The USC Trojans are back where they belong: in a prestigious New Year’s bowl game. The Men of Troy will play in a New Year’s Six event, the 2023 Cotton Bowl, against the Tulane Green Wave on Monday, January 2. It’s not the College Football Playoff, but it’s one of the six big bowl games in the country. There are just 12 teams playing in these top-tier showcases, and USC is one of them. It’s an honor earned by the Trojans. They won 11 games in a year when most pundits thought they would win only nine games, maybe only eight.
It’s worth appreciating USC’s storied bowl history, which lies at the heart of this program’s luminous reputation and rich college football legacy. Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams enriched that legacy this season. They both care about the Cotton Bowl because they want to improve that legacy even more.
Here is a look at some notable USC bowl moments: