ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) has USC ranked fourth in the country after Week 2.

The Trojans moved up one spot from the previous week after smashing Stanford over the weekend, 56-10. And FPI now says USC has virtually the same chance of making it to the College Football Playoff as the Georgia Bulldogs.

According to FPI, USC has a 36.6% chance of earning one of the four spots in the CFP. When the season began, USC was sitting at a 22.2% chance.

The predictive model gives Georgia — a team seeking a historic three-peat this year — a 38.4% chance. Texas leads the model with a 45.4% chance to make the Playoff after a 10-point win over Alabama on the road in Week 2. Ohio State and Florida State are second and third, respectively.

A huge factor in all this: FPI has tremendous respect for the Pac-12 as a whole.

According to the model, USC has the fifth-toughest remaining strength of schedule in all of college football.

With Colorado being drastically improved under Deion Sanders, Washington State starting hot, and Cal sitting in the FPI Top 25, the bottom of the Pac-12 has significantly risen.

Ten of the 12 teams in the conference this year currently reside inside the FPI Top 60.

USC has remaining games against:

  • Colorado (FPI No. 58)
  • Arizona (No. 52)
  • Notre Dame (No. 9)
  • Utah (No. 16)
  • Cal (No. 33)
  • Washington (No. 14)
  • Oregon (No. 11)
  • UCLA (No. 30)

The teams with a tougher remaining schedule than USC, according to FPI, are Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn, and Michigan State. Not exactly a who’s who of Playoff contenders.

With the USC offense off to a historic start, the ceiling is the roof.