Trojans fall in USA Today poll


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After Saturday’s 42-29 victory against the Syracuse Orangemen at MetLife Stadium, the USC Trojans maintained their No. 2 ranking in the AP poll and fell to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.

USC was able to pull out a double-digit win, but struggled in the second half to put away the Orangemen. Syracuse outscored the Trojans 13-7 in the third quarter and closed the gap to 21-16 going into the fourth.

The Trojans were jumped in the USA Today Coaches’ poll by the LSU Tigers after LSU blew out USC’s Pac-12 competitors, the Washington Huskies, 41-3. USC still has more first-place votes than the Tigers (11 to 5), but LSU has more total points with 1380 compared to 1363.

In the AP poll, the Trojans maintained their No. 2 ranking but gave up some headway to the Tigers, who now trail them by just 10 points.

Four other schools from the Pac-12 are in both the AP and USA Today Coaches’ polls. Oregon remains at No. 4 in both polls, while Stanford sits at No. 21 and No. 16, respectively. Two new teams entered the fray this week: UCLA, No. 22 in AP and No. 23 in USA Today, and Arizona, No. 24 in AP and No. 25 in USA Today. USC will face off against Stanford on Saturday at Stanford Stadium in a matchup of ranked Pac-12 squads.