USC moves up in latest polls


By
 in ,

Following USC’s 38-28 victory over the Utah Utes on Saturday, the Trojans moved up to the No. 11 spot in the Associated Press top-25 poll and the No. 9 spot in the USA Today Coaches’ poll. USC was previously ranked No. 13 and No. 12, respectively.

USC’s win, while not dominant, was boosted by the losses of other ranked teams. The Florida State Seminoles—formerly No. 3 in the AP poll—were upset by unranked North Carolina State. The Georgia Bulldogs were blown out in an SEC battle against South Carolina, and the Texas Longhorns suffered a close defeat against West Virginia and Heisman frontrunner Geno Smith. The LSU Tigers were also defeated over the weekend, but remain ahead of USC in both polls after falling on the road against a highly regarded Florida squad.

Oregon remains the class of the Pac-12 at the No. 2 slot in both polls after blowing out the Washington Huskies 52-21. Oregon State comes in second at the No. 10 ranking in the AP poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll. Stanford moved up one spot to No. 17 after narrowly defeating Arizona in overtime.

Washington and UCLA both dropped out of the rankings after losing over the weekend.

Starting next weekend, the BCS rankings will begin rolling out. Most analysts have USC slated in the 10-13 range based on their accomplishments thus far.