It is a conversation which will continue to linger through the remainder of the spring and into the summer. It will persist when August camp opens. It will still be present, dominating the room and the conversation, when USC meets Rice in Week 1 and then Stanford in Week 2.

Is a Pac-12 championship in Year 1 of the Lincoln Riley era expecting too much of USC?

Antonio Morales of The Athletic kicked around that question. A Lincoln Riley quote summarizes the USC coach’s attitude on that particular topic.

“I’m not going to take any goal off the table,” Riley said. “I said it Day 1. That’s not why we came here. So we expect to compete for and win championships every single year. I’ll save you that question for the next 10-15 years. That’s going to be the same answer. That’s just who we are as a staff. That’s what we believe in.

“And frankly, that’s what this program should be about. This is USC. The expectation here should be to win championships every single year.”

USC hired Riley to win and is paying him handsomely to do so. Most pundits expect that the coach who led the Sooners to three College Football Playoff appearances in his first three seasons will enjoy similar success in Los Angeles. The Trojans enjoy every inherent advantage a college football program could ask for. The more common question has been the timeline: How soon can Riley bring USC back?

Here’s the thing: USC might not win the Pac-12, but the Trojans are one of the two best teams in the Pac-12. The discourse surrounding a conference championship in Year 1 should be framed this way: It’s unquestionably reasonable to expect it. No one should debate that point.

The real conversation below the surface is this: Will USC come close to winning the Pac-12 or not get anywhere near the conference crown? If USC goes 10-2 and makes a New Year’s Six bowl but Utah wins the conference at 12-1, that’s fine. If USC goes 8-4 or 9-3 and goes to the Holiday Bowl, that’s a failure.

The Pac-12 title is and should be the expectation, but Utah has a really good team which might get in the way. The main thing for USC is to pursue this goal with all its might, give it a good ride, and let the chips fall where they may.

We will know what a good run looks like. If USC gives it a good run, there’s no reason to be too disappointed with this program.

We all know that in 2023, we won’t be playing this game. USC will be the unquestioned favorite in the Pac-12 and will be expected to dominate the conference.

In 2022, there’s a little more room for error, but the conference championship should still be the goal. No one should debate that point.