Five biggest storylines for USC fans at Pac-12 Media Day this week

After going digital last year during the pandemic and losing the feel of a true conference event, Pac-12 Media Day returns to its traditional live format on Tuesday at the W Hollywood hotel.

New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will start the day with his general comments on the conference at 8 a.m. PT, senior associate commissioner Merton Hanks and Rob Mullens, Oregon's athletic director and chair of the Pac-12 Athletics Director Committee, will join Kliavkoff for a Q+A at 8:30 and the coach and player interview sessions will start at 10 a.m.

USC coach Clay Helton, quarterback Kedon Slovis and wide receiver Drake London are slotted for their interview session at 3:30 p.m. PT.

As always, there will be a lot to cover but perhaps even a little more this year given the national conversation around college football over the last week. The Pac-12 Network will air live coverage starting at 8 a.m.

Meanwhile, we start our ranking of the top 5 storylines for USC fans at Pac-12 Media Day with an obvious national talking point.

All of college football has been digesting and reacting to the landscape-shifting news last week that Texas and Oklahoma are in the process of trying to leave the Big 12 for the SEC.

Naturally, that has raised questions about whether the Big 12 will be an aggressor in trying to poach from other conferences to restock its league or if other conferences will continue picking at the scraps of the Big 12. Will there be more pressure on the remaining power conferences to bulk up further in response to the SEC? And where does all of this leave the Pac-12 and its new leadership?

Kliavkoff addressed this somewhat on Friday in telling ESPN: "I consider the Pac-12 an exclusive club with a high barrier to entry. We love the schools and teams we have today. We're not actively seeking to poach any teams from any conference, but we'd be foolish not to listen if schools call us."

There's a lot of wiggle room in that response, and Kliavkoff and the rest of the Pac-12 leadership team will be asked plenty more about the matter on Tuesday.

It will also be the first chance to gauge reaction from the Pac-12's coaches on the matter.

Other league-wide topics of interest will no doubt be Name, Image and Likeness and how it's impacted Pac-12 players so far, and what COVID-related policies and protocols the conference is planning to implement for 2021 -- including whether teams who miss games due to COVID outbreaks will be forced to forfeit those contests and take a loss, which has been discussed.

More specifically to USC's immediate interests, Tuesday will be the first time Helton has met with reporters since the end of spring practice in April.

There will be a mix of season outlook and general roster update questions, but perhaps the most significant is a status report on redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Ishmael Sopsher.

The Alabama transfer was sidelined all of spring following surgery to address compartment syndrome in his leg.

In late April, Helton said, "I can’t wait to watch Big Ish. He’s starting to walk around, prance around here. It’s like, God almighty, I can’t wait to get you on the field."

But will that happen when USC opens fall camp in early August? When reporters were allowed to interview players after Trojans' player-run practices the last two weeks (but not permitted to watch the actual sessions), Sopsher was present but did not appear to have been active during the workouts. (None of the transfer additions were available for interviews either.)

It's unclear if his limited status was merely a precaution to have him ready for the start of camp or if his recovery is progressing more slowly than expected.

With projected starter Brandon Pili lost for the season due to a torn Achilles and impressive freshman Jay Toia surprising everyone when he transferred to UCLA after spring practice, USC has been left perilously thin at nose tackle. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound Sopsher, a former top-100 national prospect, would be an obvious candidate for the job entering camp, with redshirt freshman Jamar Sekona the other name to watch there.

Neither player has any real college experience, but the reality is that USC's depth at that spot is already a major concern and becomes a glaring worry if Sopsher is not available to compete for a role in August.

Other injury questions to surely be asked Tuesday include USC's wide receiver corps (where Bru McCoy and Gary Bryant were limited in the spring) and the linebackers (the group most affected by injuries since the start of last season).

There won't be a more anticipated media session Tuesday than that of Arizona State coach Herm Edwards, who hasn't spoken publicly since the reports detailing alleged recruiting violations within his program.

The NCAA is investigating claims from a detailed dossier that the Sun Devils hosted recruits on campus during the NCAA's pandemic-induced recruiting dead period. Among the allegations is that Edwards was directly involved in meeting with prospects and that there was pressure on staff members to go along with the rule-breaking actions.

The controversy created enough backlash that Stanford coach David Shaw commented on the allegations publicly to Yahoo's Pete Thamel, saying, "It's a disrespectful thing to do." The matter has also landed Edwards on some national hot seat lists.

Most likely, Edwards will decline comment on an ongoing investigation, but that won't stop the questions from being asked.

As it pertains to USC, the Sun Devils are the Trojans' top challengers in the South division.

Speaking of which, as usual, the Pac-12's preseason media poll and preseason all-conference teams will be announced Tuesday.

Oregon will presumably be the popular favorite to win the Pac-12 overall while it will be interesting to see how votes fall in the South division for USC and Arizona State and how the league's media view Colorado's surprising 2020 season and Utah's strength.

As another USC-specific topic for Helton, it remains highly-intriguing how the Trojans' uber-deep wide receiver pool will shake out on the depth chart. That's more of a question to be answered during fall camp, but there is one specific matter that might be worth asking Helton on Tuesday.

Any WR depth chart projection hinges on where London -- the star junior -- is slotted. After excelling at the inside Y position the last two seasons, he notably worked as an outside receiver throughout spring practice. As we've noted here plenty, USC was especially thin at the position during the spring, creating an obvious opportunity to work London outside and see how he handled it.

He may be the Trojans' best option for one of the two outside WR spots (with Bru McCoy, Gary Bryant Jr. and Memphis transfer Tahj Washington among the others), but the coaching staff also knows that London is a proven elite playmaker working his familiar routes up the seams. Do they want to gamble on moving him off that spot?

The question was asked several times during the spring and the coaches' answers were never totally clear or resolute on the matter, but we did gain further insight when we interviewed Texas tight end transfer Malcolm Epps, who told us he was recruited to play the Y position so that USC could move London outside.

Epps and freshman tight end Michael Trigg are two highly-intriguing options for that position. But moving London permanently to the outside creates a major logjam for the aforementioned players, not to mention the talented freshmen USC brought in this year. That said, there's just as much competition at the A slot position, where Bryant is also an option, along with Kyle Ford, Colorado transfer K.D. Nixon and Texas transfer Jake Smith.

Again, clarity on the depth chart should come through camp, but it will be interesting to hear what Helton and London say about the star junior's role on Tuesday.