The consensus of the preseason football pollsters is that USC will be playing LSU for the national championship in January. In an interview with Louisiana newspaper The Advocate, LSU coach Les Miles welcomes the challenge of playing the Trojans, although he is quick to point out the superiority of his SEC over the Pac-10 conference.

Clear For Miles (The Advocate)

And if you haven’t seen the preseason polls, USC is ranked 1st across the board (although the AP and USA Today polls will not be announced until August):

Athlon Sports - 1st
Fox Sports - 1st
Lindys - 1st
Sporting News - 1st
Sports Illustrated - 1st
Street & Smith’s - 1st