Poll Position
USC goes into the Arkansas game without the No. 1 AP ranking for the first time since it went into the Dec. 3, 2003, Oregon State game ranked No. 2. And the No. 6 ranking is the lowest AP ranking for the Trojans going into a game since the October 11, 2003, Stanford game, when the Trojans were ninth.
When was the last time an unranked Trojan team took the field? Christmas Day, 2001, against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.
And for the optimists, in 1972, USC, ranked a No. 8 in the pre-season poll, used its victory at Arkansas to climb up to the No. 1 spot, where they stayed the rest of that season.
UPDATE: The Arkansas game is the first that USC will be entering without a No. 1 ranking, since the Oregon St. game in 2003. It is not the first time that USC has not been No. 1 since 2003 since USC was No. 2 in the poll that came out on Jan. 5, 2006
Comments
I love the fact that USC is at #6. Less pressure for the team. This way the Trojans can surprise the college football world again like two or three years ago.
Pete Carroll's teams are the best when the naysayers abound. This year will be no different.
IN PETE WE TRUST!!!
Posted by: DixieTrojan | August 19, 2006 06:23 AM
Excuse me but the last time USC was not rated number one was after the loss to Texas this January, 2006. That counts in poll standings.
Posted by: Mike | August 19, 2006 07:29 AM
I can understand the top three, but Auburn and West Virginia? I guess the API doesn't take into account recruiting classes and pass year records.
Kind of smells like "East Coast" bias.
Could be a fun year if the passing game improves.
Fight On!
Posted by: Rick, 2003 | August 19, 2006 07:30 AM
Less pressure? Had you been at last nights Salute to Troy, you would have heard many a Trojan fan predicting an undefeated season and the expectation to make up for last years Rose Bowl loss. Expecting more with less = pressure.
Posted by: USC_89 | August 19, 2006 08:37 AM
It's not a bad spot to start off the year. It is better to rise than to fall and never return.
Posted by: Jack | August 19, 2006 10:46 AM
LOVE IT!! what's the point spread?????
Posted by: steve | August 19, 2006 11:09 AM
I see the AP has picked Notre Dame for second in the rankings, setting up a titanic game at the Coliseum with the Trojans. Why is this game not played at the end of the schedule as it has been for decades (when played in L.A.), instead of prior to the UCLA game?
Posted by: Bill Partridge | August 19, 2006 12:39 PM
WVU is ranked that high b/c they have the easiest schedule of any BCS team, other than a Nov trip to Louisville, they don't have anyone on their schedule with a pulse
Posted by: TrojanHorse | August 19, 2006 05:54 PM
No school should be rated highly because of their future schedule. You should start off the season ranked in a certain position based on your talent. West Virginia may be a Top 10 team, but they are certainly NOT deserving of a number one ranking as Scott voted this past week. Any poll vote that doesn't have Cal in the Top 20 has to be suspect, much less the Top 25.
Posted by: TROBOB | August 20, 2006 12:01 AM
TOO TRUE!!!
WVU has a cupcake schedule ... it's EMBARRASSING!!!
Even going undefeated with that schedule should NOT earn them a spot in the Title game ...
A BCS game ? - sure, why not ...
That's what they added the extra game in for anyway - so, a couple whiny teams could get fat paydays to shut the hell up.
PLEASE - go look at WVU's schedule ...
WHAT A JOKE!!!
FIGHT ON!!!
Posted by: truetrojan | August 20, 2006 08:01 AM
WVU is so overrated. I mean come on, who do they play except Louisiville whom they almost lost to kast year. Auburn shouldn't even be that high, Florida should take their spot.
Posted by: Jonathan | August 20, 2006 11:25 PM