Where USC Trojans Rank in College Football Tier List

The USC Trojans were once considered to be one of, if not the most premier college football program for a long time. That has not been the case in about 20 years.

ESPN’s David Hale revealed his tiers for all 138 FBS teams in college football.

USC Trojans in Third Tier of FBS Teams

usc trojans lincoln riley college football playoff fbs teams tiers big ten conference national championship oregon ohio state — Jul 28, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; USC Football head coach Lincoln Riley speaks during Media Days at Hilton Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Hale puts USC in the third tier of teams in a category called “Maybe this is their year.” There are five other teams in this tier with USC: the BYU Cougars, LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies, and Texas Tech Red Raiders.

“Lincoln Riley says his program is now ready to compete for a national championship,” Hale said. “USC is 15-15 in its past 30 games against power four and five competition…Opposing QBs averaged just 6.25 air yards per attempt vs. USC’s defense last year, the lowest rate in FBS. Just 65.5 percent of throws against USC’s defense crossed the line of scrimmage last year — the second lowest in the country.”

Hale said that there is upside to like about the teams in tier three, but “the door’s cracked open just enough for things to go haywire.”

There are two tiers of teams above USC. The top one is called “The safest bets.” There are four teams in this tier: the Indiana Hoosiers, Miami Hurricanes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Ohio State Buckeyes.

The second tier is called “Trust issues.” The three teams in this tier are the Georgia Bulldogs, Oregon Ducks, and Texas Longhorns. All seven of these teams in tier one or two have made the College Football Playoff at least once in the past two seasons.

USC is seeking their first appearance in the College Football Playoff in their program’s history. The pieces are there for USC as coach Lincoln Riley enters his fifth season. It starts at quarterback.

The Trojans got back quarterback Jayden Maiava for the 2026 season. Maiava started all 13 games in 2025 for USC, throwing for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns. He was named Third-team All-Big Ten.

Offense hasn’t been a too much of a concern under Riley, and getting Maiava for another year helps that even more. Then there is the defensive side of the ball. This is where USC has been exposed in the Riley era. The defense in 2024 and 2025 under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn was much improved, but there is still another level it needs to go if USC wants to be competing for national titles.

This offseason, Lynn took the defensive coordinator position at his alma mater, Penn State. It opened the door for USC to make a splash hire. Enter long-time TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson as USC’s new defensive coordinator.

Patterson coached TCU from 2000-2021, accumulating an overall record of 181-79 and leading the Horned Frogs to six conference titles. Will he unlock the USC defense and help get USC into the playoff competing for a national title?

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