"For the 11th straight season and fourth time under coach Lincoln Riley, USC finished its season on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff field. But it will get to finish this football season with a first. USC will face Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl, a source not authorized to discuss the matchup publicly confirmed to The Times. The Trojans have never spent the bowl season in San Antonio, Texas, where the Alamo Bowl has been played since 1993."
"Their opponent comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the Horned Frogs finished 8-4 during the regular season, in a tie for fifth in the Big 12. The Alamo Bowl gets first selection of Big 12 teams and could have chosen Brigham Young, which lost in the Big 12 title game and, like USC, finished within one loss of the playoff field. But the bowl presumably passed on the Cougars because they took part in the game last season."
"Since then, Riley has reiterated the importance of finishing this season strong, helping "pave the road" for the program going forward. That message helped inspire a dominant rivalry win over UCLA. Whether it will resonate through another bowl season without bigger stakes remains to be seen. USC can still finish with 10 wins for just the second time in the past eight seasons, the last being in Riley's debut season in 2022."
USC finished outside the College Football Playoff for the 11th consecutive season and the fourth under coach Lincoln Riley. The Trojans will face Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, marking USC's first appearance in that bowl. TCU finished 8-4 and tied for fifth in the Big 12; the Alamo Bowl opted not to select Brigham Young, likely because BYU played in the game last season. USC finished 16th in the final College Football Playoff rankings with wins over Michigan and Iowa and losses to Oregon and Notre Dame. A bowl win could secure a 10-win season.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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