2018 USC Football Season Odds & Predictions

Winning a national championship is always the goal at USC. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they fell well short of one in 2017. USC suffered a surprising loss to Washington State and a blowout defeat at the hands of Notre Dame during the regular season. They were able to bounce back and win the Pac-12 South and beat Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, the Trojans were bested by Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, ultimately settling for an 11-3 record.

Last year seemed to be a golden opportunity for the Trojans to compete for a national title. They now have to replace elite players like Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones II. However, that won’t stop USC and their fans from believing that a championship is possible.

USC Expected Win Total & Championship Odds

Oddsmakers list the Trojans at +6000 to win a national title in 2018. Those are nice odds to fancy the Trojans as a potential sleeper. But considering the difficulty the Pac-12 has had sending representatives to the College Football Playoff (two teams in four years), it’s tough to justify betting on USC. The Trojans, meanwhile, are projected to win 8.5 games this year. Even eclipsing that number could be asking too much considering the question marks facing Clay Helton’s team heading into the season.

On offense, the Trojans have to replace Darnold, Jones, and leading receiver Deontay Burnett. This is the first time in nearly 40 years USC will have to replace its top passer, rusher, and receiver in the same year. The quarterback competition has yet to play itself out, but it’s possible Helton goes with true freshman J.T. Daniels as the starter. As talented as Daniels may be, true freshmen are rarely prepared to lead a team with USC’s aspirations.

Naturally, there are no shortage of options at both running back and wide receiver, as the Trojans still recruit at a high level. However, there are big shoes to fill and inexperience could be a problem. The saving grace for the USC offense could be that the offensive line returns four of five starters from a year ago. Of course, that unit also allowed 30 sacks in 2017, so they still have much to prove.

It could up to the USC defense to carry the team in 2018. The Trojans got after the quarterback as well as any team in the country a year ago. However, they now have to replace sack-leader Rasheem Green, so they may not be able to rush the passer as well as they did last year. There are also questions to answer in the secondary after the Trojans were prone to giving up the big play a season ago.

Obviously, most teams would love to have the amount of talent on the USC roster. But talent alone may not be enough to put them in the CFP conversation. The Trojans will be relying on a lot of inexperienced players who all have to grow up in a hurry.

Trojans Football Schedule

Date Opponent Time
Sep 1 UNLV Rebels 4:00 PM
Sep 8 @ Stanford Cardinal 8:30 PM
Sep 15 @ Texas Longhorns 8:00 PM
Sep 21 Washington State Cougars 10:30 PM
Sep 29 @ Arizona Wildcats 3:00 PM
Oct 13 Colorado Buffaloes 3:00 PM
Oct 20 @ Utah Utes 2:00 PM
Oct 27 Arizona State Sun Devils 3:00 PM
Nov 3 @ Oregon State Beavers 3:00 PM
Nov 10 California Golden Bears 3:00 PM
Nov 17 @ UCLA Bruins 3:00 PM
Nov 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3:00 PM

USC’s schedule in 2018 is not conducive to a young team. They travel to Stanford the second week of the season and then play at Texas the following week. USC also faces difficult road games against Arizona and Utah, the two teams in the Pac-12 South that may have a chance to challenge them this year.

On the plus side, they avoid both Washington and Oregon, so their crossover games with the North division are manageable outside of Stanford. However, they also have a showdown against Notre Dame, albeit at home, lurking at the end of the season.

There are at least five games on their schedule that the Trojans could lose. They’re also young enough to lose a game you wouldn’t expect. After all, they lost unexpectedly to Washington State last year. With the talent they have, USC could get back to the Pac-12 title game if things break well. However, that’s not a safe bet. With a tough schedule and a multitude of questions, the Trojans settling for an 8-4 rebuilding season isn’t out of the question.

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