USC Football Moves Up Three Spots In Week 13 AP Poll

USC football moved up to No. 12 in the Week 13 AP poll following their blowout victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

The rise, or rebirth, of the USC Trojans continued in the penultimate week of the regular season as voters in the AP poll ranked Clay Helton’s squad No. 12.

The Trojans are now the third-highest ranked Pac-12 squad, behind No. 6 Washington and No. 9 Colorado. The Huskies stayed put with a win over Arizona State while the Buffaloes leaped into the Top 10 on the strength of their win over No. 23 Washington State.

Utah rounds out the Pac-12 representatives in the poll, tumbling from No. 11 to No. 21 in response to their last second loss to Oregon.

Last week USC jumped ten spots into the poll for the first time since the preseason on the back of their upset win at Washington. After sitting on the outside looking in for weeks, they debuted at No. 15.

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The Trojans made their case for a higher ranking by finishing off their Pac-12 slate with a dominating victory over crosstown rival UCLA.

Though the Bruins made it tough for USC early in the game, jumping ahead 14-7 in the second quarter. However, quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense got a stranglehold in the game with a serious of methodical drives while the Trojan defense stifled every UCLA response. USC finished the game with 29 unanswered points.

With the conference schedule wrapped up, the Trojans’ last chance to improve their bowl resume may come on Saturday as they host Notre Dame at the Coliseum. After that, USC will simply have to sit back and watch the pivotal Pac-12 South match up between Colorado and Utah to see where they stand in the division standings. Victory for Colorado will send the Buffaloes to the Pac-12 Championship Game. A spoiler win for the Utes would crown the Trojans back-to-back South division champions.