Despite starting the season 3-0, USC is still unranked in the college football USA TODAY Sports US LBM Coaches Poll. The AP Poll, however, did rank the Trojans this week. After taking down Purdue 33-17 on the road, USC made its 2025 debut in the rankings, coming in at No. 25.
While USC fans are certainly happy to see the Trojans ranked, one eye-opening thing is the team directly in front of them: No. 24 Notre Dame. This is particularly notable because the Irish are still ranked ahead of the Trojans despite being 0-2 to start the season.
Obviously, Notre Dame has played a much tougher schedule than USC thus far, dropping close contests to Miami and Texas A&M. But the fact that an 0-2 team is ranked above a 3-0 team certainly raises a lot of questions, especially from USC fans.
At the end of the day, however, rankings in September do not really mean all that much. The Trojans and Irish will have the opportunity to settle things on the field when they meet in South Bend next month.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football enters AP Poll top 25 after Purdue victory, but still behind 0-2 Notre Dame
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
