USC football is No. 14 in preseason Associated Press Poll

The USC Trojans continue to see where other voters place them in preseason college football polls. They learned where they stand in the preseason Associated Press Poll on Monday morning.

As was the case in the Pac-12 media poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, the Trojans came in third in their conference, behind Utah and Oregon.

AP voters placed the Trojans at No. 14 in the preseason poll, with Utah at No. 7 and Oregon and No. 11. This marks a third major preseason poll in which the Trojans are picked to miss the Pac-12 Championship Game. Utah and Oregon are once again viewed as the teams to beat in the conference. As a point of comparison, USC was No. 15 in the coaches poll, with Oregon at No. 12.

The Trojans are one of the most fascinating teams in the country, primarily because they have Lincoln Riley as their head coach and Caleb Williams as their quarterback, but also because USC is embarking on an ambitious project to dramatically remake a roster in one season. Skeptics make the reasonable point that it’s hard to completely overhaul a bad roster (2021 USC) and turn it into something special in the course of only one season. There are too many limitations, too many questions, and not enough sure things in such a context.

USC and Riley are trying to push back against that by getting high-end transfer-portal talent immediately into the bloodstream of the program. We will see if the coach and the elite transfers can work some magic in Hollywood this season.

Here is the full AP preseason poll:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Georgia

4. Clemson

5. Notre Dame

6. Texas A&M

7. Utah

8. Michigan

9. Oklahoma

10. Baylor

11. Oregon

12. Oklahoma State

13. North Carolina State

14. USC

15. Michigan State

16. Miami

17. Pittsburgh

18. Wisconsin

19. Arkansas

20. Kentucky

21. Ole Miss

22. Wake Forest

23. Cincinnati

24. Houston

25. BYU

List

Complete Pac-12 football game predictions for 2022

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire