Can USC make the College Football Playoff after winning the Pac-12?

The USC Trojans are Pac-12 Champions again. Have they earned the right to compete in the CFB Playoff? It would be a tough sell.

Coming into the 2017 season, the USC Trojans were once again a trendy pick to make the CFB Playoff. With Sam Darnold, a preseason Heisman contender, and a dossier of weapons at their disposal, expectations were high in L.A. As life has told us before, everything doesn’t always go according to plan. The Trojans hit a few bumps in the road but salvaged their season on Friday night. SC won the Pac-12 Championship Game over rival Stanford, 31-21, and nabbed their 10th win of the year in the process.

With Friday’s victory in the books, are the Trojans able to make a leap into the CFB Playoff?

It’s not so likely.

The Trojans did themselves in earlier in the year

At the end of the day, the Trojans have no one to blame but themselves as they stand on the outside looking in. Two losses to Washington State and Notre Dame were far too much damage to overcome. If they had just taken the loss to the Cougars, then they probably would’ve wound up okay. After all, the field this year, sans a likely 13-0 Wisconsin team, will all have one loss. But the loss to the Fighting Irish set them back.

It wasn’t just the loss, either. Notre Dame blew USC off of the field in South Bend on that night. The Trojans lost by 35 points, and the game was hardly ever close. Given the scope, USC just had too much to overcome to have this Pac-12 Championship mean automatic entry.

Far too many dominos are in front of them

There’s almost no scenario that exists to allow USC into the field. It’s nearly impossible with how everything has played out.

It’s far more likely that a two-loss Ohio State team gains entry as opposed to USC. The Buckeyes would have earned their second Top 10 victory if they defeated the mighty Badgers in the Big Ten title game. USC has no such wins. To that point, every conference championship representative (sans TCU) has the opportunity to lock themselves in this weekend. USC, given their standing, does not have such a luxury.

Furthermore, 1-loss Alabama probably has an easier pathway, as they stand No. 5 in the playoff. They didn’t even win their division. Yet, it’s more realistic to expect them to be in the Top 4 than USC.

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The Trojans will have to settle for playing in the Fiesta Bowl this bowl season. That’s just how this all cracked out.