USC didn't lose anyone off last season's team (except for 1 senior who seldom played) and added the number 2 class, including the number 1 player. Yes, I think they'll be special this year.
That's really super great. Seriously. SC should be a good team. Problem is, they just weren't that good last year. I get that they bring everyone back and I can see why their fans are enthused. In a way, and I'm going to use this as an extreme example, it's like saying Delaware was going to be great last year because they had 5 juniors coming back and all were going to be seniors. I understand that it's not an exact example, but my point is just because you bring everyone back does not make you a great team.
Cream puff schedule is actually an insult to cream puffs. The only legit top 10 team they played all year was Tennessee and they lost. Lost to UNC twice. Lost to aTm. Beat teams like Wintrop by 8, Arkansas by 4, Mississippi State by 7, Georgia by 11, and Auburn by 6. In the NCAA's they "squeaked" past CS Northridge, a 16 seed, by 15. Oregon State was an 11 point win. Most of those relatively close games were against teams that did not even sniff anywhere near the top 25.
Seriously, there was nothing impressive about HOW they beat teams last year. Sure the record was terrific. But I don't feel the TEAM is impressive. And those examples I used are not outliers. It's not like had one "bad" game. There were tons of them that a final 4, or elite 8, team should simply not have. Even some of the UCONN fans on our board have bought into the hype of SC - probably because they backed into a 1 seed and had a terrific record last year. Smoke and mirrors IMHO.
And they simply have no one even close as good as Jefferson, Stewart or KML. Seriously - not even close. Honestly, I'd be utterly shocked if they lose to UCONN by less than 20-25. They simply have no one who can match up with UCONN's big 3. And Ibiam and Coates are going to be in for a rude awakening when they go up against Stokes.
Now I get that you will totally disagree. It's your right of course. But this year you have another cream puff schedule. Duke and UCONN are the only potential top 25 teams outside of who they face in their conference. Some big'ish name schoolsl (USC, Clemson, SDSU, Syracuse and Wisconsin) but none of those will be top 25 schools (with the exception of USC who I think is barely in the top 25 at the moment, or just outside of it)...
Go out and schedule Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame, Louisville, Stanford, etc. and then see how you look. I'd be surprised if your team loses by less than 10 to Tennessee.