USC enters the 2026 preseason with plenty of buzz, and On3’s latest rankings back that up. The Trojans landed at No. 13 in the outlet’s college football top 25, which makes them the fourth-highest team in the Big Ten heading into the new season.
That ranking comes on the heels of a nine-win 2025 season, and the expectation around Lincoln Riley’s program is clear: this is the year USC is supposed to move forward in a real way. On3’s Wilson Alexander pointed to the same core reasons people around the Trojans are optimistic.
“Riley has talked all offseason about this being the year that USC takes a significant step forward. The Trojans brought back quarterback Jayden Maiava…Signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and hired Gary Patterson as the new defensive coordinator,” Alexander said. “If he (Patterson) can deliver, USC has a chance to make the CFP for the first time.”
It’s the fifth season of the Riley era at USC, and the résumé through four years is a mixed bag. He’s gone 35-18, and every season has ended in a bowl game. But the bigger boxes remain unchecked: no conference titles and no College Football Playoff appearances.
That’s the tension hanging over the program. USC hired Riley to bring the Trojans back to the top, and the school’s history says that bar is a high one.
The program owns 11 national titles, but it has been nearly two decades since USC was viewed as the sport’s premier power. Since 2009, the Trojans have won one conference championship and still haven’t reached a playoff or a national title game.
One of the biggest reasons for optimism is Jayden Maiava. USC got its starting quarterback back for 2026, and that matters.
Maiava started all 13 games in 2025, passed for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns, and earned Third-team All-Big Ten honors. For a team trying to build on what it did last season, keeping a quarterback who already knows the system is a major plus.
The other major change is on defense, where USC made a notable hire in Gary Patterson. He replaces D’Anton Lynn, who left this offseason for the same job at Penn State, his alma mater.
Patterson brings a long track record from his years at TCU, where he coached the Horned Frogs from 2000-2021. Over more than two decades in Fort Worth, he posted a 181-79 record and won six conference championships.
Since leaving TCU in 2021, Patterson has worked as an assistant to the head coach at Texas and as a consultant for Baylor. He has not been calling defenses in games for a few years, so how quickly he settles in will be one of the more interesting storylines for USC.
The betting market is a little less bullish than the ranking. DraftKings Sportsbook lists USC’s win total at 8.5, with the over at +115 and the under at -136.
The playoff numbers tell a similar story: +240 to make it, -330 to miss it. If the oddsmakers are right, USC will be on the outside looking in again.
In Other News...
USC May Be Closing In On Lincoln Rileys Next QB Of The Future
USC appears to be making a move well ahead of schedule at the quarterback position, and the latest name tied to Lincoln Rileys pipeline is Texas prospect Trey Wright. A three-star recruit from Lone Star High in Frisco, Wright has picked up attention from a wide range of programs, with Colorado, Oregon, UCLA, Michigan, TCU and SMU all in the mix as he weighs his next step.
National recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong reports that Wright is expected to land with the Trojans, which would give USC another potential long-term answer under center to develop for the future. For a program that has built much of its identity around elite quarterback play, getting ahead of a crowded recruiting race could matter just as much as the commitment itself. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Next Wave At Receiver Is Already Turning Heads
Fall camp is giving USC a first real look at the receiver rooms next chapter, and the attention has naturally shifted to the players who could help fill the void left by departures to the NFL. Among the names drawing interest are sophomore Tanook Hines, who already has college experience, and freshman Ethan Boobie Feaster, whose arrival came with the sort of recruiting buzz that follows a highly ranked prospect into August.
Both have flashed the kind of physical tools that fit what USC wants to do on offense, which is why they are already being mentioned as possible major contributors by the 2026 season. It is still early, of course, but the encouraging part for the Trojans is that the next wave at receiver does not look like a waiting project, and camp is starting to show that the transition in that group may come faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
USC Heads Into Scrimmage With One Crucial Offensive Line Job Unsettled
USC is set to get a longer look at itself in a closed scrimmage at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a useful checkpoint for Lincoln Riley as kickoff approaches. The staff is trying to sort out readiness and depth across the roster, and nowhere is that more important than up front, where the Trojans have had to keep searching for the right combination as camp rolls on.
Kaylon Miller has been among the linemen drawing attention for his progress, and the center competition has become one of the more important pieces of the preseason puzzle. With the offense still working through that spot, this scrimmage should give USC a clearer sense of who can handle the job and who is ready to step in when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]