Sure, USC didn’t bring home the crystal football in 2006, leaving countless ESPN prognosticators looking foolish. But that hasn’t soured the boys in Bristol from showing their SC love. Today they give the front page treatment to the two defensive anchors of the Super Bowl competitors, Lofa Tatupu and Troy Polamalu.

And really, who can blame them? The two “undersized” Trojan alums got overlooked by countless teams on draft day, only to quickly become two of the best defensive players in the NFL. We can’t think of anybody better than ESPN to remind the rest of the NFL what they could have had.

USC alums quickly become centerpieces on defense [ESPN]