Utah was picked to win the Pac-12 in the preseason media poll. Oregon was picked second and USC third.
USC actually had more first-place votes (5) than Oregon (2) but four fewer points.
This will be the first season that the Pac-12 Football Championship Game will be played between the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage.
Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 with first-place votes in parentheses):
| Total Points | |
| 1. Utah (26) | 384 |
| 2. Oregon (2) | 345 |
| 3. USC (5) | 341 |
| 4. UCLA | 289 |
| 5. Oregon State | 246 |
| 6. Washington | 212 |
| 7. Washington State | 177 |
| 8. Stanford | 159 |
| 9. California | 154 |
| 10. Arizona State | 123 |
| 11. Arizona | 86 |
| 12. Colorado | 58 |
If you want to know how accurate the media poll usually is, here’s the history on that:
| Year | Media Poll Pick | Actual Finish | Actual winner | Predicted Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | UCLA | 1st | UCLA | 1st |
| 1962 | Washington | 2nd | USC | 2nd |
| 1963 | USC | 2nd | Washington | 2nd |
| 1964 | Washington | 3rd | Oregon State | 6th |
| 1965 | USC | 2nd | UCLA | 7th |
| 1966 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1967 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1968 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1969 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1970 | USC | 6th | Stanford | 2nd |
| 1971 | USC | 2nd | Stanford | 2nd |
| 1972 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1973 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1974 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1975 | USC | 5th | UCLA | 3rd |
| 1976 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1977 | USC | 2nd | Washington | 3rd |
| 1978 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1979 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1980 | USC | 3rd | Washington | 3rd |
| 1981 | USC | 2nd | Washington | 4th |
| 1982 | USC | 3rd | UCLA | 3rd |
| 1983 | Arizona | 5th | UCLA | 5th |
| 1984 | UCLA | 3rd | USC | 3rd |
| 1985 | USC | 4th | UCLA | 5th |
| 1986 | UCLA | 2nd | Arizona State | 4th |
| 1987 | UCLA | 2nd | USC | 4th |
| 1988 | UCLA | 2nd | USC | 2nd |
| 1989 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1990 | Washington | 1st | Washington | 1st |
| 1991 | Washington | 1st | Washington | 1st |
| 1992 | Washington | 1st | Washington | 1st |
| 1993 | Washington | 4th | UCLA | 6th |
| 1994 | Arizona | 2nd | Oregon | 8th |
| 1995 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 1996 | USC | 5th | Arizona State | 2nd |
| 1997 | Washington | 4th | Washington State | 7th |
| 1998 | UCLA | 1st | UCLA | 1st |
| 1999 | Arizona | 6th | Stanford | 8th |
| 2000 | Washington | 1st | Washington | 1st |
| 2001 | Oregon | 1st | Oregon | 1st |
| 2002 | Washington State | 1st | Washington State | 1st |
| 2003 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2004 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2005 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2006 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2007 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2008 | USC | 1st | USC | 1st |
| 2009 | USC | 5th | Oregon | 3rd |
| 2010 | Oregon | 1st | Oregon | 1st |
| 2011 | Oregon (N) USC (S) | 1st not eligible | Oregon (N)* UCLA (S FCG rep) | 1st 5th |
| 2012 | Oregon (N) USC (S) | tie – 1st tie – 2nd | Stanford (N)* UCLA (S) | 2nd 3rd |
| 2013 | Oregon (N) UCLA (S) | tie – 1st tie – 2nd | Stanford (N)* Arizona State (S) | 2nd 2nd |
| 2014 | Oregon (N) UCLA (S) | 1st tie – 2nd | Oregon (N)* Arizona (S) | 1st 4th |
| 2015 | Oregon (N) USC (S) | 2nd 1st | Stanford (N)* USC (S) | 2nd 1st |
| 2016 | Stanford (N) UCLA (S) | 3rd tie – 4th | Washington (N)* Colorado (S) | 2nd 6th |
| 2017 | Washington (N) USC (S) | 2nd 1st | Stanford USC* | 2nd 1st |
| 2018 | Washington (N) USC (S) | tie – 1st tie – 3rd | Washington* Utah | 1st 2nd |
| 2019 | Oregon (N) Utah (S) | 1st 1st | Oregon* Utah | 1st 1st |
| 2020 | Oregon (N) USC (S) | 1st 1st | Washington**, Oregon*USC | 3rd, 1st 1st |
| 2021 | Oregon (N)USC (S) | 1sttie- 4th | OregonUtah* | 1st2nd |
| Bold – Predicted FCG winner | * – BCS / CFP / Rose Bowl participant** – Unable to participate in FCG |
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
According to the “experts” SC is not completely back yet. These matters do take time, whether we anxious Trojans like it or not
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true usually…eliminate 7 yrs of hellton and his coaching…all the difference in the world.
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I think USC will do better than most think as the PAC12 is weak as hell.
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Utah likely 5 and 0 when they go to RB to face Bruins.
They host USC at home a week later.
They travel to Oregon on Nov 19th.
Only other interesting game is road opener at Florida Gators. Florida picked to finish 4th in the SEC east.
Also, Gators just announced all games on the swamp are sold out.
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agree, except Pac12 is stronger this yr,but SC is much stronger after eliminating the trash of hellton coaching
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I would probably pick them 2nd. I don’t know why they would pick Oregon ahead of us since their coach is still an unknown quantity as far as a HC is concerned. But I think that I would still pick Utah to win the Pac-12 .
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by the time SC plays utah , we will know for sure if the coaching change, and the athletes response to this is the difference maker…I believe the difference is like turning on the lights in the dark.
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Anyone who says they can predict USC’s performance this year is full of shit. The offense is going to be among the most prolific in the country. The defense is a huge question mark, we dont even know who is going to start at many positions.
My guess is that USC blows out every team except for 4 – Oregon State, Utah, UCLA and Notre Dame. But who knows? It will be fun.
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Maybe I’m delusional but I really would favor them against OSU, UCLA and ND. Against Utah, I would favor Utah
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You win games at the line of scrimmage, that’s why the Trojans were picked 3rd. Utah gets it, and so does the Oregon’s coaching staff.
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I’m not sure I want SC to be rated that high. A lower rating makes them hungrier especially if the players really do believe that they are good.
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There isn’t a time thing anymore, with the transfer portal, NIL and not having to wait out a year, CFB is just like hoops, you produce now.
Look at Fisher and Orgeron, win a NC, do well but not in contention the following year and you’re looking at the door.
Hell, as much as I argued for getting rid of Hugs/Harrell and company when everyone here was fighting me on it, USC in hugs last full season was a dropped pass from an undefeated season and had the top 3 per star ranking in recruits for years on end, even coming back from what looked like a recruiting disaster year to pull one of the best per player ranking classes in the country by the time all the papers were signed…
LR just tossed away a third of those players for being ruined by Hugs supposedly, and upgraded with the biggest top transfer class in the nation and brought in many of his top players from OU and kids he was apparently recruiting for us while at another job… And that includes players who already played together (particularly meaningful since that included his QB). All that on top of the best class in the PAC and one of the best in the nation. AND LR raided other PAC rival teams for some of their best players.
It also should mean something that the basic system and tree that the offense and defense will be playing in was the same that the kids were already in.
None of this is coincidence, Bohn has doubled and tripled down a certain path… It might work, it might not but this is the final judgment.
Kill all the excuses: highest paid coach and staff (cool house, $6 mil housing allowance helps), highest paid players allegedly in the country even if there’s grumbling at disparity apparently, playing in the PAC which lost several head coaches.
One coach glad to see gone is Chrystalballs who’s got UMiami looking at a top 3 class potentially and killing it in the trenches …
A failure to win the PAC and a meaningful post season game finally is pretty much testament to another bad decision.
Otoh, if the Big 10 takes Oregon, UW, Cal, Stanford (and perhaps the Buffs and Utah), the shit show which is USC and UGLY joining the Rust Belt has went from a Bohn-head decision to a win.
Riley is an employee, don’t blame him win or lose, it’s really all on Bohn… Great storylines- does SC get into the post season and have some wins, does the Big 10 piece together something from the PAC or leave the LA schools on an island, does Oklahoma make the case that LR is a problem rather than an answer, what’s the fate of football out West???
(Related story, Mandel over at The Athletic showed numbers that the PAC actually is head and shoulders above the Big 12 by TV views/market value and could have raided the Big 12 for its top teams and the BYU and landed a blockbuster contract, and that much more if it did that and partnered scheduled with the ACC that hoped to use a PAC -ACC partnership as the basis to renegotiate its horrific contract with both leagues gaining big leverage…)
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everyone here was fighting you on getting rid of hellton and his 7 yr terror reign???
well, your discernment is way off buddy…
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You’re delusional or dishonest if you really are pretending that people here weren’t riding the knob of Sarkiffin then defending Hugs for the last decade or so… It took the absolute implosion of each of them to finally get the riders off. Hugs was cheered for that bs win at Penn State (and half the people here wanted to hire Franklin still). The default here is riding with whoever is in place until it just can’t by any imaginable stretch be supported. I happened to be among a very small minority that said from the get that Sarkiffin and Hugs were poop, that the type of fb they were playing was poop and that they tended to eff up with no adult supervision because they immature coat riders who rode a legendary OC’s coattails to glory. But if you want to imagine it was some other way be my guest.
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I think SC will make the playoffs once they get into the Big 10. By then I think they will have gone to an 8,10 or 12 team playoff. It just seems like the next logical move if you are going to go to super conferences.
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I rate Pac12 media about as high as the officials on the field throwing their flags, bottom dwellers of the ability to cognate about what is occurring before their eyes.
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Greetings fans, this ugly guy scott barnes now at oregon st via pitt is a traveling hoodlum he should be at least questioned !?the car industry ripe with crooks ford motors chrysler thse look ripe for hoffa what ails the trucking industry and gerald ford also ???? Regards , Edward
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