How USC Teetered on Playoff Glory
The final College Football Playoff rankings placed the Trojans at No. 16, leaving USC just outside the top-12 bracket despite only three losses on the season. Lincoln Riley’s squad fell to No. 5 Oregon and No. 11 Notre Dame, but flashes of brilliance and marquee wins over Michigan and Iowa had fans dreaming of an upset. Ultimately, the Selection Committee favored Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech in the top four, while Miami’s leap over Notre Dame caused the biggest pre-bracket shakeup. USC now shifts focus to the Alamo Bowl matchup with TCU on Dec. 30 and a stacked 2026 recruiting class, hoping a January victory and top-ranked signees will propel the program back into national contention.
In a move that surprised exactly no one who’s followed college football for more than five minutes, USC once again flirted with glory before stepping on a banana peel. Lincoln Riley’s Trojans dazzled against mid-table opponents but stumbled when faced with true powerhouse squads—like Oregon, whose greatest challenge may have been keeping their uniforms clean. Fans are left clutching their foam fingers in frustration while the Selection Committee trades analysts like baseball cards. Now USC will battle TCU in the Alamo Bowl, a game so undervalued that the only people talking about it are the die-hard Trojans and folks searching for minor league hockey scores. Should USC win, they’ll proudly proclaim “Success!” and hang a banner reading “We’ll try again next year.”
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