Tim Tebow evaluates USC's College Football Playoff chances

USC is on the road to face Notre Dame this weekend, but Tim Tebow is looking towards the Trojans’ future at the moment.

The Pac-12 is a stacked conference. That’s simply the reality in 2023. Despite having an all-time quarterback on their squad in Caleb Williams, USC isn’t the favorite to win the conference and make the College Football Playoff, but Tebow explained that it’s far from the reigning Heisman winner’s fault.

“Well I think they absolutely have real Playoff chances, but the question is not about Caleb Williams or Lincoln Riley or this offense, the question in the committee’s mind is going to be about this defense,” explained Tebow, via SportsCenter. “They’ve only faced two offenses in the Top 50, and they’re 108th in defense. That has to improve, because at the end of the year, whether they get in the conference championship game or they’re 11-1 and they’re in the conversation, the committee’s going to be looking at the whole team, not just Caleb Williams.

“Caleb’s going to give them so many chances, like he does every single game, but the committee’s going to have to see a defense that’s improved from week-to-week, and they’ve got the games to show it. Especially against Washington, and if they can improve defensively, with Caleb and this offense, I think their chances are real.”

So while Tim Tebow isn’t completely ruling USC out of the College Football Playoff, he does have his reservations about the Trojans moving forward. Time will tell if their defense can improve, but USC may be squandering a golden opportunity if it doesn’t.

Rece Davis takes USC to beat Notre Dame

Meanwhile, Notre Dame will play their fourth consecutive Top-25 matchup when USC comes into South Bend this weekend. In a contest between two teams with struggles of their own, Rece Davis has a pretty clear choice in the end when it comes to who he thinks is going to win.

Davis picked between the No. 10 Trojans and No. 21 Fighting Irish on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’. He started with a nugget regarding USC’s recent run of bad luck in the series when they make the trip to Indiana.

“The Trojans haven’t won in South Bend since 2011,” Davis pointed out. “They’ve lost five in a row there, the longest active road losing streak against anybody.”

However, Davis does think that Notre Dame will come away with a loss against USC for the second straight year. No matter what they muster tomorrow night, he doesn’t think it’ll be enough considering Caleb Williams is the opposing quarterback on the other sideline.

“Notre Dame has to wake up every echo, they have to shake down every clap of thunder to try to save their season – and they’re not going to do it because 13 is on the other side,” said Davis. “I’m taking ‘SC.”

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.