Last week, USC was ranked No. 16 in the college football AP Poll. Following Saturday’s 42-27 loss to Oregon, the Men of Troy dropped three spots in the poll, and are now ranked No. 19.
The face that USC only moved down three spots seems to say a lot about the respect that voters have for the Oregon Ducks. It seems as though their logic is that they are not going to punish the Trojans too much for losing to a really good team on the road.
Oregon, meanwhile, moved up one spot to No. 5 in the poll. Only No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, and No. 4 Georgia currently sit ahead of Dan Lanning’s team.
In addition, to the Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Ducks, and Trojans, one other Big Ten team is ranked: Michigan at No. 15. The Trojans have a head-to-head victory over the Wolverines, but Michigan is currently 9-2, whereas USC is 8-3. Next week, the Wolverines have their biggest game of the season when they lost No. 1 Ohio State.
Finally, rival Notre Dame stayed put at No. 9. Of USC’s three losses this season, two have come on the road against top ten opponents. The third, however, was a particularly brutal one—to a 7-4 Illinois team that suffered a horrific loss to dreadful Wisconsin on Saturday night.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC drops three spots to No. 19 in AP Poll after road loss to Oregon
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
