Winning the Popular Vote? Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Riley’s tour as the national media darling continues as Crawford’s next “boldest prediction” has Lincoln Riley having the best season of first-year head coaches in their new locations.
Anyone taking wagers on who wins more games during his first season — Oklahoma’s Brent Venables or USC’s Lincoln Riley? Sooners fans won’t like my answer. In the not-so-bold category, the Trojans’ new coach who led Oklahoma to three playoff appearances over five seasons at the helm has the roster to win big in Year 1 out West, but he’ll have to get through Utah in the conference championship game to get closer to the ultimate prize. Including the postseason, I would set USC’s win total this fall at 10.5 given the talent Riley has acquired through the transfer portal. Mario Cristobal at Miami is another first-year coach worth keeping an eye on who could really make a splash with the Hurricanes. – Crawford, 247Sports
The USC Trojans added a ton of talent over the offseason. Of that there’s no doubt. Bringing Caleb Williams and Mario Williams with him from OU, adding Travis Dye from Oregon, and Jordan Addison from Pitt, I mean the transfer portal, has the Trojans playing with an improved roster. But are they so good that they jump from four wins in 2021 to 10 or 11 in 2022?
It’s certainly possible. Dave Aranda took a two-win Baylor team and transformed it into a Big 12 champion and New Year’s Six bowl winner in a season. So anything’s possible. And in a Pac-12 that doesn’t have great depth at the moment, it’ll be up to Oregon, Utah, and an improving UCLA squad to slow the hype Trojan horse down.
Lincoln Riley’s a good coach. And Caleb Willims is a good quarterback that can still improve. At the same time, both will have to prove that 2021’s offensive inconsistencies with a talented Oklahoma team were an aberration and not college football figuring out Riley’s offense.