Reign of Troy
Fansided

USC football moves down in AP poll, up in coaches

By Alicia de Artola

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 01: Head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans shakes hands with head coach Tony Sanchez of the UNLV Rebels after the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 01: Head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans shakes hands with head coach Tony Sanchez of the UNLV Rebels after the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

USC football experienced a rise and a fall in the latest Top 25 rankings, dropping in the AP poll while getting a boost from the coaches.

REPORT CARD. Grading USC vs. UNLV

It’s safe to say, AP poll voters and the coaches disagree on USC football so far in 2018.

On Tuesday, the Week 2 AP poll was released with the Trojans demoted from No. 15 to No. 17 after their 43-21 victory over UNLV. Favored by 25, USC needed a fourth quarter surge to put the Rebels away, leading to criticism of another slow start by Clay Helton’s squad.

The drop was in part a reaction to the elevation of other squads who posted impressive wins in Week 1. LSU leaped up to No. 11 after starting out at No. 25 thanks to their victory over Miami. Virginia Tech also moved up to No. 12 from No. 20 while West Virginia was boosted to No. 14 from No. 17.

More from Reign of Troy

However, the Amway Coaches Poll didn’t see USC’s season opener as particularly lackluster. The coaches moved USC up from No. 15 to No. 12.

That meant jumping over a falling No. 13 Michigan State, No. 21 Miami and No. 22 Michigan while still outranking the likes of No. 14 Virginia Tech, No. 15 LSU and No. 17 West Virginia.

Who has it right on USC? Week 1 didn’t provide many answers, but Week 2 should add a helping of clarity to the campaign. The Trojans will travel to Palo Alto this weekend to face off with Stanford, ranked No. 9 by the coaches and No 10 in AP poll.

Should the Trojans prevail, they will see their star rise in the polls. Should they fail, it could spell an early exit from the Top 25 ranks.

Other familiar faces populate the polls this week. Washington was dropped slightly by both polls after losing narrowly to Auburn. They’re now No. 9 in the AP and No. 11 for the coaches.

Notre Dame was rewarded for their Week 1 triumph over Michigan with the No. 8 rank in both Top 25s.

CHECK OUT: Game-by-game USC season predictions for 2018

Upcoming Trojan opponent Texas tumbled out of the polls because of their loss to Maryland.

Home/USC FOOTBALL NEWS