USC has cracked the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026, landing at No. 20 on Tuesday.
It’s the 40th time the Trojans have shown up in the CFP rankings, and their track record in the poll has been uneven. USC has reached the top five only once, when it checked in at No. 4, and it has been inside the top 10 nine times across the 13 years of rankings.
Last season, the Trojans opened at No. 19 and climbed as high as No. 15.
The committee’s placement comes with USC sitting 18th in the Associated Press top 25 and 17th in the Coaches Poll this week. The Trojans dropped out of the AP poll after a road loss to Wisconsin, then worked their way back in Sunday after knocking off the CFP’s No. 12 Ohio State on Saturday at the Coliseum.
For USC, the path ahead is clear. The Trojans have a bye week before heading to No.
4 Indiana on Nov. 14.
After that comes a home date with Maryland on Nov. 21, then a trip to No. 8 UCLA to finish the regular season.
USC is 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Its season started with home wins over San Jose State, Fresno State and Louisiana, followed by a road win at Rutgers.
The Trojans then lost at home to CFP No. 23 Oregon and its backup quarterback, beat Washington at home, stunned Penn State on the road in front of nearly 115,000 fans, fell at unranked Wisconsin and then turned around to shock the Buckeyes at home.
Fifth-year quarterback Jayden Maiava has been steady for the cardinal and gold. He has completed 66.8 percent of his passes for 2,303 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, and he has leaned heavily on USC’s freshmen in the passing game. Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has 32 catches for 443 yards and four touchdowns in eight games, Mark Bowman has 21 receptions for 204 yards and two scores in five games, and Trent Mosley has 27 catches for 411 yards and five touchdowns in five games while averaging 15.2 yards per catch.
The ground game has helped keep the offense balanced, even if the numbers haven’t been eye-popping. USC ranks 103rd nationally at 3.9 yards per rush and 107th at 129.3 rushing yards per game. King Miller leads the team with 603 yards and four touchdowns on 125 carries, while Waymond Jordan has 287 yards and two touchdowns on 63 attempts in eight games.
Defensively, the Trojans have tightened up over their last four outings. They have held every opponent in that stretch under 25 points and limited Ohio State to just one touchdown last week. Deven Bryant and Christian Pierce are tied for the team lead with 44 tackles apiece, freshman defensive end Luke Wafle has 7.5 tackles for loss, and Wafle along with nickelback Kennedy Urlacher has three sacks.
USC’s matchup with Indiana is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PST on Nov. 14 and will air on CBS. Both teams will be coming off byes for the ranked showdown.
Among Big Ten teams, the Buckeyes are 12th, Iowa
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For USC, the addition fits the broader momentum around a class that now sits at 15 commitments. Jones brings the kind of upside programs covet along the defensive front, and the fact that he chose the Trojans after being tied elsewhere suggests the staff made a real impression in person. The next question is how far his game can go once he gets into USCs system. [Read more 🡒]
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Arenas led the way with 21 points, Adonis Ratliff added 25 and Darius Ratliff chipped in 14 points with five blocked shots, the kind of production that immediately changes the tone around a roster. Musselman already had prior NBA connections with Arenas and the Ratliffs, and after one game, it is easy to see why their arrival has raised expectations for what USC might become as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]