Greg McElroy Names Historic College Football Program That Was ‘Disrespected’ originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Following Monday’s reveal of the preseason AP Poll, fans and analysts have been all over social media attempting to determine what the voters got wrong.
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Dating back to 1936, the AP Poll has released college football rankings, but it’s safe to assume that this year’s was among the more difficult to decide. The Texas Longhorns ended up securing the No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history, but did so in what was the closest tally since 1998, as Penn State was as close as it gets to being the No. 1 team.
While those powerhouse programs ended up where most would agree was quite fair, ESPN college football analyst and former Alabama star quarterback Greg McElroy recently revealed that he was not pleased with where USC ended up in the rankings. The Trojans were left out of the top 25, and received fewer votes than four other programs.
A result that left McElroy calling the rankings “outrageous,” as he actually had USC ranked No. 11 in his preseason rankings.
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Greg McElroy Deems USC Was Disrespected by AP Poll
“The teams that got absolutely disrespected, disrespected across the board, USC,” McElroy said. “USC right now is in the others receiving votes category, they’re actually fifth in the others receiving votes category. So, that has them as like the No. 30 team in college football. That’s the biggest difference between my top 25 and the AP’s top 25, is that I have SC at 11 the AP has them at 30.
USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley.© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
“That’s a 19-spot gap,” McElroy continued. “SC brings back a quarterback that I think is really well-equipped to have a nice year. They have arguably the best weapons in the Big Ten outside of Ohio State…And they’re gonna make huge strides on defense. I’m really optimistic with what I saw last year from D’Anton Lynn and where they grew and how they progressed and just how much better they likely will be here in year No. 2 in that defensive system. Man, they’re gonna be good and they’re barely in the top 30 to me is outrageous.”
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While head coach Lincoln Riley is likely too expensive to fire unless things get terrible, he surely would love to silence the hot seat chatter. After going 11-3 in year one on the job in 2022, the Trojans have gone 15-11 in the past two seasons. If McElroy is right about USC, the Trojans could very well be on their way to Big Ten and College Football Playoff contention.
Related: There’s a New No. 1 Team in College Football After Latest Poll Released
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
