Matt Barkley will return to the University of Southern California for his senior year, according to New York Time resporter Pete Thamel:
Barkley has told teammates he’s returning. Look for good news for USC fans at 4.
Barkley is holding a press conference at 4PM EST to announce his decision to stay with Trojans. USC will likely be a preseason favorite to win the Pac12 and go to the BCS Championship game. It will also be the first time in Barkley's career that the Trojans will be eligible to play in a bowl game. As pointed out earlier Barkley stands to gain $2.5 million by going from #5 in ’12 to #1 in ’13. If he drops from #5 to #10 that is a $7.5 million loss. He will likely join a very talented quarterback class headlined by himself, Tennessee's Tyler Bray, and Georgia's Aaron Murray. It will be interesting to see how this decision effects Robert Griffin III and Landry Jones.
Update 4:05: Barkley has officially announced he is remaining at USC.