ESPN’s updated Football Power Index has USC sitting in a familiar spot: close enough to the top tier to matter, but still chasing the Big Ten’s heavy hitters.
The Trojans landed at No. 13 in ESPN’s top 25 FPI rankings for the 2026 college football season, which makes them the No. 4 team in the Big Ten. Ahead of USC in the conference are Ohio State at No. 1 with a 28.7 rating, Oregon at No. 4 with a 25.3 mark, and Indiana at No. 6 with a 23.1 rating. USC checks in at 17.0.
That ranking comes with some real intrigue for Lincoln Riley’s team, which finished 9-4 in 2025 during his fourth season in Los Angeles. USC is still trying to reach its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history, but there are a few reasons the Trojans have plenty of buzz heading into 2026.
The biggest one is quarterback Jayden Maiava returning for another season. Maiava, who will be a redshirt senior in 2026, started all 13 games last year and threw for 3,711 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He earned Third-team All-Big Ten honors and had the option to enter the 2026 NFL Draft, but chose to come back.
USC also made a notable move on defense by hiring Gary Patterson as defensive coordinator. Patterson is best known for his long run at TCU from 2000-2021, where he went 181-79 and guided the Horned Frogs to six conference titles. Riley and Patterson already know each other well from their years facing off in the Big 12, when Riley was at Oklahoma and Patterson was at TCU.
“Gary and I have had a good relationship for a long time. We've competed against each other so many times.
A lot of big games. I've had a chance at head coaching meetings and all that in the past to strike up a really good relationship," Riley said on Always College Football.
"I've always had as much respect for him defensively as anybody I've ever coached against.”
There’s also momentum coming from the recruiting trail. USC’s 2026 high school class was ranked No. 1 in the country, and while those players will arrive as true freshmen, the Trojans could get immediate help from five-star edge rusher Luke Wafle and five-star tight end Mark Bowman.
The path to the playoff won’t be simple. According to DraftKings Sportbook, USC has +240 odds to make the College Football Playoff this season, and the schedule doesn’t do them any favors. All three Big Ten teams ranked ahead of USC in the FPI are on the Trojans’ 2026 slate, with Oregon and Ohio State coming to Los Angeles and Indiana waiting on the road.
In Other News...
USC Is In A Battle It Cannot Afford To Lose For Local Star
Hayden Koo has become one of the more closely watched local names in USCs recruiting orbit, and for good reason. The four-star wide receiver from Tustin has drawn attention from a long list of programs that includes Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, BYU, Stanford and UCLA, but the Trojans have made a clear push of their own as they try to keep one of Southern Californias better prospects close to home. Koo was on campus for The Opening Finals and later took part in an invite-only USC prospect camp, where he worked out with coach Chad Savage and came away with an offer.
The next stretch of the recruiting calendar could matter a lot here, because Koo is planning to take game-day visits this season even though nothing is locked in yet. USC is one of the schools he wants to see, and the late-September home date against Oregon is already on his radar, which gives the Trojans a chance to make a stronger impression in front of a local target who still has plenty of options. For USC, the appeal is obvious: keeping a top California receiver from drifting elsewhere is exactly the kind of battle it cannot afford to lose. [Read more 🡒]
USC Could Catch Wisconsin In A Coach's Most Desperate Game
Lincoln Rileys seat at USC still draws plenty of attention, but the more fragile situation in this matchup belongs to Wisconsin and Luke Fickell. The Badgers have gone through two straight down years, and after the rough 2025 season, plenty of observers expected a change. Instead, Wisconsin is trying to buy time and stability, while USC enters the game with the kind of expectation that usually comes with being the more talented team on paper.
For the Trojans, that makes this one feel less like a toss-up and more like a chance to keep a struggling opponent from finding any footing. USC is expected to handle Wisconsin, and anything short of that would raise immediate questions about where this program is headed under Riley. For Fickell, the pressure is even more immediate, because the margin for error in Madison has already shrunk to the point where every game now feels like part of a final exam. [Read more 🡒]
USC Ace Mason Edwards Just Delivered A Huge Draft Moment
Mason Edwards rise at USC ended with the kind of draft moment that confirms just how far his college career came. After missing most of the 2025 season because of injury, the former Trojans pitcher returned in 2026 and turned himself into one of the most dominant arms in the country, finishing with 8 wins, a 2.07 ERA and 15.9 strikeouts per nine innings while anchoring USCs staff.
The season also brought national recognition, with Edwards emerging as a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award and earning Baseball Americas pitcher of the year honor. His performance made him the highest-drafted USC player since Brad Boxberger in 2009, and now he heads into the Athletics minor league system with the sort of momentum that can change the early shape of a pro career. [Read more 🡒]