USC players as Star Wars characters and more USC football news

In honor of May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day, here’s a look at what roles a few USC football figures could play in the Star Wars universe.

Can’t get enough USC football and basketball news? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

First Take… The world has USC to thank for Star Wars Day. After all, Star Wars creator George Lucas is the USC Cinema School’s most famous alumni.

So in honor of May the 4th, here’s a look at what roles a few Trojan figures could play in the Star Wars universe:

Darth Vadar: Lane Kiffin was once a Trojan but he turned to the darkside (Alabama) where he is now the right hand man to the Emperor (Nick Saban).

Luke Skywalker: Max Browne has always been held on the sidelines, watching his fellow quarterbacks go off to the NFL Draft without him. Now he’s primed to get in on the action and lead the rebels against the Empire. Plus, he could definitely bull’s-eye womp rats with that arm, no problem.

Han Solo: JuJu Smith-Schuster has the swagger. He flies around the field like a star-pilot. And neither carbonite nor a broken hand can stop him.

Chewbacca: Zach Banner is 6-9 and he’s probably strong enough to pull a person’s arms out of their sockets…if he wanted to.

The Millennium Falcon: Adoree’ Jackson could make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, probably.

Do you have your own Star Wars-USC comparisons? Share them in the comments below.

And Ten USC Football and Basketball News Links…

1. ESPN Insider: It’s officially official. Many outlets have declared USC’s schedule the toughest in the country this year, but ESPN’s FPI Strength of Schedule calculator took it to another level of certainty. Weighing factors including opponent strength, game site, distance traveled and rest differential, they determined that USC’s is in fact the most difficult slate even by advanced metrics.
2. Conquest Chronicles: Can USC return to the Pac-12 Championship game given that schedule? The pieces are there but the answer is in whether or not they all fit together, says Danny Jaillet.
3. ESPN: Malik Dorton is one of five breakout players from the Pac-12 after Spring Camp, as highlighted by Kevin Gemmell. Little nugget for USC recruiting fans: Former Trojan commit Melquise Stovall featured as well for Cal.
4. CBS Sports: Clay Helton ranked No. 51 among the 65 Power Five coaches, as rated by a panel of CBS Sports writers. That’s ahead of Cal’s Sonny Dykes (53), Oregon State’s Gary Andersen (52) and Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre (58), but well behind Arizona State’s Todd Graham (36), Washington State’s Mike Leach (30) and UCLA’s Jim Mora (29). The Top 25 has yet to be revealed.
5. Bleacher Report: Four-star defensive end Luiji Vilain might have the coolest name in this year’s recruiting class. USC is among his top schools though he hasn’t whittled down a list yet.
6. RipsIt Blog: Jordan Moore aggregated the appearances of USC prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft with Zach Banner, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree’ Jackson earning first round grades from the likes of The Big Lead, SB Nation, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated.
7. USCFootball.com: Dan Weber’s latest installment of “Just Sayin'” looks back at USC’s draft weekend, including musings on the Trojans all-time numbers, Cody Kessler’s chances of succeeding in Cleveland and more.
8. Reign of Troy: USC has failed to produce a first round draft pick in three of the last four years despite excellent recruiting classes from the Lane Kiffin era. Development has been a problem for the Trojans.
9. Reign of Troy: Tre Madden might have hard time making the Seahawks roster, but they have an interesting plan to try him at fullback.
10. ESPN: Matt Leinart and Todd Marinovich appear among ESPN’s Top 25 of unfilled potential, the biggest could-have-beens or should-have-beens in the pros.

Social Media Snapshot: