College football 2021: Most underrated, overrated teams by P5 conference
By John Scimeca
Pac-12
Most overrated: USC Trojans
USC is another program like Texas in the Big 12 — resources that are matched by very few other athletic programs, a prestigious history, and typically overrated entering a new season. The Trojans certainly fit the bill for the 2021 season, checking in at No. 13 in the ESPN preseason Top 25.
Sure, the Trojans return plenty of talent from a team that went 5-1 last year’s shortened campaign, with the only loss coming to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game. With some of the ups and downs of head coach Clay Helton’s run in Los Angeles, though, it’s fair to question if USC deserves the 2021 preseason praise.
Playmakers must be found to replace guys like wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (drafted by the NFL’s Detroit Lions) and running back Stephen Carr, who ran for more than 1,300 yards last season before transferring to Indiana this summer.
Opening the season with a resurgent San José State program should worry Trojans fans.
Most underrated: Stanford Cardinal
There’s not much of a buzz around Palo Alto despite the end of Stanford’s 2020 campaign. After dropping the first two games of the shortened season, the Cardinal won all of its final five games, including road triumphs against Washington and UCLA.
Most pollsters have tabbed the Cardinal at fourth place in the Pac-12 North Division preseason media poll, a finish that the team is certainly capable of bettering this fall.
In his decade on the sidelines, head coach David Shaw has built a winning culture, including a stretch from 2012 to 2015 of three conference titles. Stanford may not be at that level necessarily in 2021, i.e. capable of beating Oregon, but the team could certainly win 8-9 games and earn Top 25 votes.