If we are lucky enough to have a college football season this fall, the USC Trojans will know that the nation’s FBS coaches hold them in high regard.
USC, despite a tenuous and uncertain coaching situation plus numerous positional question marks flowing from a combination of injuries and uneven recruiting, is probably a year away from having a legitimate chance to contend for the biggest prizes in college football. Yet, for all of the Trojans’ flaws, and despite the skepticism of the fan base that Clay Helton can put the pieces together in 2020, USC still checked in at No. 17 in the preseason edition of the Amway Coaches Poll, released on Thursday by USA TODAY.
The usual suspects — Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama — occupied the top three in the polls, with Georgia coming in at No. 4. Three of the top five teams are from the SEC (LSU is No. 5), so with Ohio State and Clemson representing two other conferences, the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners would seem to be (yet again) the No. 4 playoff team, just as they were last year. Oregon is the highest-rated Pac-12 team at No. 9.
USC landed just below Michigan. Jim Harbaugh’s group is rated No. 15 in the preseason coaches poll. That might be more of a commentary on Michigan’s inability to rise to a higher level of quality under Harbaugh, or it could be seen as an indication that the floor remains high in Ann Arbor, despite an unrelenting parade of losses to Ohio State.
Enough about Michigan, though. The fact that USC could be a preseason top-20 team despite everything which cuts against it (chiefly the head coach) is an indication of how much raw talent exists among the starters on the roster. Depth is a question mark, but coaches certainly believe in USC’s talent. That’s why the Trojans are where they are.
Now, the question becomes: Will we have a season in which USC can measure itself against this ranking?