Given that we are now in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, a natural question for the 2024 college football season is this: Which schools have a realistic chance of making the College Football Playoff for the first time? These are the potential college football party crashers, the schools which could bust through and make a bigger name for themselves in a land rich with opportunities. College Wire recently ranked the top 12 “party crashers,” the teams that could make the College Football Playoff for the first time. We have to remember that even though USC is a college football blue-blood program, the Trojans have never made the playoff since it began in 2014. The Trojans are ranked No. 5 and this is the rationale:
There is a bit of projection with the USC Trojans, who are coming off the worst season for Lincoln Riley as a head coach with an 8-5 record. The offense isn’t the concern but perhaps the changes on the defensive side of the ball will allow them to get back into the national championship hunt. They will get tested in Week 1 out in Las Vegas when they take on the LSU Tigers, who also are replacing their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and defensive coordinator.
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