With a look to next years College Football season USC is our Pre Season 2007 #1 ranked team in the country.

With the exception of Dwayne Jarrett, declaring for the NFL draft and hiring an agent, all of their underclassman preached their committment to come back to USC for another shot at National Championship glory. Pete Carroll has flirted with the Miami Dolphins but also swore on stacks of bibles that he will be back with new and enthused passion for coaching the Trojans.

USC will more than likely return 10 starters on defense led by Defensive End Laurence Jackson and Defensive Tackle Sedrick Ellis . Their improving young secondary looked in top form at the end of the season and overall this defense could be the best in Pete Carroll’s tenure as Trojan coach.

The offense, however, has a lot of question marks attached. With Dwayne Jarrett leaving for the NFL, Senior WR Steve Smith graduating and heading there as well and the loss of some offensive lineman, Senior Center Ryan Kalil and possibly Junior Tackle Sam Baker there will certainly be some open spots. Can WR’s Vidal Hazelton and Patrick Turner step up their games and fill much needed holes? Will John David Booty continue to improve, will he go to the NFL early or will 2006 backup Mark Sanchez beat him out for the job?

Having the number one recruiting class in the country does not hurt their chances either. In Pete Carroll’s system True Freshman can play and some will play and make big impacts next year. 2006 Army East /West All Star Game MVP , LB Chris Gallipo (Servite HS, Anaheim, CA) is one who will look for immediate action. “Galippo is the nation’s top linebacker this year and one of the best the state has produced in the last five years,” Greg Biggins of CalHisports.com told GridIron Nation. “He has all the physical tools in terms of his size, athleticism and toughness and when you throw in his work ethic and natural leadership skills, he looks as close to a can’t miss prospect as you’re going to find.”

USC’s 2007 schedule looks as good as ever with Notre Dame, Nebraska and Idaho as their non conference matchups. Nebraska should be very strong as they bring in former Arizona State starter and star QB Sam Keller to run their high powered offense next season. Notre Dame will be down with it’s huge losses on both sides of the ball but Charlie Weis is bringing in a top notch class and do not take the Irish lightly.