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Greg McElroy evaluates USC's path to making a bowl game

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith11/05/24

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USC‘s first year in the Big Ten Conference is not going the way they expected it to. The Trojans dropped their fifth game of the season on Saturday after falling to Washington in a 26-21 road loss where they once again held a lead in the fourth quarter.

USC and its fans had high hopes of potentially competing in the College Football Playoff this season, especially following an impressive Week 1 win over LSU. But with that door closed, college football analyst Greg McElroy still believes there’s an opening for the Trojans to play in a bowl game this postseason.

“They are currently 4-5 with a home game against Nebraska, a game that feels like they have to win if they want to get to the postseason, and then a road trip to UCLA. Feels like they got to win the next two because they got Notre Dame coming to town on the final week of the regular season,” McElroy said on Always College Football.

Six wins secure the Trojans’ bowl eligibility, a road that’s made much more challenging with rival Notre Dame looming at the end of their schedule as one of their three opponents. It’s a closing stretch they’ll approach with a new starting quarterback after Jayden Maiava was named the starter vs. Nebraska over Miller Moss on Tuesday.

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“Could Notre Dame be reading their press clippings? I don’t think so. I think Notre Dame knows they need an emphatic victory in that game if they want to even be considered for a home-field game in the postseason,” McElroy explained. “So I think Notre Dame will not just win, but they will try to run it up if they can.

“So they better beat Nebraska this week and they better win on the road at UCLA the following week if USC wants to go to the postseason.”

USC’s fight for bowl eligibility starts next Saturday after their bye week when they host the Cornhuskers in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.