Trojans Wire reacts to Big Ten poll in which USC received zero respect

USC football was not in the top four in the preseason Big Ten poll released earlier this week. The Trojans are not viewed by the Big Ten or the national media as an elite team or a conference championship contender. There is lingering skepticism about the Trojans’ ability to field an elite defense. There is an ongoing national narrative that Lincoln Riley still doesn’t take defense seriously, despite him hiring an entirely new defensive coaching staff with strong credentials. He didn’t just hire a new defensive coordinator. In addition to D’Anton Lynn, Riley hired a new defensive line coach, Eric Henderson. He hired a new linebackers coach, Matt Entz. He hired a new secondary coach, Doug Belk. He hired Taylor Mays, who did a brilliant job coaching the secondary on an interim basis in the Holiday Bowl. However, Big Ten analysts and pundits who vote in polls don’t think USC belongs with the bigs at this point.

At the 6:12 mark on our recent call-in show on The Voice of College Football, a caller asked our reaction to USC being ranked sixth in the 2024 Big Ten Media Poll.

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The story originally appeared on Trojans Wire