FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: USC 14th In Coaches’ Poll (Of Course)

The coaches’ top 25 poll is out and USC is No. 14.

That’s exactly where USC seems to get ranked lately by voters, who think the Trojans have talent but are not sure what to make of them in the Helton era.

USC was No. 17 in the 2020 coaches’ poll.

It was unranked in the 2019 coaches’ poll.

USC was No. 15 in the 2018 coaches’ poll.

It’s where you put a marquee program that doesn’t produce consistently anymore.

Clay Helton is one of the coaches’ poll voters. So is Tyson Helton. And Steve Sarkisian.

Here are the full results:

RankTeamRecordPTS1stPrevChgHi/Lo
1Alabama0-0162163NR—1/1
2Clemson0-015080NR—2/2
3Oklahoma0-014812NR—3/3
4Ohio State0-014350NR—4/4
5Georgia0-013860NR—5/5
6Texas A&M0-012860NR—6/6
7Notre Dame0-011390NR—7/7
8Iowa State0-011310NR—8/8
9North Carolina0-09990NR—9/9
10Cincinnati0-09790NR—10/10
11Florida0-08700NR—11/11
12Oregon0-08420NR—12/12
13Louisiana State0-06640NR—13/13
14Southern California0-06550NR—14/14
15Wisconsin0-06540NR—15/15
16Miami0-05750NR—16/16
17Indiana0-05730NR—17/17
18Iowa0-05540NR—18/18
19Texas0-04270NR—19/19
20Penn State0-04220NR—20/20
21Washington0-04040NR—21/21
22Oklahoma State0-02160NR—22/22
23UL Lafayette0-01530NR—23/23
24Coastal Carolina0-01500NR—24/24
25Mississippi0-01490NR—25/25

Utah 145; Northwestern 120; Arizona State 90; Auburn 84; Liberty 68; Brigham Young 53; Texas Christian 48; Michigan 30; Central Florida 29; NC State 27; Boise State 27; Kentucky 20; San Jose State 18; Army 13; Virginia Tech 9; Missouri 8; UCLA 7; Tulsa 6; Pittsburgh 6; Boston College 6; Houston 5; Ball State 5; West Virginia 4; Southern Methodist 4; Appalachian State 4; UAB 3; Arkansas 3; Nevada 2; Mississippi State 2; Air Force 2; Stanford 1; Marshall 1; Florida State 1; California 1.

35 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: USC 14th In Coaches’ Poll (Of Course)”

  1. Matt Campbell and Luke Fickell et al ranked ahead of Clay Helton with far less recruited talent. That’s the #ClayHeltonEffect.
    ________________________________

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    1. Which team will blow out USC and what bowl game will it happen at?

      Holiday or Poinsettia bowl, Boise St. takes the Trojans to the woodshed.

      Boise St. 47

      USC 18

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  2. I looked for sow here but they were hidden on page 6….

    Liked by 3 people

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      2. Liked by 1 person

    2. I pointed out UCLA’s undeserved 41st ranking hours ago. That 41st ranking was fake news all the way. UCLA is more of a 42nd ranked team this season. [But they are miles ahead of the 43rd team. There’s that, bruin fans].
      btw, USC will leapfrog LSU when LSU barely gets by lowly UCLA.

      Liked by 2 people

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    3. pudly dumbass likes to deflect people away from talking about how bad his daddy Clay Helton sucks by being obsessed with discussing UCLA.

      pudly dumbass, your daddy Clay Helton can’t coach worth a shit.

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  3. Some people would take this opportunity to point out that UCLA isn’t the top 25 this year (before anything has happened) For these people their two favorite teams are USC and the team that is beating UCLA this week.
    Other people herein believe that number 14 is way too low for the Trojans. These people haven’t been paying attention.
    Then there are people that believe that in spite of the vote UCLA is going to whoop USC this year. I happen to belong to this group. There are several reasons for this prediction, for instance there is the Clueless Clay factor. There is the Helton effect. There is the Helton tries to run the offense gambit. There is the Helton counts the special teams foible. Finally there’s the Helton is in the house chant.
    UCLA is being disrespected by the voters because they really do have some good players and, in spite of having a has been for a coach, have a coach who has been as opposed to a coach who has never been.
    I could be wrong , but that’s just Me

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Let me step out of character for a moment to observe: UCLA will represent a shitload of trouble for USC this year. It will be a huge game for Chip ….and Helton hasn’t exactly been able to handle coaches who are dialed in.

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  4. At the end of the season one may expect these teams to drop into the bottom 20:
    Cincinnati, Iowa State, Indiana, Old Miss, and Coastal Carolina.

    Where USC ends up, I do not know.
    I’ve said it innumerable times, but at 10-2 I see this season as a disappointment and likely cause for termination of the HC. A win in the Pac 12 champ game and a win Jan 1 would be the only way to retain the HC (under these assumptions).

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. This season the schedule is very manageable. A win in Indiana and a win in the CCG, and he would survive. 12-2 is my line in the sand. This is in NO way a prediction.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. Whoa there’s a shock; Dear Pisley trots out his big mouth and teeny balls, bozo FB verbal dysentery, from atop a high fence.

        #Here pussy, pussy.

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      4. I have no idea what will happen, but I see as many as 6 losses: Stanford, Notre Dame, Utah, UCLA, Arizona State, and BYU. Not saying that they’ll lose all of these, but the truth is that USC scares no one, unlike the Pete Carroll years where most opponents knew they were going to lose before even stepping on the field. That’s a huge advantage if you’re SC.

        That said, it’s a mystery to me why Helton wasn’t fired after the Oregon debacle two years ago. I’m not even sure he loses his job if they go 7-5 or 6-6. The guy seems to have a teflon coating.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. There are all kinds of 6-6 seasons, Sgt. Joe. If Helton beat Utah, Oregon, Notre Dame and UCLA, I believe he could lose the shitty Pac 12 South title and stick around (but a lot of fans would be sad about losing their t-shirts)…..
        #BeatTheBiggies,LoseToTheLosers…
        #ThatPhilosophyKeptProthroAtTheRamsForAWhile

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  5. Back when my boy was a boy heading into Grade Uno, mama bear wanted him to go to this Catholic elem school in San Marino. I figured “fuck it, why not add that tuition to my student loans, it builds character” and go to that Catholic school he did. Turned out in the fine print there was some deal about 40 volunteer hrs or $4800 additional cash dollars so I checked the box for 40hrs. When I was in the schools restroom dabbing my tears, low and behold who should be in there doin the same? That’s right, a fellow 1st grade parent who happened to be one of largest dudes I’d ever met who also was crying, who happened to be a cop in a nearby city, who also checked the 40hr box. His wife and my wife bonded like only two opinionated ladies who hated seeing their men.cry, could. They said we could fufill the hours in a mere 2 months if we coached the 6th grade flag football team. At the time I was in my “heyday” goin about 212lbs at 5’9″ (and by heyday I mean I just came home from a CFL camp that reminded me how much I sucked compared to legit pro types), and my new bud (and soon to be co-head coach) went about 6’6″ with the build of a refrigerator/truck. Long story short we looked the part, the job was ours, and our wallets were spared. I ran the D, he ran the O. Not from nothin but we had those lil bastards (what they used to call brave warriors back then) doing some shit scheme wise that the parochial flag football league had never seen, nor probably ever anticipated they would see. We won all but one game (our qb was also some kinda soccer badass and went to a tourney on the week we played for all the marbles. Goddamn futbol). Anywho kids loved us, parents loved us, nuns loved us, and we loved us. Loved us that is until the night of our teams season ending party. Me and my fellow head coach decided we should hold the shindig on a school nite, at a Shakeys in San Gabriel because they had karaoke. You know how it gets when the pizza, mojos, beers and songs get flowing, and soon before we knew it, it was coming up on 11p, time for Shakeys to close its doors for the eve. After we paid the tab, the manager was good enough to share a list of parents who’d been calling Shakeys wondering where the hell their kids were. Thank god my partner in crime decided that he’d remind any angry parents we had a great season and he was a cop so everything was kosher. It actually worked, but oddly enough the nuns decided our services wouldn’t be needed next season. Moral of the story? Football and karaoke shouldn’t be enjoyed on school nite.

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      1. That would’ve been the pro choice for sure. Might have fared better in the vote for top singer. For better or worse I recall going with Boy Named Sue. Know for a fact big man went Harper Valley PTA on a dare from some random lady. I’d like to think our team learned a valuable lesson that night about not letting responsiblity get in the way of a good time.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. boxisbento,

        Last century I went to St. Elizabeth in Altadena. We used to play you guys in sports. We played St. Phillips, Assumption, Annuciation, Mayfield, St. Rita’s, Holy Angels, Holy Family in south Pasadena, St. Bedes. Lot of fun in CYO. For you Protestants, Pagans, atheists, and devil worshippers, (have i covered everyone in that list?), CYO stands for Catholic Youth Organization.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Ah man that’s awesome!! In my skewed view there’s nothing better than Catholic school sports rivalries. Something about my Saint is better than your Saint always raised the stakes. My brothers and I went to Our Lady of Perpetual Help (something helton needs) out in Newhall back when Newhall was about 12k pop. My older bro went Notre Dame HS in Sherm Oaks then to UCLA. Younger did Hart HS to UCLA. Me? I was born with my head up my ass. 3 high schools in 4yrs. My literal saving grace was an ability to flat out fly. Never lost much in my lil part of the world. Got a reality check in the form of truly exceptional sprinters named Henry Thomas (Hawthorne HS), Ray Brown (Muir HS), Danny Harris (Perris HS), and Chip Rish (Marina HS). One year at Hawthorne Relays, running 400m, at some point near 300m, for a span of maybe 1 or 2 sec, I thought, that maybe, just maybe I was gonna go heads with Henry T down the final straight. Dumbest fuckin thought Ive ever had in my life. He flew by me so fast and so smooth he could’ve been running with 2 lit candles in no danger of blowing out. On the other hand, I think I left a testicle out on the track somewhere. In contention, so I thought, coming out of final turn, all the way to dead last. Thought they were gonna have to delay next event waiting for me to drag across the line. My coach was pissed. Asked what happened to the race/splits plan. I said “plan?”. As I mentioned, head up my ass. Senior yr couple interested colleges asked for my transcripts and SATs. I said “SATs?”. Head up ass. Spent summer replacing class grades, prepped for SATs, got a seat at USAFA. 3 weeks before heading to Colo Springs I informed my liaison officer that I was gonna be a dad that Jan. He informed me that I no longer had an Academy slot. Policy he said. On the day my son was born I finally pulled my head out of my ass. Put my head down, got to work, got into USC, was surrounded by fantastic people, teachers, leaders and so on. Not ashamed in the least to say I grew up at SC. Funniest thing to me is I when I finally got to be in a team photo (rugby) in front of Heritage Hall, the coaches and team voted to have my 4yr old son stand with, front and center of the team yearbook pic. Nothing but love and gratitude to my mates and coaches. Anyway that’s todays two pennies. Appreciate the hell outta the back n forth with yall.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Great story with—considering it starred boxisbento — inevitable ending.
      Let’s face it —you wouldn’t have had it any other way!
      #JobWellDone

      Liked by 2 people

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  6. 14th is mediocre. The Lord says You are neither hot or cold for me, so I spit you out. (Parpharsing). However, he says that if you are hot for me then you are doing great, if you are cold for me, that is okay but you will have problems, but being luke warm is being wishy washy and you can’t commit but you are interested. With SC, 14th is being medicore, which is wishy washy. At this point, who could care about the team? I lose interest evey day because of Col. Klink Helton.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. 14th in the nation! Folt and Bohn are celebrating!
      #Folt:”Cool!”
      #Helton:”OhPlease,SaintMark,CanITakeItRightNow?!”

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  10. Not saying USC would lose, but if Clay Helton’s team played UL Lafayette or Coastal Carolina, it would be very competitive. Blue Blood vs Sunbelt … pffft!

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  11. The unfortunate event with Clay Helton leaving is that we no longer would have the ability to poke fun with a legitimate head coach.

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