7-6 (5-4 Pac-12)
Sun Bowl
Okay, technically this was Lane Kiffin’s sixth year as a head coach, but years in the NFL don’t count. Three years after leaving Tennessee football for the USC Trojans, karma didn’t seem real, as Kiffin was riding high while the Vols were coming off a 5-7 season with Derek Dooley’s seat incredibly hot. USC entered 2012 ranked No. 1 in the preseason.
It made sense, Kiffin inherited a team that got hit with probation due to the Reggie Bush scandal, and they had gone 10-2 in 2011. This year, they were set to be off probation, and Matt Barkley was set to return. However, the lack of depth Kiffin left Dooley to be blamed for on Rocky Top finally caught up with him here.
Monte Kiffin’s defense just didn’t have enough bodies due to the probation to hang in Power Five play, and USC, despite being No. 1, stumbled through November after a 6-1 start, only losing to the eventual Pac-12 Champion Stanford Cardinal on the road by a touchdown. They lost five of their final six games.
Now, in a vacuum, this season was better than Heupel’s at UT. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was way worse, as it was a huge disappointment, and Kiffin was fired midway through the 2013 season before rebuilding his career in the SEC.