USC football’s offense looked like it could be one of the best in all of college football this past Saturday against the Missouri State Bears.
The Trojans absolutely demolished Missouri State by a score of 73-13. 73 points were the most points scored in a game by USC since 1930.
And yet, somehow, USC actually dropped in the USA Today College Football Coaches poll. They were unranked in the Top 25, and actually received less votes than the preseason poll, dropping from No. 29 to No. 31.
USC also received no love from the AP Poll, also missing the AP Top 25. Though, they did move from No. 30 to No. 29 in terms of votes.
Meanwhile, six other Big Ten teams made the AP Poll: #1 Ohio State, #2 Penn State, #6 Oregon, #11 Illinois, #15 Michigan and #23 Indiana.
What Could the Voters Be Thinking?
It simply isn’t registering to people outside of the West Coast how impressive USC’s performance was this past Saturday.
Forget the opponent. Sure, USC was playing a team in its first FBS game, returning most of their starters from their FCS squad a season ago.
Instead, evaluate it in the context of USC’s history. USC has had a lot of all-time great offensive players since 1930. Marcus Allen, Reggie Bush, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Caleb Williams; none of those players ever led USC to a 73-point game.
Instead, Jayden Maiava led the Trojans to the offensive outburst. And put on the best quarterback performance in the Big Ten along the way despite playing only in one half.
Also, consider the eye test. USC looked deep, fast and well-oiled on offense. Maiava looked far more confident than he did last season.
In a game USC was predicted to win by 35, they instead won by 60.
All of that has to count for something. But instead, coaches around the league saw that and somehow thought wow, USC is going to be worse than we initially thought. How?!
Maybe they were turned away by USC’s defense, which surrendered 13 points, despite missing 5 key contributors on that side of the ball. But who knows.
Teams That Should Not Be Ahead of USC
All of this is made worse when you take a look at the teams that are in the AP and Coaches polls. Some of them clearly do not belong there over USC.
Taking a look at the AP Poll first, Alabama is ranked No. 21 despite having lost to Florida State, a team that went 2-10 and finished last in a weak ACC conference last season. It was a decisive 31-17 loss too.
In what world has that earned a ranking from the voters? If anything, Alabama should be competing for ESPN’s Not Top 10 or Bottom 10.
Then, there’s USC’s conference rival, No. 23 Indiana. Indiana squeaked out a 27-14 win over a mediocre Sun Belt team, Old Dominion. Surviving a scare against a team that went 5-7 a year ago and 4-4 in the mediocre Sun Belt Conference does not deserve a Top-25 ranking.
It seems as though USC fans should continue to expect no love from poll voters until at least they face Illinois in their fifth game of the season.
But what do you think, USC fans? Where should the Trojans be ranked in these polls?
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post USC Football Faces Ultimate Disrespect Despite Record Setting Performance appeared first on Heavy Sports.