It was an offseason full of disrespect toward the USC football team. Experts didn’t believe the Trojans could be a contending team in the Big Ten. That notion has flowed into the season even after two lopsided victories by the Trojans.
In a recent NCAA re-rank of teams 1-136 by USA TODAY Sports, the Trojans came in as the 31st-best team in college football. There has been discourse just about everywhere on whether the Trojans should be featured in top 25 rankings. USC Trojans writer and analyst Alicia de Artola Castillo joined the discussion on X earlier this week. Here are Castillo’s thoughts on the matter:
“#USC is still not ranked in the AP Poll (as expected). Trojans have 62 points, two points fewer than last week, and are now 30th, one spot lower.”
Castillo went further in another tweet:
“I think there’s a slim chance we see USC in the Top 25 next week, but it would take a comfortable win over Purdue and some carnage in the teens. Realistically, I think a win over Michigan State and a 4-0 record gets USC there in time for the Illinois game.”
The Trojans cannot control their schedule in terms of how well their opponents play. The Trojans however can control how good they are in their games. They have dominated their opponents by a wide margin in the first two weeks. The Trojans have been the best offense in college football to start the season. If that does not warrant being a top 25 team, there need to be new guidelines set for the rankings.
The Trojans are heading to Indiana to face their first Big Ten opponent in the Purdue Boilermakers. If they have the same success against Purdue they have had in their first two games, they should be in the top 25 next week. Purdue last year was an 1-11 team, but the 2025 version of Purdue is a much improved team that is a step above the Trojans’ recent level of competition.
In Week 3 the Trojans should get another commanding victory, cementing themselves in the AP Top 25 and the USA TODAY US LBM Coaches Poll next week. This will be the perfect game to display the point that it doesn’t matter who is across from the Trojans; they can still put up 40 or more points on anybody.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Experts still view Trojans as a team not worthy of the top 25
Reporting by Micah Huff, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
