USC’s Playoff Hopes Rest on Final Three Games
USC entered the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 20 after beating Ohio State 30-18 in Los Angeles. The 7-2 Trojans have three regular-season games left, including matchups with No. 4 Indiana and No. 8 UCLA.
The first College Football Playoff rankings put USC 20th, two places below its position in the AP poll. The Trojans moved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten with a 30-18 win over No. 12 Ohio State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night.
USC’s remaining schedule includes a November 14 road game against Indiana, a November 21 meeting with Maryland and a November 28 game against UCLA. Indiana is ranked fourth and UCLA eighth. USC is the Big Ten’s fifth-ranked team, behind those two schools, Ohio State at No. 12 and Iowa at No. 19.
The loss that may have held USC back came against Wisconsin: the Trojans fell 24-7 on the road. USC’s recent win over Ohio State has strengthened its case, but the final three results will determine whether the team reaches the playoff for the first time.
Wins over Indiana and UCLA could put USC in position to reach the Big Ten championship game, scheduled for December 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and to earn a place in the 12-team playoff. USC will use its bye week to prepare for Indiana, which has narrowly beaten unranked Michigan and Minnesota in its last two games.
The USC-Indiana game is set for 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on November 14 and will air on CBS. It will be the teams’ first meeting since USC joined the Big Ten in 2024. USC has won all four previous matchups; the most recent was in 1982.