A 24-team College Football Playoff would have changed the picture for USC in a big way.
With the expanded format reportedly on the way as soon as next year, the Trojans’ past 12 seasons give a pretty clear snapshot of where they would have landed under the new setup. In that span, USC would have reached the field seven times.
The best showing came in 2017, when USC would have earned the No. 8 seed and a first-round bye. That would have sent the Trojans straight into the second round for a home game against the winner of No.
9 Penn State and No. 24 NC State.
There were several other years when USC would have been squarely in the mix. In 2016, the Trojans would have checked in at No. 9, just outside the bye range, and hosted No.
24 Temple at the Coliseum. In 2022, USC would have landed at No. 10 and welcomed No.
23 NC State to Los Angeles. In 2025, the Trojans would have been back in the bracket as the No. 16 seed and hosted No.
17 Arizona in a first-round game.
Other appearances would have meant road trips in the opening round. In 2014, USC would have been the last team in as the No. 24 seed and would have traveled to No.
9 Ole Miss. In 2019, the Trojans would have been No. 22 and headed to No.
11 Utah for a rematch of a September game at the Coliseum that USC won 30-23. In 2020, USC would have been the No. 17 seed and visited No.
16 BYU.
Not every season would have produced a playoff berth, of course. USC would have missed out in 2015 after finishing No. 25 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, and the Trojans also would have been nowhere near the field in 2018 after a 5-7 season.
The 2021 team, which finished 4-8, also would have been left out even if the playoff had been pushed to 48 teams. And in 2023, a 6-0 start unraveled into a 1-5 finish over the final six regular-season games, which would have knocked USC out.
The 2024 team, at 6-6, also would not have come close.
Put it all together, and USC would have made the 24-team playoff seven times in 12 years. The Trojans would have been a top-eight seed once, sat in the No. 9 through No. 16 range three times, and landed among the final eight teams in the field three times.
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