College Football: Preseason Top 25 Projections

The defending Pac-12 champions have some major holes to fill, even with seven starters returning on each side of the ball. Keeping the conference crown in 2018 is going to be difficult for Clay Helton‘s crew. USC was on the cusp of the College Football Playoff last season, but losing so much talent will prevent the Trojans from reaching the top 10 of the initial AP Top 25 for 2018.

The highest-profile loss is undoubtedly Sam Darnold, the quarterback who made his name as a redshirt freshman and plateaued in 2017 as a surefire first-round talent. His replacement could be a true freshman, if JT Daniels can win the starting role out of the gate this spring. More likely, he will follow a similar trajectory to Darnold, who sat the first few games of his redshirt freshman year behind Max Browne before being handed the offense.

USC’s defense lost a couple of key cogs as well, with Uchenna Nwosu and Rasheem Green both going on the second day of the 2018 NFL Draft. They also lost veteran Porter Gustin for four to six weeks to a torn meniscus during preseason practices, further depleting their depth at the start of the season. The Trojans are still a top-15 team in the AP Top 25, but they could launch higher in the polls quickly by the time they take on Texas in mid-September.