USC stays put at No. 11 in Latest CFP Top 25 Rankings

The selection committee revealed their updated top 25 rankings on Tuesday night. USC fans wondered where the committee would rank the Trojans following their 38-24 victory over Colorado. The committee kept USC right at 11 when the rankings were released. Despite winning the Pac-12 South and other teams ahead of the Trojans losing, teams like Ohio State and Penn State jumped in front of USC and into the Top 10. No. 9 Ohio State defeated No. 17 Michigan State while No. 10 Penn State defeated Rutgers.

USC’s playoff hopes, a small possibility a week ago, took a huge hit as they not only stay put at 11, with teams leap frogging ahead of them. Not to mention Notre Dame, the team that blew out the Trojans, is still ahead of USC at No. 8 in the rankings. This doesn’t change the fact that it is still a long shot that the Trojans make the College Football Playoffs and at this rate a very slim chance that it happens. USC has only one win over a team in the top 25 (No. 22 Stanford at home) and no victory over teams in the Top 10. One thing to keep in mind is that USC’s strength of schedule is ranked above Ohio State and Penn State.

This week USC will host the UCLA Bruins before they get a week off and then head to Santa Clara for the Pac-12 Championship Game. Realistically, USC’s best case scenario as of today would be to beat UCLA and win the Pac-12 Championship over a ranked Pac-12 North Champion. That would land USC in a New Year’s Six bowl game (Fiesta or Cotton Bowl) which is still considered a success for the season.