USC football: Trojans ranked No. 9 college program heading into 2023 season

'Lincoln Riley has been a double-digit winner every year as a head coach'

College football analyst Josh Pate of 247Sports.com released his top ten college football programs heading into the 2023 season earlier this week. 

"When we're ranking programs, I care about a multi-year snapshot," Pate said. "I care about synergy inside your program. I care about the trajectory of your program. It is disproportionately important for me to believe in the here and now. I am not making predictions, but I do need to believe in the trajectory."

Pate ranked USC as the No. 9 program in the country saying:

"This is the exception to the rule. I'm not going to stack up their results over the past 5-10 years and make it look like some of these other programs that they're positioned in between. In the last five seasons, they're 33-24. These are extraordinary times. Lincoln Riley has been a double-digit winner every year as a head coach. He put his roster together in an extraordinary fashion. They're not going about things the conventional way. I'm not putting Southern Cal top five, but I'm also not keeping them out of my top 10. I really believe in where the program's going. The fact that they have struggled defensively is baked into why I only have them at No. 9."

Check out Pate's full top ten here. 

USC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING ODDS

Earlier this week, FanDuel Sportsbook updated its national championship odds ahead of the 2023 college football season. USC currently has the fifth best odds of any team in the country to win the title at +1600. The top four consists of Georgia (+220), Alabama (+500), Ohio State (+700) and Michigan (+1000).

The top 20 odds list is available here.