The USC football team has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 title in its final season in the conference.
Conference media members voted the Trojans as the overwhelming favorite to win the Pac-12, with 25 of 36 first-place votes and 413 points in the poll that was released on Thursday. Washington (four first-place votes, 367 points) was picked to finish second, followed by defending champion Utah (six first-place votes, 359 points) and Oregon (one first-place vote, 340 points).
Oregon State (309) was picked to finish fifth and UCLA (248) was picked to finish sixth, the same spot the Bruins finished last season. The rest of the preseason poll is No. 7 Washington State, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Cal, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 11 Colorado and No. 12 Stanford.
The Trojans won 11 games in their first season under Coach Lincoln Riley, before losing to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game and falling to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
Having surprised some in 2022, the expectations for USC are considerably higher this year with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams and much of his supporting cast returning. But the schedule also looks more challenging, with road games against Oregon and Notre Dame and home games against Utah, Washington and UCLA.
The games against Utah, Oregon and Washington figure to test a USC defense that had its share of struggles last season and lost Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Tuli Tuipulotu to the NFL (Chargers).
The Utes return senior quarterback Cam Rising, who is rehabbing from a torn ACL in his left knee that he suffered during their Rose Bowl loss. The Utes have 12 players on this year’s Pac-12 preseason all-conference team, including first-team tight end Brant Kuithe and first-team defensive tackle Junior Tafuna.
The Ducks have a series of stacked recruiting classes, return their quarterback (Bo Nix) and have averaged more than 10 wins per season over the past four years (2020 excluded). They won two of the past four Pac-12 titles.
Washington won 11 games in Coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season and returns quarterback Michael Penix, another player who figures to test a defensive front that USC attempted to fortify through the transfer portal.
If Riley and his squad do navigate their way to the Pac-12 crown, that would figure to put them in the mix for a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff before they leave for the Big Ten in 2024.
The media has correctly selected the conference champion in 33 of 62 previous preseason polls, including six times in the 12 seasons since the league instituted a conference championship game. This year’s Pac-12 title game, pitting the two teams with the best conference winning percentages, is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Pac-12 media day is Friday at Resorts World in Las Vegas.
