USC Ranks Strong in Rivals Comprehensive Team Rankings

A recent ranking of the nation's top universities for recruiting this year ranked the Trojans near the top of the country's best for their 2023 class.

Lincoln Riley's squad slotted just below SEC powerhouses Alabama and Georgia for the third-best recruiting class in the country for the upcoming college football season.

USC finished 7th in HS recruiting and 8th in portal recruiting, whereas Alabama was No. 1 in HS recruiting and 76th in portal recruiting with only five transfers and Georgia was No. 2 in HS recruiting and 78th in portal recruiting with only four transfers. The Trojans, meanwhile, signed 22 high school prospects and 14 transfers. This is for the class that is already on campus now -- not the ongoing 2024 recruiting class still in the works. Especially as he's gone about remaking this USC roster since taking over in December, 2021, Lincoln Riley and his staff have been aggressive in the portal to both plug immediate holes and find young talents like new five-star DT addition Bear Alexander (from Georgia) to develop.

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Ryan Young, Trojan Sports

Since the inclusion of NIL deals and Lincoln Riley's arrival to the University from Oklahoma, it's obvious the impact of both on the recruiting market for the Trojans in recent seasons.

Such was evidenced by star QB and presumed no. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft Caleb Williams leaving the Sooners to join his old head coach in sunny California.

Jordan Addison, a recent first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, also transferred to play for USC after winning the Biletnikoff award for Pittsburgh the previous season.

Talented college prospects continue their desire to play for Lincoln Riley's system, and such an attractive market only benefits USC.

Starting this year off as the sixth-best-ranked team in the nation in the AP polls, the Trojans hope to be champions by season's end, and their recruiting class will undoubtedly help that pursuit.