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We thankfully only have 1 more Saturday without college football until Christmas time. The Trojans' preseason rankings continue to fluctuate between a top 15 team to a playoff team and the preseason Associated Press Poll is no different with USC ranked right in the middle of that range at number 8.
The Trojans are ahead of Notre Dame (11th), UCLA (13th), Arizona State (15th) Stanford (21st), and Arizona (22nd). Utah is near the top of the others receiving votes category. The AP poll confirms the difficult road the Trojans must travel to win the Pac-12 and potentially make the playoffs. Essentially, every team in the Pac-12 South except for Colorado is in the top 30 of the poll. The Trojans will play 7 teams in the preseason top 30. Oregon (7th) was the only Pac 12 team ranked ahead of USC.
The Trojans kick the season off Saturday September 5th at 8pm (pt) on the Pac-12 Network hosting Arkansas State.
See the full poll below:
| Ranking | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (61) | 1,525 |
| 2 | TCU | 1,428 |
| 3 | Alabama | 1,322 |
| 4 | Baylor | 1,263 |
| 5 | Michigan State | 1,256 |
| 6 | Auburn | 1,192 |
| 7 | Oregon | 1,156 |
| 8 | USC | 1,085 |
| 9 | Georgia | 991 |
| 10 | Florida State | 959 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 873 |
| 12 | Clemson | 862 |
| 13 | UCLA | 698 |
| 14 | LSU | 675 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 605 |
| 16 | Georgia Tech | 588 |
| 17 | Mississippi | 563 |
| 18 | Arkansas | 410 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 394 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 393 |
| 21 | Stanford | 347 |
| 22 | Arizona | 311 |
| 23 | Boise State | 240 |
| 24 | Missouri | 219 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 114 |
Mississippi State 100; Texas A&M 61; Oklahoma State 46; Virginia Tech 42; Utah 36; Penn State 20; Louisville 12; Cincinnati 8; Nebraska 6; Kansas State 5; NC State 4; Florida 4; Texas 3; Michigan 2; Northern Illinois 2; Brigham Young 2; West Virginia 1; California 1; Western Kentucky 1
Fight On!