USC's Athletic Programs With Surprising Ranking Among Power Conference Schools

Historically, the USC Trojans have one of the most successful power conference athletic departments in the country. According to CBS Sports, USC is currently lower than expected in their ranking of athletic programs when looking certain programs.

USC Ranked No. 22

usc trojans lincoln riley athletic department programs ranking big ten power conference sports texas ncaa tournament — Nov 29, 2021; Los Angeles, CA, USA; From left: Southern California Trojans board of trustees chairman Rick Caruso, president Carol Folt, Lincoln Riley and athletic director Mike Bohn pose with a jersey during a press conference to introduce Riley as USC head coach. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

Cody Nagel of CBS Sports ranked college athletic programs after the 2025-26 season based on their performance across football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball, and softball. USC is ranked No. 22.

A top this list at No. 1 are the Texas Longhorns. This was highlighted by their women’s basketball team making the Final Four and their softball team winning the national championship. Also ranked above USC were these five Big Ten programs.

No. 3: Michigan
No. 5: Nebraska
No. 6: UCLA
No 18: Oregon
No. 19: Indiana

Here’s a deeper look at the USC programs Nagel ranked his list off of.

Football

The USC football team is coming off a 9-4 2025 season that ended up with a loss in the Alamo Bowl. USC is still after their first appearance in a College Football Playoff since the format was adopted for the 2014 season.

USC was once a dominant force in college football but have not consistently been a threat on the national level in about two decades. 2026 will be Lincoln Riley’s fifth season as USC coach. He has a record of 35-18. USC’s best season under Riley came in his first with the tram in 2022. They won 11 games and made it to the Pac-12 Championship game. They have not reached a conference title game since.

Men’s Basketball

For the third straight season, USC’s men’s basketball team failed to make the NCAA Tournament. In 2025-26, they finished with an overall record of 18-14. Things looked promising early on in the season as USC went undefeated in conference play. Then came Big Ten play.

USC ended the season losing eight straight games. They went from comfortably in the field to not even being on the bubble by the time Selection Sunday approached.

Women’s Basketball

USC’s women’s basketball team had some bad luck as they had to play the whole 2025-26 season without star guard JuJu Watkins. Watkins was the national player of the year the year prior but suffered a torn ACL in the 2025 NCAA Tournament with USC.

Despite Watkins being out for the whole season, USC was still able to snag a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament and even won a tournament game before falling in the second round. They finished 18-14.

Baseball

USC’s baseball team was right on the doorstep of making the program's first College World Series since 2001. The Trojans were up 1-0 in the best-of-three Super Regional to the North Carolina Tar Heels. They lost game two to set up a winner-take-all game three. USC found themselves ahead 3-1 going into the eighth inning, but were not able to hold this lead and were walked off in the bottom off the ninth.

USC finished the season with a record of 48-18.

Volleyball

USC’s women’s volleyball team went 25-7 last season. They made the NCAA Tournament and were knocked out in the second round. The men’s team went 20-8 and were knocked out in the regional final of the NCAA Tournament.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google