Herschel Dennis, the projected starting running back has been injured and is out of the 2006 season.

USC has lost its Heisman-winning quarterback.
USC has lost its Heisman-winning running back.
USC has lost its leading TD scoring running back.

Then, add the projected starting quarterback getting his back injured and getting out of the spring training.

The defense was young last year and will show some improvement.

Besides the stud wide receivers, the offense is questionable.

I may be a pessimist, but I don’t think USC should be ranked in the pre-season. Let them prove themselves and come up the rankings.