Since the latest Pac-12 schedule revision came out last weekend, amended for a six-game regular season, many have pointed pointed to USC having a seemingly conducive path to the conference championship game and a potentially big season.
And the conference's media concurs, voting the Trojans the overwhelming favorite to win the Pac-12 South while USC finished second to Oregon in overall voting in the conference's preseason poll, which was released Wednesday morning.
USC received 32 of a possible 38 first-place votes among South teams, with Arizona State (2 first-place votes but second overall in the division) and Utah (4 first-place votes but third overall) following.
Oregon received 35 of 38 first-place votes in the North and 21 votes to be the Pac-12's overall champion, followed by USC (15), Arizona State (1) and Utah (1).
The Trojans won their last Pac-12 championship in 2017 and are coming off an 8-5 finish last year, while returning the bulk of their high-scoring offense and hoping an overall of the defensive coaching staff can lead to improvement on that side of the ball.
USC and Oregon, who were scheduled to play in the initial full Pac-12 slate before the season was cancelled back in August and reset a couple weeks ago, do not meet in the regular-season.
The Trojans' toughest games are their Nov. 7 opener against Arizona State and a Week 3 road game at Utah. USC drew Washington State -- picked last in the Pac-12 North -- as its cross-division opponent.
