2017 College Football Playoff preseason predictions

4-Seed – Southern California Trojans

Unlike last season, each of our four projected College Football Playoff teams will be a conference champion. That includes more than one new name taking home a conference title in 2017 starting with the USC Trojans.

Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones will lead the Trojan offensive attack once again. Last time we saw them take the field they upended the Penn State Nittany Lions in one of the best Rose Bowl games in history. They’ll look to pick up right where they left off and honestly, the rest of the PAC-12 South is no match for the offensive juggernaut that the Trojans have become. USC was a top 40 scoring offense last season. They were held under thirty points in just three of Darnold’s starts last season.

The Trojans will face two big obstacles en route to their first College Football Playoff appearance in school history: Jake Browning and attrition. USC was able to hand Washington their first loss late last season. The Huskies made the College Football Playoff, but they haven’t forgotten how bad the Trojans made them look last November.

More: Game by game predictions for USC in 2017

Then there’s attrition. USC does not have a bye week in 2017. That’s an odd scheduling quirk that doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal, but it could impact the roster significantly and exacerbate injuries. Even though the division doesn’t look to be that challenging, even teams like Utah and UCLA become more daunting when you’re playing them in the midst of what feels like a never-ending battle.

Expect the Trojans to weather the storm and take their place on the national stage once again. Sam Darnold is a Heisman contender and the USC brand will get the nod in the event that a hard decision has to be made.