USC Bowl Projections after Week 14: Exploring the Trojans’ postseason chances
The USC Trojans’ first season in the Big Ten was a bit underwhelming, and their Week 14 defeat at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish meant their regular season record would finish right at .500.
Yet, the Trojans (6-6, 4-5 in the Big Ten) remain bowl eligible after already achieving their bowl eligibility a week earlier, when they defeated crosstown rival UCLA Bruins 19-13 at the Rose Bowl.
While the season might not have gone as USC anticipated after a promising start, it will likely go to a bowl to close out the season.
Here are their most likely bowl game scenarios.
USC Bowl Projections after Week 14: Exploring Trojans’ postseason chances
The Trojans kicked off the season with a bang, as they upset the LSU Tigers 27-20, in Las Vegas. Lincoln Riley’s squad, ranked No. 23 at the time, moved up to No. 13 in the AP Poll after the win.
Southern Cal went to 2-0 a week after that, routing Utah State. However, the positive vibes would come to a halt a week later, dropping a 27-24 game on the road to the Michigan Wolverines. The loss in Ann Arbor would be a sign of things to come, as the USC defense allowed a Wolverines touchdown with 37 seconds left to set up the final score.
After a home victory versus Wisconsin, things would go south for the Trojans, with three straight one-score defeats. Minnesota, Penn State and Maryland, all managed 4th quarter comebacks against the Trojans.
USC would split their next two games, taking care of Rutgers handily at home before losing on the road versus Washington. The loss to the Huskies also marked a change at quarterback, as Jayden Maiava took over for Miller Moss.
With Maiava under center, Southern Cal beat Nebraska and UCLA, before dropping their final game of the season to the Fighting Irish 49-35, after the Irish scored two late defensive touchdowns.
Coming into Week 15, some bowl projections have Southern Cal going to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, where they would face an ACC team, such as Syracuse or Duke.
Another popular projected bowl destination for USC is the Las Vegas Bowl, where it would face an SEC team, with Texas A&M and Missouri mentioned as possible opponents.
In the end, the Trojans went 1-3 in games against ranked opponents and finished the regular season unranked. USC finished No. 11 in the Big Ten in their first season in the conference.