College football analyst Josh Pate puts USC at No. 15 in preseason power ratings
As Pate often reminds fans, his poll is not a traditional ranking system. Rather, he does power ratings—evaluating which teams would be favored on a neutral field. Hence, his poll implies that on a neutral field, the Trojans would be favored against all but 14 teams in the country.
Of the 14 teams that USC would not be favored against, two are on the Trojans' schedule: No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 7 Oregon. Hence, Pate seemingly believes that if the favored team won all of USC's games this fall, the Trojans would finish 10-2.
Of course, as Pate would be the first to tell you, that is not how football works. Games are not won on paper, but rather on the field. Lincoln Riley and USC will need to show this fall that they can win actual contests, rather than just hypothetical ones.
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