Greg McElroy predicts Lincoln Riley will again heavily impact College Football Playoff while at USC

Lincoln Riley will heavily impact the College Football Playoff while he’s still at USC, according to Greg McElroy. 

While that much is obvious, it’s how McElroy said Riley will impact the CFP race. USC was ever so close last season and Riley’s Oklahoma programs got as far as the semifinals.

But looking ahead to the 2023 season and beyond, this might be the best opportunity for the Trojans, because of Riley.

“I find USC’s program to be more intriguing, more interesting today than they’ve been at any point since 2008,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “That was the last year of the Pete Carroll era. Look, I know they had a couple of years where they were super successful there in the mid 2010s. They were really good and they’ve had moments in the Sam Darnold year when they won the Rose Bowl, like they’ve done some good things, they’ve been relevant.

“But the commitment to college football that was made when they brought Lincoln Riley to USC from Oklahoma, to me, showcased that USC is tired of being an afterthought. Then they decided just a couple of months later, hey, we’re gonna go play in the Big Ten.”

The move to the Big Ten could make or break the chances of the Trojans. USC might have to adapt its style under Riley within the loaded conference .

“I’m really curious because there’s one thing that I know about the Big Ten, the Big Ten is a lunch pail conference,” McElroy said. “You are going to have to bring the physical football every single week. And that has been a little bit of a question mark wen it comes to Lincoln Riley.

“Now is that fair? Probably not. It’s a little bit low hanging fruit for sure. But there is a legitimate question about that and what was his best attribute at Oklahoma? Quarterback development. Well, he did it with Kyler Murray, did it with Baker Mayfield, did it already with Caleb Williams …  I would expect that train to keep on churning.”

But nonetheless, Riley and USC are close to achieving the ultimate prize.

“(USC and others) haven’t defined the college football playoff era as we know it, but they feel really close to being able to maybe bring one home or punch their ticket to the college football playoff,” McElroy said. “It’s been a long time coming for several programs, Florida State, LSU of course won one just a couple of years ago but USC hasn’t sniffed the playoff in a really long time.”