The AP preseason poll came out on Saturday and the USC Trojans overtook LSU as the No. 1 spot. Recently, the USA Today poll was

USC QB, Matt Barkley. Barkley is looking to complete “unfinished business” his senior year as a Trojan

SEC strong in the top two spots, with LSU and Alabama being 1 and 2. USC sitting at No. 3.

USC Head Coach, Lane Kiffin spoke to the AP after the announcement:

To be handed down what they said could be a death penalty, could take USC 10 years to come back from, then to have this recognition and be preseason No. 1 is very exciting for our fans because a lot people thought two years ago that this would not be possible for USC.

The departure of Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu from the LSU defense was the deciding factor in a lot of the AP votes.

The Top 25 AP Preseason Poll: