USC Football Roundup: Finding the best program in history (7/13)

Where do the Trojans rank among all-time college programs? Reddit answered the question, while SI rated top BCS performances. Here’s the USC football roundup for July 13.

If you wanted a historic overview of the top programs in college football history, Reddit had you covered on Friday.

Redditor u/fireinvestigator113 took the time to compile ranks in 18 different categories in an attempt to determine the best program of them all.

The methodology could certainly be questioned, but the data is interesting enough to get a bird’s eye view of just where USC stands in relation to other programs.

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

While Michigan owns the most victories, the Trojans trail with 834, good for ninth all-time. They’re fifth in all-time losses with 339. An overall winning percentage of .702 lands them seventh. A total of 97 winning seasons places them ninth.

USC has spent 764 weeks in the AP Top 25, good for sixth. Ohio State tops all in that category and in weeks at AP No. 1, where USC ranks fifth.

The Trojans have had 20 head coaches with winning records, which is behind only Texas, Notre Dame and Nebraska.

The program’s 34 bowl victories is second behind only Alabama, while just 18 bowl losses ranks tied for second. No one has a better bowl winning percentage than the Trojans at .654.

Notre Dame and Ohio State technically boast the most Heisman winners, with USC trailing with six. But that’s a technicality.

Another technicality? USC ranking fourth with 10 national titles behind Alabama, Notre Dame and Michigan.

No one touches the Trojans when it comes to NFL production. USC is tops in draft picks and first round draft picks.

They’re third in consensus All-Americans and College Football Hall of Famers.

Put that all together (plus a few more criteria) and the redditor spits out a rank of fifth overall for the Trojans, with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama and Michigan ahead, in that order. It’s not exactly scientific, but it’s interesting all the same.

Top BCS Championship performances

Matt Leinart’s 332-yard, five-touchdown performance against Oklahoma in 2005 ranks as the second-best performance in a BCS Championship Game, according to Sports Illustrated.

They don’t mention it, but the best part about Leinart’s stellar outing was how Oklahoma defensive end Larry Birdine had called out the quarterback as overrated going into the game.

CHECK OUT: Ranking the 10 best USC quarterbacks ever

It was a shut-your-mouth performance if there ever was one.

WARNING: Do yourself a favor and stop at Leinart. You don’t want to see No. 1. Unless you want your day ruined.

Pac-12 coaches ranked

College Football News continued their offseason previews with a ranking of all the coaches in the Pac-12 going into 2018. USC’s Clay Helton landed at No. 4.

That’s fairly consistent with most coach rankings this year. Chris Petersen sits atop the pile while David Shaw holds onto his No. 2 spot with Chip Kelly taking No. 3.

TRENDING: USC should honor the No. 55 by letting someone wear it

Kelly will have to prove his worth again in college, but there’s little arguing his past success.

Gustin makes the “freaks list” again

Bruce Feldman’s annual “freaks list” is now behind the paywall at The Atlantic, but he still confirmed that Porter Gustin definitely remains among the freaks via Twitter.

One For All — Iman Marshall

USC is debuting a new series called “One For All” profiling key Trojans ahead of the 2018 season.

It started up with a look at Iman Marshall.

Today’s Trojan Trivia

USC has played on a Friday the 13th just once in history, on November 13, 2015 when they narrowly bested the Colorado Buffaloes, 27-24, in Boulder.