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USC again unranked in AP, Coaches Polls but a big opportunity awaits

Erik-McKinneyby: Erik McKinney10/05/25ErikTMcKinney
USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches from the sidelines against the Missouri State Bears in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches from the sidelines against the Missouri State Bears in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

The USC Trojans are again unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls for Week 7. The Trojans spent the early part of the year unranked before moving into the bottom part of the Top 25 ahead of a ranked showdown at Illinois. A last-second loss to the Illini saw them slide out of the rankings last week and a bye week didn’t change things.

USC gained votes during the bye week, but are effectively No. 31 in the AP Poll and No. 33 in the Coaches Poll.

The Trojans do have two significant opportunities to shoot up and into the rankings over the next two weeks. USC will host No. 15 Michigan at the Coliseum this Saturday. After that, the Trojans will visit South Bend for a matchup against No. 16 Notre Dame. This is a critical portion of the season for USC, which needs to find its footing and bounce back from a poor defensive showing at Illinois in a 34-32 loss.

The “all-offense, no-defense” narrative is building about another Lincoln Riley team and the Trojans will have a chance to push back on that with a run-first Michigan team up next.

Illinois climbed to No. 17 following a road win at Purdue. USC’s other ranked opponent on the 2025 schedule, Oregon, is in the top three of both polls and earning first-place votes.

Complete Week 6 AP and Coaches Polls


Rank		AP PollCoaches Poll
1Ohio State (40)Ohio State (59)
2Miami (21)Oregon (3)
3Oregon (5)Miami (3)
4Ole MissOle Miss
5Texas A&MTexas A&M (1)
6OklahomaOklahoma
7IndianaIndiana
8AlabamaAlabama
9Texas TechGeorgia
10GeorgiaTexas Tech
11LSULSU
12TennesseeTennessee
13Georgia TechGeorgia Tech
14MissouriMissouri
15MichiganMichigan
16Notre DameNotre Dame
17IllinoisIllinois
18BYUBYU
19VirginiaTexas
20VanderbiltVanderbilt
21Arizona StateIowa State
22Iowa StatePenn State
23MemphisArizona State
24South FloridaVirginia
25Florida StateMemphis

AP Poll others receiving votes: Cincinnati 129, Texas 111, Penn St. 97, Utah 84, Nebraska 60, USC 46, UNLV 19, North Texas 16, TCU 14, Washington 10, Mississippi St. 10, Navy 4, Louisville 3, Auburn 1

Coaches Poll others receiving votes: Utah 134; Florida State 93; Cincinnati 70; South Florida 65; North Texas 28; Navy 26; Washington 25; USC 23; UNLV 21; Nebraska 17; TCU 15; Old Dominion 13; Louisville 10; Tulane 8; Duke 7; Auburn 7; Iowa 5; SMU 2

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Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)

Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans.

Garry Paskwietz