What do we like here at TrojanWire. Bullish optimism.

I believe that if the Trojans win out (and win by playing well on Nationally televised games that will be seen by a lot of voters), they will be ranked as high as #2 but no lower than #4.

Back it up with the fact that everyone in the Top 10, except the Trojans, plays several gimme games (USC just won its first and only against Stanford).

No one has been complaining about the close wins of Ohio State and Michigan, even when against lousy opponents. Louisville is undefeated, and that’s what it’s all about, but their schedule is embarrassing and that WVU-Louisville game didn’t impress anyone about either team..

When you look at the one-loss teams, Texas tops the list right now, which is because of who they lost to, and the fact that they lost early. That said, the game against OSU wasn’t close, and if not for a late fumble by Nebraska, they likely lose to the same Cornhusker team that was never really in the game with the Trojans (but nobody has complained about Texas). As for Florida — a lot of the media are riding their bandwagon because they are so enamored with the SEC, and due to this, no one is skeptical when they have close games against Vanderbilt and a bad Georgia team, and their non-conference schedule includes Southern Mississippi, Central Florida, and Western Carolina. As for Auburn — they were crushed by Arkansas who the Trojans destroyed. The other two worth mentioning (Notre Dame and Cal), the Trojans will play — so that will be settled on the field.

The Hogue Report [WeAreSC.com]