One detail of Corey Simms recruitment magnifies USC and Lincoln Riley

In most years, one aspect of USC’s Corey Simms recruitment would not have registered on a national scale. This is not a normal year.

USC beat out Penn State in the recruitment of wide receiver Corey Simms, but it’s the other school the Trojans beat out for the St. Louis-based receiver which adds to this particular football recruiting success story for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.

In most years, we wouldn’t give a second thought to the fact that USC beat out Missouri for a prominent player. Missouri has usually been an average program in college football. The Tigers have had some exceptionally great seasons in the 21st century, specifically 2007, 2013, and 2014, but in most years, Missouri is not a major national player in college football. That, however, changed last year when the Tigers made the Cotton Bowl and defeated Ohio State. The Tigers had a terrific season and are widely viewed as a legitimate threat — more so than USC — for the 2024 College Football Playoff. For USC to therefore go into St. Louis and beat Mizzou for Corey Simms is an impressive recruiting win, certainly more than what we would normally assign to a win over Missouri in most years.

We talked about this one minute into our recent USC show at The Voice of College Football:

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