Trojans coach Pete Carroll is probably working on his tan during the offseason. NOT.

Sharper college football handicappers are well aware how much work there is to do after the national championship has been decided. The media saturation isn’t quite as thick as it is during the NFL offseason, but the wires are still humming with news about draft eligibility, spring practices and the unstoppable coaching carousel.

Let’s take the USC Trojans as an example of how to do things right. They lose quality players to the NFL every spring, because Pete Carroll keeps bringing quality players to campus. This year’s exodus includes seven men taken in the first two rounds, led by defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis to New Orleans at No. 7.

Carroll’s stud-filled 2008 recruiting class to the rescue. Parade All-American Tyron Smith leads the way at offensive tackle; he’s a gifted player coming out of Rancho Verde H.S. in California, but even at this “non-skill” position, Smith will be hitting the playbooks as hard as the tackling dummies this offseason.

Odds on the USC Trojans to win the 2009 BCS Championship? 3/1.