Updated: Matt Barkley Announces That He's Returning To USC

Updating a story from earlier this morning: Matt Barkley has announced that he's returning to USC and will not enter the 2012 NFL Draft.

As many of you already know, USC QB Matt Barkley has called a press conference for today at 1pm to announce whether he'll be entering the NFL Draft or staying in school for another year, with a likely shot at a bowl game and possibly even a National Title with the Trojans. As Rob Staton pointed out, Barkley received a less than favorable evaluation from the Draft committee, even if he was told he'd be a first round pick. He has until 1/15 to officially decide, so the timing of his announcement today could lead us to b

And what this tells us is that "who the hell knows what he'll decide."

Obviously, this decision has some repercussions for the Seahawks; if he declares there's always the outside chance the Seahawks will trade up into the top five and select Pete Carroll's former recruit, and if he stays, well then it pushes other candidates further into the top of the Draft most likely, and makes it more difficult for the Seahawks to find their guy in round one, sitting where they'll likely be sitting.

As we saw this week, as the current Draft order goes, the Colts would be picking first and almost surely taking Andrew Luck. Past that, the Vikings would pick at #2, the Rams #3, Jaguars #4, Browns #5, Buccaneers #6. Rouding out the top ten would be the Redskins, Panthers, Dolphins, and Bills. This pecking order, you have to believe, is at the front of Barkley's mind as he's mulled the decision as is the fact that his blind-side protector Matt Khalil has already declared his intentions to enter the NFL. Regardless, in a few short hours we'll find out what he's going to do.

Our own Scott Enyeart will be at the announcement presser covering the decision, so give him a follow on twitter to stay up on the action and aftermath live. Stay tuned...