USC Trojans Football Must Win 3 Key Games to Get to the Playoffs

Lincoln Riley and his USC Trojans football team are 6-1 heading into their bye week. 

The hole in the schedule comes at the right time for USC as it is dealing with injuries. The Trojans have big games coming up Riley will want his best players for. 

Trojan fans are expecting playoffs after Riley spent the offseason repeatedly stating that “This is our year”. Riley made these comments knowing the last two national champions were on the schedule. Many saw the 2026 USC schedule as one of the toughest in the country. 

The playoffs are realistic for Riley and USC, but there are a few games on the schedule the team just has to win.  Losing to an Oregon Ducks team that some expected them to beat, impacted what USC must do to get into the playoffs in 2026.

Over the next six weeks USC will play home games against the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes and the Maryland Terrapins. They have road trips to the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers, the No.12 UCLA Bruins, and the Wisconsin Badgers. 

Riley is not expected to beat both Indiana and Ohio State, but he is expected to beat one of them. Other than splitting those games, USC must beat Wisconsin, Maryland, and UCLA. UCLA is off to a great start at 5-0 and coming off of a road win in Eugene. 

Best case scenario for USC is they win their remaining games, and they get into the playoffs at 11-1. The most likely path for them to get into the playoffs would be for them to go 10-2 and get in on strength of schedule. 10-2 is the worst Riley and the Trojans can do for USC to make the final cut.

No 9-3 team has ever made the college football playoffs, so 9-3 is unacceptable and would likely contribute to Riley's coaching seat to get even hotter.

The Trojans have won 10 of their last 11 home games. They have also showed they know to close out games on the road with wins at Rutgers  and Penn State

USC just beat Penn State in front of 114,000 people, the largest crowd ever at Beaver stadium. For Riley, it is his biggest road win as USC’s head coach. Prior to the Penn State game Riley was 2-4 in games USC played on the east coast.

The path to the playoffs is clear, but it will not be easy. Riley’s team needs to use this bye week to get healthy. The Trojans must get ready to win four out of the last five to survive and advance to the Playoff.

Five years with Riley and the Trojans not getting to the playoffs will not be tolerated at USC.