The US LBM Coaches Poll, presented by USA TODAY Sports, was released on Monday. The first preseason poll of the year is out, and it’s clear that USC football received zero respect. We put the matter plainly in our initial reaction to the poll: “The Trojans barely got in while a lot of other programs have much higher rankings despite facing questions as severe if not worse than what USC football is dealing with.” USC football fans could be really mad about all this, but when you think about it a little, they shouldn’t be mad at all. Fans don’t gain or lose anything when their team is underrated in a poll. Let’s look at USC’s place in this poll and what it should mean for the players and coaches, the guys in the locker room who can actually do something about all of this in the fall:
LSU 11 SPOTS AHEAD OF USC
#LSU coach Brian Kelly is here after the team’s fifth preseason practice.
Says today was about situations. 2nd down mostly.
He says the challenge the is acclimating the team to the heat.
Full statement: pic.twitter.com/GjI7YMo5TV
— Cory Diaz (@ByCoryDiaz) August 6, 2024
ARIZONA RANKED AHEAD OF USC
MIAMI AHEAD OF USC
Miami HC Mario Cristobal on coaches accusing teams of tampering: ‘Just play ball, man’
“I think tampering existed way before I was put on this Earth, you know what I mean. So I don’t get much into complaining or just flat out bitching about stuff.”https://t.co/g00w11YpOD pic.twitter.com/9PpXnWwxLT
— On3 (@On3sports) August 2, 2024
OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State had a decent 2023 season, but in the Big 12, a far worse conference than what USC endured in a loaded Pac-12. The Cowboys do not have a ceiling as high as USC’s, yet they’re five spots higher. Lincoln Riley, having coached against Oklahoma State for several years, can just use that as bulletin-board material and a driver for better coaching — from him and from his staff.
OKLAHOMA 7 SPOTS AHEAD OF USC
Fans will hate that Oklahoma is being given more credit, more benefit of the doubt, than USC, but if the players and coaches derive maximum motivational value, it’s all to the good, especially if the wins come on the back end of all this.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC fans shouldn’t be mad about US LBM Coaches Poll … but players should be
