Don’t get me wrong: The Holiday Bowl is a great bowl. It is one of the most fun, entertaining, and historically important non-January bowl games in college football.
It’s a game meant for BYU, however, not USC.
It’s a game meant for Arizona or San Diego State or Oklahoma State, not USC.
The Trojans are looking at the Holiday or Alamo Bowl right now. How do they change that? They have to win the Pac-12 championship and get a New Year’s Six bowl as a result.
If USC loses to Washington and Oregon, it will miss the Pac-12 title game and finish no better than 9-3. That’s an automatic Holiday or Alamo resume.
If USC makes the Pac-12 Championship Game with a 10-2 record but then loses, it would be 10-3. That’s not going to get a New Year’s Six at-large bid. Holiday or Alamo would be the destination.
USC has to win the Pac-12 to get a New Year’s Six bowl. NY6 bowls matter to other top programs.
Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski said this about Notre Dame’s bowl destination this season:
“The Louisville game will be a pain regardless of how things go from here out, but as a longtime college football fan and observer, a 10-win regular season still means something to me. So does making a New Year’s Six bowl. Winning one would be especially big, seeing as Notre Dame hasn’t since January of 1994.”
If USC wants to avoid the Holiday or Alamo Bowl, it’s time for guys to step up and show they really care.
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Oklahoma fans were right about Lincoln Riley, at least for this specific season.
USC assistants need to be coaching for their jobs against Utah and into November.
Lincoln Riley did not assemble an elite 2023 roster, which surprised us and a lot of other observers.
Is USC ready to win in 2024 with Miller Moss or Malachi Nelson at quarterback? Lincoln Riley has to be honest about how he answers that question.
Brent Venables is coaching Oklahoma far better this year than Lincoln Riley is coaching USC. It’s up to Riley to change that reality against Utah.