The USC Trojans are not a top-12 team in college football right now. Accordingly, they aren’t appearing on any College Football Playoff lists before the season. Prognosticators at various outlets need to see something substantial from the Trojans before they predict that the Men of Troy will make the 12-team playoff.
College Sports Wire released a preseason set of predictions for the 12-team College Football Playoff. USC was not on the list. Notre Dame was.
Here’s the Notre Dame comment from College Sports Wire:
“After starting the season in Dublin, Ireland, the Irish rattled off three straight wins before losing a defensive slugfest with Ohio State. They would lose two of the next five games to take them out of the running for the CFP. Mike Denbrock returns to Notre Dame after a two year run at LSU, which resulted in 20 wins and a Heisman Trophy with quarterback Jayden Daniels. The biggest question is “can Riley Leonard stay healthy to give the Irish a chance in 2024?”
USC players, coaches and fans might be upset about being excluded from the College Football Playoff conversation. Regardless of whether they are in fact upset, we can all agree on one thing: There’s something USC can do about all of this. It can beat LSU and instantly change the conversation in Week 1.
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