ESPN writer = USC fanboy

[MFury]

This annoys me, it is the narrative for the PAC-12 power rankings on ESPN.  

In 2016, USC started 1-3, then switched quarterbacks and everything changed. They had been written off only to finish the year with a memorable win in the Rose Bowl and a No. 3 ranking in the final AP poll. The Sam Darnold effect was obvious from the start, and Kedon Slovis‘ debut for the Trojans feels awfully similar.

It was only one performance, so the standard caveats apply, but as Slovis dissected Stanford with such ease on Saturday, it became easy to envision the Trojans as a serious threat to win the Pac-12. — Kyle Bonagura

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27567435/college-football-conference-power-rankings

Nothing on current stats on performance – a young QB has a great day and now USC can win it all becuse they did it with a totally different team in 2016.  God forbid he look at actual performance across the league and pull together some insightful comments. 

 

[PlainsUte]

I don’t mind seeing USC getting pimped ahead of their game vs Utah, but, yeah, not a lot of good logic and deep thinking in that piece.  His rankings show he expects USC to finish 2nd in the South and would be third in the north, so falls sort of real “fan boy” copy.

[Ghost of the HEB]

The more hype USC gets the better. If the media thinks USC is really good, and Utah beats them, the voters with greatly reward Utah.. Similarly to how LSU was rewarded by beating Texas. 

[Wilson’s Mustache]

Utah got a ton of love for the way they beat Stanford last year. Stanford was in the Top 25 (though probably aren’t legitimate) and USC completely dismantled them. USC deserves the recognition. Not to mention its early in the season and people are more prone to overeact to things early on anyways.

I’m not ready to crown them, but USC looks like much more of a threat now then they did a week ago. The South could be more or less decided in that game. Its a big deal.

[UM4G]

Good, let USC get all the hype leading up to the game – last time Utah got all the hype the players went out and got punched in the teeth and didn’t know how to respond.