Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas, Nevada, kick off today with the USC Trojans arriving on Thursday. LAFB will be in attendance in what is sure to be a flurry of news and fun quotes as we approach fall camps kicking off.
With the season just around the corner, more and more preseason rankings are dropping.
Cleveland.com, a news outlet out of, you guessed it, Cleveland, Ohio, just dropped their latest Big Ten preseason ranking, and the USC Trojans are laughably low, at least in my opinion.
Media Outlet Cleveland.com Ranks USC Trojans In Back Half Of Big Ten
This is the media outlets’ 15th annual preseason Big Ten Football Poll. Beat writers from all 18 Big Ten teams are invited to participate in the poll, along with a few others who cover the entire league or have a national footprint. A total of 24 voters participated in the preseason poll.
For the first time in the 15 years of hosting the poll, the Penn State Nittany Lions earned the top spot, with a projection to win the conference. Penn State has been getting a lot of love nationally, in large part due to the stability of head coach James Franklin, QB Drew Allar, and the return of many talented core players.
Ohio State received one fewer first-place vote than Penn State, putting the defending National Champions in 2nd place in the conference.
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The defending conference champs, Oregon, come in at 3rd place in the poll, as they look to build upon their season with a new quarterback at the helm.
So, where did Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans end up? They slotted in all the way back in 9th place.
Here is the full ranking:
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Points | Average Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Penn State (11) | 435 | 1.60 |
| 2. | Ohio State (10) | 431 | 1.76 |
| 3. | Oregon (2) | 405 | 2.80 |
| 4. | Illinois | 353 | 4.88 |
| 5. | Michigan (1) | 346 | 5.16 |
| 6. | Indiana | 305 | 6.80 |
| 7. | Iowa | 287 | 7.52 |
| 8. | Nebraska | 277 | 7.92 |
| 9. | USC Trojans | 269 | 8.24 |
| 10. | Washington | 216 | 10.36 |
| 11. | Minnesota | 192 | 11.32 |
| 12. | Wisconsin | 159 | 12.60 |
| 13. | Michigan State | 135 | 13.60 |
| 14. | Rutgers | 135 | 13.60 |
| 15. | UCLA | 134 | 13.64 |
| 16. | Maryland | 91 | 15.36 |
| 17. | Northwestern | 65 | 16.40 |
| 18. | Purdue | 39 | 17.44 |
There seem to be two very differing opinions of the USC Trojans heading into the season.
There are those, like myself, who believe that while last season was very disappointing, there were big strides made and improvements throughout the season. That, coupled with a strong offseason that saw some big additions in the transfer portal, retention of key players, and an easier (and timely) schedule compared to last year, and the Trojans are bound to see a big jump in wins.
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The other faction seems to think that the Trojans sat on their hands this offseason and did not do much to improve, while their counterparts did.
We won’t truly know until the season begins in roughly a month, but based on the momentum around the program right now, a 9th-place finish in the conference would be a massive letdown. I personally do not see that happening.