USC’s latest win bought Lincoln Riley and the Trojans a little breathing room, but it didn’t move them into the College Football Playoff conversation.
After rallying from an 11-point second-half hole to beat Washington 25-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 3, the No. 19 Trojans are 5-1 and still staring at a long climb if they want a CFP berth in Riley’s fifth season. ESPN’s newest bowl projections after Week 5 keep USC on the outside looking in, with both Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach sending the Trojans to the Las Vegas Bowl for the second time in three seasons.
Bonagura has USC lined up against Riley’s former program, the Oklahoma Sooners, while Schlabach projects a matchup with No. 14 Missouri. The game is set for Dec. 31 at Allegiant Stadium.
That would be a familiar stage for the Trojans. USC’s last trip to the Las Vegas Bowl came in 2024, when it knocked off Texas A&M 35-31. In that game, quarterback Jayden Maiava outdueled Marcel Reed, throwing for 295 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions on 22-of-39 passing.
Even with a bowl projection on the table, that’s not the standard around USC. The Trojans expect to contend for a championship, and this latest forecast only adds to the frustration of a fan base that has watched Riley’s teams fall short for four straight seasons.
The path to something bigger is still there, but it’s narrow. USC has already taken one loss, falling 41-27 to No.
13 Oregon at the Coliseum, and the rest of the schedule is loaded with ranked opponents. The Trojans still have No.
5 Ohio State on Oct. 31, No.
7 Indiana on Nov. 14 and No. 21 UCLA on Nov.
Before any of that, though, USC faces a stretch that could shape everything. The Trojans travel to Penn State on Oct. 10 for the annual whiteout game at Beaver Stadium, then turn around for Wisconsin on Oct.
- The Nittany Lions have not won a whiteout game at Beaver Stadium since 2024 against the Washington Huskies, and USC’s road issues under Riley make that trip a dangerous one.
DraftKings Sportsbook opened USC as a 1.5-point road underdog against Penn State, making it the second time this season the Trojans have been catching points. Oregon was favored when the teams met on Sept. 26 in Los Angeles.
The Trojans and Nittany Lions kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
In Other News...
Minnesota Just Gave Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Minnesotas place in the Big Ten picture looks a little sturdier after a week that shook up the league from top to bottom. With Penn State and Michigan both taking surprising losses, the conference suddenly feels more open than it did a week ago, and the Gophers were among the teams that helped turn the conversation toward teams outside the usual powers. USCs win over Washington kept the Trojans moving in the right direction too, but the ripple effects around the league were impossible to miss.
The latest power rankings reflect just how much one weekend can change the mood around the conference, with Minnesota earning a bump from a result that gave its fan base something tangible to hang onto. There were also strong showings from Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska, adding to a Big Ten slate that felt as volatile as it has all season. For USC, the broader takeaway is simple: the path through league play may be less predictable than expected, and every week now carries a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]
USC Tennis Showed Early Lineup Promise With One Clear Thing To Fix
USCs womens tennis team got an encouraging early look at its lineup depth at the Battle in the Bay tournament, where four players represented the Trojans and the group came away with nine wins over the weekend. The biggest bright spots came in singles, where Lexi Wolf and Kiara Zabkova each earned their first NCAA singles victories, a solid sign for a roster trying to sort out roles and build some momentum early in the season.
There was plenty for USC to take from the event beyond the results themselves, especially with the detailed singles and doubles rounds offering a clearer view of who is settling in fastest. The one area that still stands out, though, is the part of the lineup that needs to tighten up if the Trojans want the weekends promise to turn into something more durable once team play ramps up. [Read more 🡒]
Rodney Rice Just Gave USC Fans A Reason To Believe In This Backcourt
Rodney Rices name on the Preseason All-Big Ten team gives USC an early reminder that the Trojans may have more backcourt punch than people expected heading into the season. The senior guard earned the conference honor as the preseason awards were announced, becoming the first player under Eric Musselman to land that kind of recognition before the year even gets going.
For USC, it is a meaningful nod to a player who opened the 2025-26 season playing at a high level before shoulder surgery interrupted his momentum. Even with that setback, Rices presence on the list says plenty about how the conference views his ability, and it gives Trojans fans something concrete to hang onto as they wait to see how the backcourt settles once he is back in the mix. [Read more 🡒]