Ever since Lincoln Riley made the stunning decision to leave Oklahoma for USC football three years ago, Trojan and Sooner fans have been in a constant online war regarding which program is better off. For the majority of this season, it looked like the answer was neither. Both USC and Oklahoma struggled to compete in their respective new conferences, with each finishing 6-6 and barely earning bowl eligibility.
With both teams playing in bowl games on Friday, however, that finally changed. While the Trojans took down Texas A&M 35-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl, the Sooners made way too many mistakes vs. Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl, ultimately falling by a score of 21-20.
With their bowl victory, USC was able to finish with a 7-6 record and avoid a dreaded losing season. Oklahoma, on the other hand, was not so lucky. With their loss, the Sooners finished 6-7 for the second time in three years under Brent Venables, whom they hired to replace Riley shortly following his departure.
To further add on to Oklahoma’s misery, one of the key talking points that their fans have used against Riley over the past few years is his record in bowl games. On Friday, Riley improved to 2-1 in bowls at USC, while Venables fell to 0-3 in bowls as a head coach.
Despite Friday night’s result, it was an incredibly disappointing season for the Trojans. Plain and simple, going 7-6 is nowhere near good enough for this program.
But at the very least, USC fans got the last laugh on Oklahoma in 2024. If nothing else, that is something they can hold their hat on throughout the offseason.