USC Football: 2017 season preview, predictions

The season is right around the corner for USC football and here are the preview and predictions for the Trojans in 2017.

If you paid attention to college football at all in 2016, you would have known one of the hottest teams in the nation to close out the year was USC. The USC football team not only began the season just 1-3, but it closed out with nine straight victories, including a Rose Bowl win over also-red-hot Penn State.

Clay Helton went from warming seat to firmly in place in Los Angeles. The Trojans got back to their winning ways in the final two months of the season and it shouldn’t have surprised anyone. With the talent on the roster, it would have been a shame to see them finish with less than 10 wins.

Now heading into the 2017 season, USC has higher expectations than in years past. Helton has another year under his belt and starting quarterback Sam Darnold is widely considered the best in the college ranks. Can he live up to that No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick potential everyone is bestowing upon him?

The Trojans are returning just 10 starters to both sides of the ball, but that shouldn’t matter much with this program seeing as it’s been recruiting at such a high level, most of the guys who are replacing last year’s departed starters are former blue-chip recruits who have awaited their turns.

Washington won the Pac-12 last season, beating Colorado in the title game to head to the College Football Playoff, but could USC avoid an early-season meltdown to make a playoff push in 2017?