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2022 Preseason USC Trojans Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User Rank Rationale
eclectic_tastes 6 I am buying the hype. As Split Zone Duo has said, Riley isn't getting a year one excuse with all the high-level transfers he has brought in. There are questions on defense and the offensive line, but ultimately I think Williams is good enough to mask the offensive line problems and overcome a less-than-ideal defense... at least during the regular season.
Helifino 6
tauzeta 6
jlh2b 7
thomasosu 7
zacheiny 7
plannedsickdays 8
COLU_BUS 9
dabul-master 9
CockADoodleBOOM 10
DrKennethJNoisewater 10
Hobbes_121 10
ThePelvicWoo 10 Beta_Rank's number 29 team gets a huge bump here due to the coaching change and influx of transfers. The model isn't equipped to handle such a massive change. There are questions on defense but offensively they should be really good.
Cassiyus 11
fo13 11
PalmettoFace 11
sasmith2015 11
seaotter2 11
T-Thugs 11
Acm0028 12
Blooblod 12
BosskOnASegway 12
dicky_________seamus 12
doggo816 12
Feral_Squirrel 12
icklebush 12
nemoran 12
Polarbear1914 12
RavenclawWiz816 12
RollWarTideEagle 12
T-nawtical 12
tdeff19 12
WolverineDDS 12
Ch-i-ef 13
dogwoodmaple 13
GoBlueScrewOSU7 13
halldaylong 13
HUSKEROYAL 13
I_am_bot_beep_boop 13
retnuh101 13
Thorteris 13
VerySeriousBanana 13
buckeyegold 14
Daigotsu 14
dan4223 14
grjohnst 14
JCiLee 14
lillipup03 14
LiptonCB 14
mellolizard 14
myghtymouse 14
peachios 14
pileatedloon 14
RheagarTargaryen 14 Oklahoma finished 10th in the country last year since that seems more relevant to USC this year than how USC finished last year.
scronko 14
SteemieRayVaughn 14
UNC_Samurai 14
wesman212 14
AlphaH4wk 15
CambodianDrywall 15
ChargerFan2121 15
darkra01 15
Hackasizlak 15
HarbingerOfFun 15
itsabearcannon 15
MahjongDaily 15
Mr_Brews 15
MWiatrak2077 15
No11223456 15
RiffRamBahZoo 15
spsellers 15
TheReformedBadger 15
TimeBroken 15
tmothy07 15
vanburen1845 15
Arteza147 16
badgers4194 16
BlueFalcon89 16
cyclonepsycho 16
deadtofall12 16
Drexlore 16
hypercube42342 16
kdcoltred 16
nburt13 16
Omegaus492 16
PumpSmash 16
Shrektastic28 16
Sometimeswelose 16
SpadeRyker 16 The addition of Lincoln Riley and most of his OU staff gives USC a very high ceiling this year. They should be vastly improved this season and will be challenging for the PAC 12 title, but it's hard not to think there will be some first year kinks to work out in the team. Riley has all of the tools to make this a comfortable transition but the PAC 12 has ways to cannibalize teams we expect to be good and I think this USC team has enough weaknesses to fall prey to the chaos.
SportingMoose 16
stesser 16
StevvieV 16
ToeInDigDeep 16
WarEagle9 16
Zloggt 16 It'll take time for Riley to get this thing going - I think #16 is perfect
BamaPride95 17
boxman151515 17
Casaiir 17
KommanderKeen-a42 17
molodyets 17
orbania 17
Pikachu1989 17
puffadda 17
SCRx 17
tdoger 17
TrojanMan35T 17
woakley 17 USC was the recipient of a lot of the question marks from Oklahoma above. USC has been dormant for years, but bringing in a top QB and top WR that can immediately contribute is big.
fourpinz8 18
IceColdDrPepper_Here 18
ikindalikelemons 18
jjjoebox 18
one98d 18
owl_man 18 Lincoln Riley is here to contend, USC though is still a year or two away. Though I've never seen a team put together like this. So, WILD CARD?!
ThaCarter 18
TheZachster 18
ALStark69 19 NR
Corgi_Koala 19
cota1212 19
crimsonlaw 19
falconlover79 19
JeromesNiece 19
NoMorning6152 19
PrimalCookie 19
thexraptor 19
Branzilla91 20
Chucky1539 20
galacticdude7 20
ucieaters33 20
kamiller2020 21
LeWoofle 21
nbingham196 21
not_folie 21
TDenverFan 21
thegreendalegelf 21
captain_sasquatch 22
Hey_Its_Roomie 22
JaxofAllTrades13 22
realclean 22
ya111101 22
Blazeth 23
chweris 23
DarkLegend64 23
djowen68 23
joebob431 23
PromEmperorHarbaugh 23 Lincoln Riley can maximize offensive talent here, especially with his slew of OU transfers. It remains to be seen how quickly this team can gel after years of mostly underwhelming performances under Helton.
srs_house 23
CFBHurts 24
GilBrandt 24
Johnnycockseed 24
The_Horse_Joke 24
turkishguy 24
311polo 25
CommodoreN7 25
jmac_21 25
JustAManAndHisLaptop 25
nw____ 25 As an OU fan, I'd love to leave USC off of my top 25. I don't know what they'll be on defense but, with the transfers they've had (miss u Caleb), they're going to score points-- and lots of them. I wouldn't pick this team to win in all or anything but don't know how many teams in the PAC-12 will really be able to slow them down. I am expecting a lot of 40-something to 40-something games and think they'll win around 9 or 10 of them. It will be interesting to see if the problems Riley was starting to have at OU (mainly a lack of physicality on both sides of the ball and issues developing non-offensive skill position players) are mitigated by the bump I expect he'll have in recruiting. Riley will probably win the PAC-12 before USC moves to the B1G. I believe the move to the B1G will really show us how good USC can be under Riley. If they can play Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, etc. on snowy December Saturdays? They should be able to play with anybody. My bias? The S&C program and refusal to get bigger on the defensive line will stop them from reaching their true ceiling and problems will be magnified by the move to the B1G.
outthawazoo 25
Rakarei 25
Texasagsman 25

Provisional Poll Voters

User Rank Rationale
noffinater 4 Transfer portal acquisitions and new coaching staff. I'm predicting USC makes a serious challenge for Pac 12 title and in CFP discussion.
True_Ad5324 8
Dawg-Bite 9 I can’t find more than 1 loss on their schedule despite the possibility of having a bad defense this season. They’re just too talented to lose more than 2 games IMO
drneilpretenamen 9
Hippiehypocrit 9
iDevourer 9
CanAWoodChuckChuck 10
mcdsmaster8824 10
TheWorstYear 10
JamoRedhead 11
PleasantElevator8340 11
bannista7 12 Hard to ignore such an increase of proven talent acquired.
GoCardinals74 12
hdbutler 12
perspicacious_crumb 12
rocco2246 12
Xarathustria 12
BertGallagher 13
BRNXB0MBERS 13
brucewaynewins 13
I-AMA-KarmaWhore-AMA 13
jaybigs 13
Matthias382 13
NeverDieKris 13
thatoneguyD13 13
The_Good_Constable 13 USC has a lot of talent and Riley is a proven coach. I think they'll be solid this year.
Valiantlycaustic 13
AnAngryPanda1 14
camryn_16 14
dschinghiskhan 14
fredmerc111 14 New coach and some B1G grabs in the portal.
Harpua99 14 So many new ingredients but they have raised the quality of the pantry.
herrkatze5 14
OldCoaly 14
the-robo-boogie 14
TXUSAW 14
UCFData 14
Vandelay_Industries- 14
BananaBouquet 15 New head coach so I moved them down in the poll.
Butternades 15
diehardcubforever 15
horaff 15
KyleAg06 15
LamarcusAldrige1234 15
Lobro986 15
MaxMan1300 15 I mean who knows honestly
mcguffinman 15 Lincoln Riley has in one offseason completely changed the trajectory of USC football. They've gone from maybe Pac 12 South contenders to playoff contenders in less than a year. Riley's offensive genius paired with Caleb William's talent has proven to be successful in the Big 12. Let's see how it translates out west.
newSomberMan 15
tapswitch 15
TommyTwoTaps 15
WBLwiffleball 15
70277027 16
DaewooLanosMFerrr 16
stevensmeister 16 Hello Trojans. They leap into the preseason top 25 with a highly ranked transfer portal class and a brand new staff. Depth and defense will be the questions year 1.
Beck4ou 17
giveupanddie 17
spartan_mk 17
the_neverdoctor 17
TheBeekman8 17
WitchKing17 17
ch1l1_ch33s3 18
DaveSoccer 18
donald_flap 18 USC is coming off a bad year, but with all of the hype generated over the offseason with hiring Lincoln Riley, and getting Caleb Williams, Malachi Nelson, and Jordan Addison, there is no way this team doesn’t do well on the field.
PositivityKnight 18
sconbon 18 Will upset ND this year
asbestosman2 19
Fantastic-Calendar-9 19
redrumsoxLoL 19
Tatertaint 19
ChaseTheFalcon 20
ewolfy13 20
Guhraffe 20
mdbryan84 20
mynameisotis 20
catman1256 21
hershculez 21
OSUfan88 21
secoja8 21
Sflabuckeye13 21
thetrain23 21
Dontworryaboutit1 22
frone 22
PSUMediaPA 22
Sebene 22
Steelthornn 22
jthomas694 23 Not a whole lot different between them and Miami and Texas.
Archaic_1 24
eeman0201 24 Ranked instead of Texas because they are in an easier conference and with a proven coach
IMissMW2Lobbies 24
Temporary-Profit-643 24
DownshiftGD 25
iliveintexas 25
JustinMSU21 25
nebsA1 25
swdanley17 25
UVUboi2 25
Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

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