Texas Longhorns Replace USC Trojans with Historically Underwhelming Achievement

Fans of the USC Trojans football program are all too familiar with the feeling of disappointment after preseason expectations missed the mark. In 2025, however, the preseason No. 1 Texas Longhorns fell out of the AP Top 25 Poll after five weeks of the season. Texas' fall from grace is unlike anything the Trojans ever accomplished.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning (16) watches warm ups before an NCAA football game against Florida in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 4, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The college football calendar has turned to October, and the preseason No. 1 team, the Texas Longhorns, are no longer ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.

With such a quick an unexpected fall from the top, Texas has set an unfortunate record that was previously held by the USC Trojans' 2012 football team.

Oct 4, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian stands with his team after a game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Texas started the 2025 season with a road loss to now-No. 1 Ohio State, but the Longhorns have not looked impressive. After losing to an unranked Florida Gators team, Texas fell out of the rankings completely after playing just five games. Trojans fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that USC's underachieving place in history has been claimed by the Longhorns.

AP Preseason Top 25 Poll

1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State
4. Clemson
5. Georgia
6. Notre Dame
7. Oregon
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Miami
11. Arizona State
12. Illinois
13. South Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Florida
16. SMU
17. Kansas State
18. Oklahoma
19. Texas A&M
20. Indiana
21. Ole Miss
22. Iowa State
23. Texas Tech
24. Tennessee
25. Boise State

In 2012, USC took 12 weeks to fall out of the AP Top 25 Poll after starting the season as the No. 1 team in the country. Now, the record belongs to Texas.

The Trojans are no stranger to receiving preseason hype, but the 2025 season has felt different. USC began the season unranked before reaching No. 21 after week 5. However, a road loss to then-No. 23 Illinois knocked USC out of the rankings entirely.

Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley talks with players during the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Now, USC coach Lincoln Riley and his team are preparing to face No. 15 Michigan at home, and a win by the Trojans could move USC back into the top-25. A loss, on the other hand, would make the rivalry game against No. 16 Notre Dame even more crucial for the Trojans' College Football Playoff chances and overall trajectory of the program.

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Blast From The Past

In 2012, USC entered the year as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 Poll with quarterback Matt Barkley and coach Lane Kiffin leading the charge. The Trojans started the season with wins over Hawaii and Syracuse before losing 21-4 on the road against Stanford, an old Pac-12 rival that consistently gave USC problems during the eras of coach Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw.

The loss to Stanford dropped USC from No. 2 to No. 13 in the subsequent AP Poll, but the Trojans rattled off four straight wins (California, at Utah, at Washington, Colorado), and climbed back up to No. 10.

Dec 31, 2012; El Paso, TX, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley before the Sun Bowl against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Sun Bowl stadium. | Ivan Pierre Aguirre-US PRESSWIRE

However, two straight losses to Arizona and Oregon, ranked No. 2 at the time, dropped USC down to No. 21. The biggest blow to the Trojans was a loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl as the Bruins knocked USC out of the top-25 entirely. Barkley was sacked by UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, and Barkley missed the season finale in which the Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat USC in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.