It is entirely reasonable to think that USC is going to run into some problems this season. The Trojans aren’t supremely deep at some positions. They could step into a few potholes. The year could become very difficult for them.
If this is a rough and disappointing year for USC, the Trojans could finish 8-4 and miss the Pac-12 Championship Game. They could lose to Utah, Notre Dame, Oregon State, and one other team.
Utah and Notre Dame are both playoff contenders, so losses to those teams are not rankings-killing results. Oregon State is expected to be a decent team.
An 8-4 season probably still puts the Trojans in the top 25 heading into their bowl game.
If USC is not anywhere in the top 25, that is frankly a slap in the face.
Four Associated Press Poll voters slapped USC in the face, as Matt Brown of The Athletic noted in his analysis of the poll, which also includes a nugget about Oklahoma in Year 1 after Lincoln Riley’s departure:
11. Despite Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams leaving for USC, this is the seventh consecutive season that Oklahoma begins the season as the highest-ranked Big 12 team. The No. 8 Sooners are followed in the poll by No. 10 Baylor and No. 12 Oklahoma State. Future Big 12 additions Cincinnati, Houston and BYU make up the last three slots. Texas, which bizarrely received a first-place vote en route to a No. 18 ranking in the coaches poll, is unranked in the AP Top 25.
12. No. 14 USC predictably attracted a wide range of votes, with excitement about the possibilities on offense but uncertainty about the defense, offensive line and transfer-heavy lineup. Per College Poll Tracker, three voters ranked USC in the top five and four voters didn’t rank the Trojans at all. I placed them 15th. Opinions also vary about No. 16 Miami, another high-profile program with a new coach and touted quarterback. The Hurricanes are ranked as high as No. 4 on one ballot but don’t appear on 11. I placed them 12th.
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