USC program ranked top 10 most desirable in SI's "Power 5 Desirability Rankings"

Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated recently put out their "Sports Illustrated’s Power 5 Desirability Ratings," which appears to have essentially been made to settle the debates that come with the theoretical game of "if all the conferences blew up, who would be most desirable to the new super-conferences that would likely form."

USC's athletic program received a very refreshing ranking on this list; ranking ninth among all 69 Power 5 schools (including the four new schools about to enter the Big 12).

The ratings were built off of five different categories: Their 'football ranking,' their 'academic ranking,' their 'all sports ranking,' their 'football attendance,' and their 'broadcast viewership.'

USC received the No. 30 football ranking and was tied for the No. 23 football attendance spot, but received the No. 12 all sports ranking, the No. 10 academics ranking, and the No. 9 broadcast viewership spot.

Even if USC didn't just go to the Big Ten, this proves they would survive whatever conference shakeup that could come.

USC would have no trouble finding a new conference in any potential conference shakeup that could happen. Of course, they just moved to the Big Ten, so they have nothing to even think about, but in the past theoretical question of where they would stand if all conferences were blown up, there would be nothing to worry about.

As this ranking refers to, they bring in far too much television revenue to be left out, in addition to two historical powerhouses in both football and baseball that are too attractive to ignore for a conference.

Nobody has more baseball National Championships than USC (12), and only Alabama has more football National Championships than USC (11). This is not to mention USC's status as an elite academic institution, which was part of SI's equation. Of course, this all makes for USC to be the most desirable in the current Pac-12.

The next closest current Pac-12 team on the ranking is Washington, who is No. 15. Hilariously, UCLA is not even top three in the Pac. They are all the way back at No. 18, behind USC, Washington, and Stanford. Oregon rounds out the top five in the conference 13(!) long spots away from USC, as they are tied for 22nd.

USC remains one of the top football programs and one of the top academic schools in the nation. They were attractive enough for the Big Ten to get a head start on the realignment. USC's new conference has four of the 10 most desirable schools, according to these rankings. That's more than any other conference.