The 2012 Associated Press preseason top 25 poll will be released Saturday morning and the USC Trojans are one of three teams in contention to begin the season ranked No. 1.
USC, along with LSU and Alabama, are the favorites heading into the 2012 season. The Trojans checked in at No. 3 in the initial coaches' poll, with LSU taking the top spot. USC collected 19 first place votes in that poll, the second most behind Alabama's 20.
A number of media outlets have ranked USC as the No. 2 team heading into 2012, including Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and SB Nation's BlogPoll.
If USC does not claim the top spot in the preseason AP poll, depth concerns are likely to be the cause. While LSU has been atop the board in several offseason rankings, their recent loss of Heisman Trophy candidate Tyrann Mathieu could cause them to slide a bit.
The 2012 AP preseason top 25 will be released Saturday at 7:00 a.m. PT.
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