USC football picked ninth in unofficial 2025 Big Ten preseason poll

USC is shaping up to be an underdog for the 2025 Big Ten season once again, according to the unofficial preseason polls. 

The Trojans were selected to finished ninth on Monday in their second season in the conference via the Cleveland.com 2025 preseason Big Ten media poll. USC was picked to finish behind Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska.

Of those opponents, the Trojans will face Oregon, Nebraska and Illinois on the road while hosting Michigan and Iowa. 

The Big Ten Conference stopped publishing an official preseason media poll 15 years ago, making Cleveland.com one of the official unofficial polls going into the season; a total of 24 voters participated in this year’s poll. The Kings of the North Podcast also released its unofficial poll on Monday, which included 54 voters; the Trojans were projected to finish seventh this season. 

? KOTN Big Ten Preseason Poll results
? 54 voters who cover the Big Ten and national CFB
? 1-18 predicted order of finish, led by Penn State
? 1st-place votes: Penn State 35, Ohio State 18, Oregon 1 @B1Gfootball @BigTenNetwork https://t.co/GFcSLwGzUL pic.twitter.com/jlJzxaPdeb

— Kings of the North (@KOTNCFB) July 21, 2025

USC was picked to finish sixth in in both Cleveland.com and Kings of the North preseason polls last year, finishing 7-6 (4-5) in Year 3 under Lincoln Riley. Those seven wins make up the lowest win total for Riley in his eight seasons as a head coach. That bested the previous low of eight wins that the Trojans won back in 2023. 

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USC did end the 2024 season on a somewhat high note with a thrilling 35-31 comeback win over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl. 

Riley made a hard shift in 2023 with the firing of longtime defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and addition of UCLA’s D’Anton Lynn with a revamped defensive staff. The program made more major changes this offseason with the hiring of Notre Dame’s Chad Bowden as the new general manager and an overhauled front office. 

The Trojans should be even better on defense in Year 2 under Lynn after making big strides in 2024. USC added two massive defensive tackles in the transfer portal, size that was missing from the 2024 roster to go with a talented defensive end room. USC also signed five-star Composite defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, return star safety Kamari Ramsey and linebacker Eric Gentry. 

Riley’s offense will hold bigger questions in 2025 with returning end-of-year starting QB Jayden Maiava and unknowns on the offensive line. Maiava should have two elite playmaking receivers in Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. 

USC opens the season at home against Missouri State on Aug. 30th. 

Chris Trevino covers USC Football for 247Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisNTrevino. You can also follow USCFootball.com on Twitter at @ThePeristyle.