Southern Cal Trojans - NCAA Football Odds, Lines & Betting

After two consecutive national titles, the football factory that is Southern California has gone two years without hoisting the top trophy. Last season's decisive Rose Bowl win over Michigan was small comfort after regular-season, Pac-10 missteps against Oregon State and UCLA. Once again, as practices get underway, things look promising for Troy.

Pete Carroll's coaching crew returns, minus offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin - who now runs the world's hardest football practices in nearby Oakland with the Raiders. Steve Sarkisian, the team's assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach last season, steps into Kiffin's role. Boosting USC's outlook for this season is the return of 18 starters, which should make it easy to retain last year's Top 25 rankings in both total offense (21st) and defense (20th). Quarterback John David Booty, who should factor into the early Heisman hype, will lead the offense. Booty will look to establish new targets with the loss of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith to the NFL. Center Ryan Kalil is also gone, meaning more questions for Booty. And while the team's three leading rushers return this year, the Trojans will need to do better than last year's rushing rank of 68th if they want to keep title hopes alive.

With the tragic death of placekicker Mario Danelo, USC will also be in search of a new man to handle those duties. On defense, the concerns are few and far between with only one starter from last year not returning. Linebackers Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing look to make life miserable for opposing offenses in the trenches and midfield. Corners Terrell Thomas and Cary Harris and safeties Kevin Ellison and Pac 10 co-Freshman of the Year Taylor Mays look to add to the confusion in the backfield. There are plenty of reasons why USC is the preseason betting choice to win the national championship in 2007.

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