USC Football Picked to Finish 2nd In Pac-12 South

USC football was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 South behind UCLA, while Stanford was picked to win the conference for the first time in 56 years.

The Pac-12’s media poll, taken ahead of Pac-12 Media Days, picked USC football to finish second in the Pac-12 South behind UCLA with Stanford predicted to win the conference.

The Trojans enjoyed the second-most first place votes with five behind Stanford’s 20. UCLA received three votes to win the conference while Utah was given one.

However, USC had just 12 votes to win the Pac-12 South behind the Bruins’ 19.

Here’s a look at the projected standings:

USC has one of the most difficult schedules in the conference in 2016. The Trojans open the conference slate with a road rematch against Stanford then make the trip to face Utah on a Friday night the very next week.

Following a relatively tame October slate featuring ASU, Colorado, Arizona and Cal, USC will have to survive a November stretch featuring Oregon, Washington and UCLA before capping off the season out of conference against Notre Dame.

SEE ALSO: Ranking USC’s 2016 Schedule By Threat Level

Though many experts this offseason have judged USC and UCLA to be on similar levels, both  the Bruins face a more forgiving schedule.

It is widely agreed that USC has a wealth of talent on the squad this year, including one of the more dangerous offenses in the Pac-12 despite the lack of a decided starter at quarterback.

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Still, there are massive question marks revolving around an entirely reworked defensive line and the capacity of new head coach Clay Helton to succeed.

Last year the Trojans were picked to win the South division and the conference as a whole, ahead of projected North champion Oregon.

As it turned out, though no one could have predicted the midseason coaching turmoil for the Trojans, the media were correct in their prediction that USC would win the South.

Of course, it was Stanford they faced in the Pac-12 championship game, not the Ducks, and the Cardinal ultimately won the coveted spot in the Rose Bowl.