Think about all of the reasons that pundits are pessimistic about USC this season. They are joining a new conference. They will have to travel across the country a couple times this season. They lost the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft at quarterback. They lost nearly 30 players from last year's roster. All of those are valid. All of those will certainly come into play during the course of the season. But how many of those will actually affect the Week 1 clash with LSU? USC has to replace Caleb Williams, while LSU has to replace last year's Heisman winner. USC is only projected to return 11 starters from last year's team, while LSU is only projected to return 12 in Baton Rouge. For every knock that's on USC's profile entering this season, LSU shares the same concerns. Tigers' head coach Brian Kelly fired his entire defensive coaching staff from last season, electing to start from scratch this year with a unit comprised of coaches from Texas, Florida and Missouri. USC earned a 42-28 win in the Holiday Bowl over Louisville with Miller Moss at quarterback. Williams was unquestionably the better athlete and playmaker (hence why he was the No. 1 pick in this year's draft), but Moss certainly has qualities that may fit a little better with what Coach Lincoln Riley wants to do with this Trojans offense. During Big Ten Media Day, Riley said, "The bowl game was the most together our team was all year. It was a great blueprint for the mentality we need to play with going forward." The Tigers had four players selected in the top-50 of April's NFL Draft. LSU cornerback Javien Toviano was arrested on Sunday, which certainly casts some doubt on his status for Week 1 after playing in every game last season. LSU running back Trey Holly is unable to re-join the team after his involvement in an offseason shooting. Once again: For every question and doubt you may have about USC entering Week 1, LSU has plenty of their own. USC ran out of steam at the end of last season when players lost focus and Williams turned his attention to the NFL, but don't forget that the Trojans were a top-10 team through the first seven weeks of the year. They scored 40+ points in each of their first six games. Are we excited about backing them against physical teams like Nebraska and Notre Dame in November? Not really. But at the beginning of the year with a whole offseason to prepare, we will gladly grab the points with one of college football's best offensive minds. Let's not forget: LSU had the Heisman winner at QB with two first round receivers and still only went 9-3 last year (and only beat 4-8 Arkansas by a field goal).