basket. Stanford has the ball with 20.6 seconds.

Mike Gerrity blocks a shot and then gets fouled but missed both free throws while Jeremy Green hits a 3-pointer. There's 55 seconds left and the Trojans have the ball.

Another nail-biter with 3:31 left.

Drew Shiller's 3-pointer ties it up again.

The Trojans inch ahead as Leonard Washington and Nikola Vucevic score baskets.

Nikola Vucevic leads the Trojans with 10 points at halftime. The Trojans shot just 38 percent in the half while Stanford was 33 percent.

Jack Trotter's 3-pointer gives the Cardinal the lead with 4:31 left in the half.

That 14-point lead evaporated as Stanford forward Landry Fields has 11 points.

It's a football score at the Galen Center as Nikola Vucevic has six points and Marcus Johnson five.

Did the year Lane Kiffin spent at Tennessee pay off for USC's recruiting in terms of Southern prospects?
Wide receiver Markeith Ambles of Georgia wanted to come to USC before Pete Carroll dropped him over character issues last summer. Cornerback Nickell Robey is from Florida, an area USC traditionally recruits well in. And linebacker Glen Stanley, who is also from Florida, went to junior college in Arizona.
So maybe the South is not such a fertile ground for the future, or Kiffin won't do much better than USC was already in the region, even with his background.

Here's the results of a poll I participated in for the college basketball player of the year.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer story I posted earlier, Steve Clarkson is quoted as saying, ``If there was a LeBron James in football, Jimmy Clausen would be the one. Then Matt Barkley was sort of second.''
I consider myself to be one of the few who was openly skeptical (objective) regarding the idea of Barkley starting last season, but since when does Barkley need to take a back seat to Clausen?
I know who I would take if I had a choice between the two and even this year, when he enjoyed a good season, Clausen was nearly invisible in the first half against USC.

Fans usually think the best players only play today. But former USC forward John Block is justifiably being inducted into the Pac-10's Basketball Hall of Honor.
Block, a 6-foot-9 center, played from 1964-66 and averaged 25.2 points per game, the second-best mark in USC history. He produced two of the greatest performances in USC history, scoring 45 points against Washington and 44 points against Oregon in 1966.
And he might hold a lot of USC records if not for the fact you could only play three seasons in those days.
Block also played 10 seasons in the NBA and made the 1973 All-Star team while playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Here's a Philadelphia Inquirer story on the Baby Quarterback who committed to USC on Thursday. Steve Clarkson calls him the ``Tiger Woods of his position.''
Does this mean Clarkson's already lining up a deal with Creative Artists Agency similar to the one he got when Matt Leinart went pro?

Safety Latwan Anderson of Cleveland will visit USC next week. Anderson committed to West Virginia but did not sign Wednesday. The question is, does USC really need another safety at the moment?

USC quarterback Matt Barkley is wearing a small cast on his right wrist as he recovers from surgery. He expects to be 100 percent for spring practice.

There is almost no such thing as a sleeper recruit when you are a program like USC. So I guess when I look at the class, the player who intrigues me is defensive tackle George Uko. He is highly regarded and more importantly, plays a position that is extremely difficult to recruit impact players.
Defensive lineman are always the hardest players to recruit because once they get to college, they can physically mature or sometimes just get fat.
Which recruit intrigues you the most?

Time to ask some post-signing day questions.

USC gets some clutch shooting at the end to beat Cal and snap its two-game losing streak.

USC point guard Mike Gerrity on the Trojans' 25-0 run against Cal.
``That's pretty impressive,'' he said. ``You really caught me off guard with that stat. It was our defense that did it.''

Mike Gerrity's back-to-back 3-pointers are huge and Nikola Vucevic made four free throws in the final nine seconds.

USC went on a 25-0 run to take a 42-30 lead in the second half.

Dwight Lewis has nine points but Jerome Randle has 12 for the Bears.

A 13-year-old quarterback committed to USC coach Lane Kiffin. Will Kiffin even be around when the kid turns 18?

USC assistant coaches were given the rest of the week off after signing day while Lane Kiffin will interview for spots on the offensive staff. Kiffin said he does not know yet if he will hire a special teams coach or spread the duties.

Here's a podcast I did with the Daily News' Ken Jeffries where I discussed the 2010 recruiting class.

The Sporting News' Brian McLaughlin asked several recruits, ``What was the most creative recruiting tactic used on you?''

Here's what Jackson Jeffcoat, who committed to Texas, said: ``I'm a pretty big basketball player, too, and the USC basketball team sent me a picture of their cheerleaders. It said, 'Enough Said,' at the top.''

Kevin O'Neill reinstated student manager Stan Holt today. Here are their statements:

Kevin O'Neill made additional comments on the firing of the student manager last week for getting a technical foul against Oregon.

I would like to start doing chats again but the format I used now limits it to 25 people. If anyone knows of a good chat software that does not limit how many people are in a room, leave suggestions here.

Pete Carroll's USC assistants, Todd McNair and John Morton, officially remain on the staff and have not been informed about their futures yet by Lane Kiffin, who is starting to look at offensive coaching candidates now that recruiting is finished.

USC moved from No. 8 to No. 5 in Scout.com's recruiting rankings.

Safety-cornerback Marshalll Jones, who missed last season with a neck injury, was cleared by team doctors and will participate in spring drills.

Only four of USC's 20 recruits played in the defensive front seven, which means linebackers and defensive linemen will be top priorities again next season.

Here's a recap of USC's unpredictable signing day.

I'm actually surprised more recruits did not follow Seantrel Henderson's lead and decline to sign a letter of intent. He can always a scholarship agreement, which does not bind him to USC if he chooses to transfer.

It seems to me that Rivals is a bit high (No. 1) while Scout is a bit low (No. 7). That's why I said on the chats that I thought USC would be a top four class.

The New York Times reports that Seantrel Henderson will not sign a letter of intent until USC learns of possible NCAA sanctions.

With the addition of defensive end Marquis Jackson and fullback Soma Vainuku, USC moved into the No. 1 spot in Rivals.com's recruiting rankings.

The fourth player I mentioned earlier tonight was defensive end Marquis Jackson from College of the Canyons, the twin brother of USC defensive end Malik Jackson.

There is a new process at USC where letter of intents are reviewed and take no longer to approve, which resulted in the delays today in announcing what letters were received.

We heard tonight that Seantrel Henderson went to the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden and USC still had not received his letter of intent. One reason Henderson is not listed among USC's signings.

Fullback Soma Vainuku signed a letter of intent to attend USC but it may not be announced officially tonight.

Perhaps the only news at Lane Kiffin's press conference was his comments that he can tell in the first 10 minutes if a recruit will go to USC or UCLA. He didn't quite say it but the inference was that recruits who are afraid to compete do not come to USC. At least the rivalry will be interesting, as expected.

USC dropped defensive tackle Dak Smith as suspected earlier. Smith was not recruited by the current staff.

USC expect to announce four more recruits as signings, including LB Hayes Pullard and OT Seantrel Henderson. That leaves two more recruits. Could one be fullback Soma Vainuku?

Seantrel Henderson makes this a successful day for USC because he is so highly regarded by everyone. It also eases some of the sting of some losses during the day (Josh Shirley, Dietrich Riley). That just shows the constant recruiting compliments thrown to USC's staff don't apply all the time because some prospects were not swayed.
But with all the turmoil the past three weeks and the lack of a full coaching staff, I think this is a better-than-expected class.

Offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson, rated the No. 1 player in the nation by some services, announced he will attend USC. The day ends with a huge pickup.

Safety Dietrich Riley of St. Francis in La Canada announced he will attend UCLA.

Offensive tackle Chaz Green, who was recruited by USC, ended up signing with Florida.

USC's enjoyed a pretty good day but also lost a couple commitments (Sean Parker, Josh Shirley). I'm wondering now if UCLA should be the favorite for safety Dietrich Riley? The Seantrel Henderson decision looms larger and larger as the day goes on.

Linebacker Josh Shirley of Kaiser High in Fontana just announced he will attend UCLA. That's the biggest loss of the day for USC.

Linebacker Josh Shirley will announce in a few minutes.

Tight end Christian Thomas (6-3, 245) from Highland High School in Palmdale just announced he will attend USC.

Here's some remaining commitment times:

12:15 p.m. Christian Thomas, Prime Ticket
12:30 p.m. Chaz Green, ESPNU
12:35 p.m. Josh Shirley, Prime Ticket
1:30p.m. Dietrich Riley, ESPNU
2:30 p.m. Seantrel Henderson, CBS College Sports Network

USC's recruiting class is now ranked No. 4 in the nation by Rivals.com. The real question is whether the Trojans can crack the top two?

USC finally released some names of signed letters of intent: Markeith Ambles, Giovanni Di Paola, Xavier Grimble, Jesse Scroggins, Nickell Robey, Randall Telfer, George Uko and Robert Woods.

USC's now received 17 letters of intent.

The big fish today is still offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson and we still hear USC is the favorite.

USC has 13 letters of intent received. One of them is from center Giovanni Di Poala of St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura. He looked strongly at UCLA before sticking with USC. Even though he is one of the lower-regarded members of the class, USC is losing out on less prospects (so far) than a year ago.

Joe McKnight's little brother, Jonathan, is going to Arizona.

USC's received 12 letters of intent so far this morning. The school has not released the names yet.

Narbonne safety Sean Parker just announced he will attend Washington. A loss for USC.

Linebacker Glen Stanley of Eastern Arizona CC picked USC a week after he committed to Tennessee.

Wide reciever Markeith Ambles chooses USC. No surprise. He committed to Tennessee under Lane Kiffin. The interesting story is USC stopped recruiting him over ``character issues'' when Pete Carroll was the coach.

We're using the other chat room now.

OK, here's nine guys to watch for tomorrow. I'd expect USC to get at least six or seven from this group.

Seantrel Henderson, OT
Sean Parker, S
Josh Shirley, LB
Nickell Robey, DB
Markeith Ambles, WR
Hayes Pullard, LB
Dietrich Riley, S
Christian Thomas, TE
Glen Stanley, LB

Several sources said tight end Christian Thomas of Highland High School in Palmdale will sign with USC.

Linebacker Glen Stanley might be headed to USC. That's because Tennessee took a commitment from linebacker Raiques Crump from Alabama, perhaps as a cautionary move if Stanley heads elsewhere.
``That (commitment) might be telling from what they think will happen with Stanley,'' said Rivals.com recruiting analyst Barton Simmons, who is based in Nashville.

There is still a feeling that offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson will select USC.

We will have a chat tonight starting sometime between 9-10 p.m.

USC recruit Dillon Baxter was named the EA SPORTS Mr. Football USA National Player of the Year.

It looks like USC will sign 20-to-21 players, with 13 current commitments and probably seven or eight more. Narbonne's Sean Parker is expected to be among the latter group.

Brandon Huffman of Scout.com predicts linebacker Josh Shirley will sign with USC tomorrow.