USC Football is 6-1 this Season and Finds Their Backs to the Wall

USC Trojans football coach Lincoln Riley stated prior to the season that “This is our year”.

To USC fans that means playoffs .

At 6-1 with it’s toughest opponents ahead, USC must play like it’s back is to the wall to make the playoffs in 2026. 

While head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners Riley went to three College Football Playoffs.

In his first four years in Southern California Riley has yet to lead USC to the playoffs. USC has bulletin boards around the campus area that read "The time is now”. 

Those proclamations from USC and Riley are bold, considering the Trojans’ 2026 schedule.

USC cannot afford to lose more than two games total, if it plans on going to the playoffs in 2026. USC is in a tough spot considering what's ahead.

The Trojans have upcoming road trips to the Wisconsin Badgers and the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers left on its schedule.

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes, and Maryland Terrapins will also visit the Coliseum this year. USC’s arch rival the No. 12 UCLA Bruins are currently No. 12 in the nation and undefeated at 5-0.

We have yet to see a 9-3 team make the playoffs. With one loss USC knows that at 10-2, they will stand a better chance to make the playoffs considering that they play in the Big Ten.

USC knows they must beat either Indiana or Ohio State, if not both of them.

The Oregon game was a game that many USC fans thought they would win, especially after the Ducks lost to Oklahoma State.

Oregon beat USC, snapping its ten-game home win streak, putting the pressure on the Trojans

The other side of the coin is that if USC does lose another regular season game, they're still in it.

Again, considering all the ranked teams on the schedule, whatever team USC would lose to would not be the end of USC, as long as they win out from there.

Riley signed a ten-year contract for a reported $110 million dollars in 2002. 

Riley finished: 11-3 in 2022, 8-5 in 2023, 7-6 in 2024, and 9-4 last season.

USC’s offense ranked in the top 25 in total offense each of those years, while the defense’s highest ranking in Riley's first four years has been No .49.

Much of the concern about Riley’s tenure has been the defense. He’s delivered offensively and even brought USC another Heisman trophy with quarterback Caleb Williams winning the Award in 2002. 

USC defense is currently ranked  No. 47, which is the best defense Riley has ever had at USC.

For comparison, Indiana won the title in 2026 with the No. 4 defense, Ohio State won it the year before with the No. 1 defense. USC has an uphill battle if this is their year, as Riley has said it is.