Trojans Top Pac-10 Media Poll

With the Trojans overwhelming success under Pete Carroll it came as no surprise to see USC atop the preseason list and Arizona State Head Coach Dennis Erickson certainly agreed with the choice, “To pick who will be second is very difficult,” Erickson said.

The five-time defending Pac-10 champion USC Trojans were once again picked by the media as the top team in the conference. The Trojans received all but one of the thirty-nine first place votes, with California the only other team to receive a single first-place vote.

With the Trojans dominant success under Pete Carroll it came as no surprise to see the Trojans at the top of the preseason list and Arizona State Head Coach Dennis Erickson certainly agreed with the choice, “To pick who will be second is very difficult,” Erickson said.

Having high expectations is nothing new for the Trojans, who have been picked to win the Pac-10 the last six years straight, and Pete Carroll is confident in his team’s ability to deal with the hype.

“We are thrilled that people think highly of us and all but it doesn’t mean anything until you start proving it by winning games,” Carroll said. “We are certainly the last bunch of guys that are going to get caught up in that. I think we have a pretty clear understanding of that, so it doesn’t get us out of whack.

USC linebacker Brian Cushing insisted that the USC players are solely focused on improving everyday on the practice field and can’t wait to prove themselves at Virginia on August 30th.

“Our main goal right now is to be the best team that we can be,” said Cushing. “Expectations are great but they don’t mean anything unless we perform.”

While most preseason polls don’t really mean much once the ball is snapped, it should be noted that the media has successfully picked the Pac-10 Conference champion the last eight years in a row.

Pac-10 Preseason Media Poll

1. USC (38)…………..389
2. Arizona State………330
3. Oregon …………….295
4. California (1) ……...274
5. UCLA ……………....204
6. Oregon State ……..192
7. Arizona …………….185
8. Washington ……….139
9. Stanford ……………..76
10.Washington State ....61

* First-place votes are in parentheses.