USC football not among top five Big Ten programs entering 2026 season
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
USC football, at its best, is a juggernaut. When the Trojans have everything aligned as a program, they dominate. See Pete Carroll. See John McKay and the first few years of John Robinson's first tenure. From 1967 through 1979 and then from 2002 through 2008, USC was a fearsome and formidable college football program in the past 60 years (not even including the dynastic period under Howard Jones in the 1920s and 1930s). Now, USC can't even crack the top five of all Big Ten football programs. USA TODAY Sports put the Trojans seventh in the conference.
"The results haven’t been there for USC since joining the Big Ten. Things may be looking up after a nine-win 2025 season and the arrival of one of the nation’s top-ranked signing classes. Still, the Trojans haven’t played for a national title in two decades and never qualified for the College Football Playoff. They have several rungs to climb before reaching the top of the Big Ten," USA TODAY wrote.
It's impossible to argue with any of that. The Trojans and Lincoln Riley need to earn top-five status. They certainly don't deserve it right now. We could quibble with Iowa being ahead of USC since Iowa has never made the College Football Playoff, but even if USC was ahead of Iowa, it would still not be a top-five Big Ten program. It would only be No. 6 behind Penn State, Michigan, Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State. All five of those programs have made the College Football Playoff in the past three seasons.
USC just has to get the job done. There's nothing left to say. Actions, not words.
Contact/Follow @TrojansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of USC Trojans news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football not among top five Big Ten programs entering 2026 season
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos