After a season of chasing, Southern California is again the team being chased.
And that’s just the way coach Pete Carroll and the Trojans like it.
For the third time in the past four years, USC begins the college football season No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25.
“It’s exactly where we hope and expect to be,” Carroll said. “It’s a symbol of what we’re all about.”
Tennessee starts No. 15.
Southern California received 62 of 65 first-place votes and 1,622 points from a panel of media members. USC easily outdistanced No. 2 LSU in the poll released Saturday. The Tigers received two first-place votes and 1,511 points. They haven’t started a season ranked this high since 1959, when they were preseason No. 1.
No. 3 West Virginia received the other first-place vote. The Mountaineers have never been ranked higher in the preseason. No. 4 Texas and Michigan round out the top five, and defending champion Florida is sixth.
USC has been the country’s top program since 2002, going 59-6 with two national championships and a near-miss. This season, the Trojans expect to walk away from the BCS national championship game in New Orleans with the crystal football.
“That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to do it better than anybody has ever done it before,” Carroll said. “That’s the single thought. That’s what drives us. If that’s the case, you want to be No. 1 forever.”
For the Trojans, this is the 82nd time they’ve been No. 1 in the poll. Only Notre Dame (95), Oklahoma (95) and Ohio State (88) have more.
Much of the Trojans’ time at No. 1 has been since late in 2003, when they took the top spot at the end of the regular season and finished No. 1 the AP poll — despite being left out of the national title game. LSU finished No. 1 in the coaches’ poll.
The next season USC became the second team, joining Florida State in 1999, to be No. 1 all the way and was the undisputed national champ.
The next season, USC nearly pulled the wire-to-wire trick again, but Vince Young and Texas relegated the Trojans to No. 2 in the end by winning a 41-38 thriller in the Rose Bowl.
Last season, USC was in the top 10 all season, but never did get to No. 1. The Trojans were No. 2 going into the final week of the regular season, but with a chance to play for another national title they lost 13-9 to UCLA.
USC bounced back with a resounding 32-18 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl and that set the stage for the Trojans to start this season as an overwhelming No. 1.
The rest of the top 10 has Wisconsin at No. 7, followed by Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Louisville.
Ohio State, last year’s preseason No. 1 and the loser of the national title game to Florida, is No. 11 to start the 2007 season. No. 12 is California, followed by Georgia, UCLA and Tennessee.
No. 16 Rutgers is ranked in the preseason for the first time, as is No. 23 Hawaii.
Penn State is No. 17 and Auburn, Florida State and Nebraska round out the top 20. Arkansas, TCU, Hawaii, Boise State and Texas A&M are the final five.
The Southeastern Conference has six ranked teams, most of any league. The Big Ten and Big 12 are next with four and the Pac-10 and Big East have three each.
The Trojans are preseason No. 1 for the sixth time overall, tying Nebraska for third most. Only Oklahoma (nine) and Ohio State (seven) have been top-ranked in the preseason by AP more often.
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Comments » 14
orangebloodgmc writes:
Georgia ahead of us? Not only Cal but also UCLA ahead of us? Our boys gotta go out there and take it out on somebody.
SFOrange writes:
take what out on somebody?
the polls are guesses, remember last years first poll (Cal #9)? don't worry about the polls, worry about our receivers and secondary---and Cals offensive attack. go vols.
tnorthern#228599 writes:
I think it'll take 11-1, 11-2, or 12-2 for UT to end up in the top ten and a bowl win is also necessary. At any rate, it'll include the SEC championshp game (not necessarily a win there) and a bowl win to finish that lofty.
chrisw2967 writes:
the last thing we need to worry about is where we are ranked right now , let the gussers put us where they want its up to the coaches and players to prove them wrong. at least were not preseason #3 we all know what happened with that. if they go out and take care of business then everything else will take care of itself.
bornavol writes:
Take care of the ball, average 4 yards a carry, average 5 yards a pass, defense give up less than 100 yards a game and let the pollsters do what they do best-GET IT WRONG GO BIG O!!
AllVol writes:
ESPN wouldn't pick us against St. Agnes. Screw 'em. A good SEC ass whippin' at Cal will kick offf the season nicely. I'm not worried about our offense. Too many weapons with Erik's leadership not to score a lot. Our defense will surprise a lot of people too. Let's rock and roll.
AllVol writes:
I honestly think 15th is about right--I think we started 14th in '98. All we have to do is win. The polls will take care of themselves.
Colliervol writes:
Get a load of this one. I was watching the "Countdown" Show today on CSS and those dimwits picked the East in the following order: Georgia, SC, Florida, Kentucky, UT, and Vandy. I knew they were Georgia homers on that show but I had no idea they were that goofy.
vol4jesus writes:
love richt,spurrier,meyer,(woodson)...etc.preseason is all for publications to sell ads in magazines. Stating the obvious...playem...winem...polls won't matter or tv sports shows going for ratings.
AllVol writes:
NFL analyst, Chris Steuber, of Scout.com ranks Erik Ainge as the 7th best QB in the country. Oklahoma State's is 14th. Stafford isn't even in the top 20. I hope OSU drills GA so bad they cower for the rest of the season. GO COWBOYS!
We're under the radar at the moment--right where we need to be to explode.
orangebloodgmc writes:
I don't think Georgia returns diddly squat. That's my point. Pickin' that over us? Based on what? They had one preseason "star" a db, and he flunked out since then. We whupped 'em last year ... and now they come to NAY-land Stadium. Je suis fache ce matin. Geaux Vawls!
invisiblekid writes:
I'll put this right in the "who cares" file. It might mean something in about 3 months.
orangebloodgmc writes:
Wow, Colliervol, that picking of the SEC East is indeed pretty goofy. They must be making up for '05 when we were picked #3 in nation before going 5-6, so this yr doing the opposite.
RangerForSix writes:
"Final Poll is the Final Goal!"
"Play in 14 football games"
By definition that poll would have us ranked high, as we'd be 'at least' the SEC East champions. We did it in 2004...Who thought that the '04 team would beat Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Kentucky...
"Nobody thought that in August of 2004, we'd beat all the heavy weights, except Auburn...Nobody!"
"14 football games, come on VOL nation. Make it a story that's real."
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