Last week, it was revealed that a 24-team playoff is all but certainly coming to college football. Despite the proposal being extremely unpopular, the new system is reportedly set to take effect as soon as next year.
So how would this affect USC? Let’s take a look back at the 12-year history of the College Football Playoff and see which years the Trojans would have made the field:
2014
USC would have been the final team to make the playoff, squeaking in as the No. 24 seed. The Trojans would have visited No. 9 seed Ole Miss in a first round matchup.
2015
Coming in at No. 25 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, USC would have been the first team out of the field.
2016
USC would have been the No. 9 seed, just missing out on a first round bye. The Trojans
would have hosted No. 24 seed Temple in a first round game at the Coliseum.
2017
This time, USC would have gotten a bye, earning the No. 8 seed. The Trojans would have hosted a second round game against the winner of the first round matchup between No. 9 seed Penn State and No. 24 seed NC State.
2018
After a horrific 5-7 season, USC would not have even come close to making the playoff.
2019
The Trojans would have been the No. 22 seed and visited No. 11 seed Utah in a first round game. It would have been a rematch of a September meeting between the two teams at the Coliseum, which USC won 30-23.
2020
The No. 17 seed Trojans would have visited No. 16 seed BYU in a first round game.
2021
This was the worst USC football team of the modern era, with the Trojans finishing 4-8. They could have expanded the playoff to 48 and this team still would not have been worthy of a spot.
2022
USC would have made it back to the playoff in 2022 as the No. 10 seed. The Trojans would have welcomed No. 23 seed NC State to the Coliseum for a first round matchup.
2023
After starting the year 6-0, USC went 1-5 in its final six regular season games, leading to the Trojans missing the playoff.
2024
A 6-6 regular season would have seen the Trojans not even sniff the bracket for the third time in four years.
2025
USC would have returned to the playoff for the first time in three years as the No. 16 seed. The Trojans would have hosted No. 17 seed Arizona in a first round game at the Coliseum.
Overall summary
In 12 years, USC would have made the 24-team playoff seven times. The Trojans would have been a top eight seed once, between No. 9 and No. 16 three times, and been one of the final eight teams in three times.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: How USC would have fared retroactively with a 24-team playoff
