How does USC jump ahead of Tennessee, LSU in College Football Playoff rankings?

USC football ranks No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. They need to get in front of LSU and Tennessee to have a chance at a Top 4 spot.

The College Football Playoff rankings are getting more and more stressful as we approach the end of the regular season and the arrival of all-important conference title tilts.

For a team like USC, being ranked No. 7 raises questions about their path to the Top 4, especially with SEC teams like Tennessee and LSU currently sitting in front of them.

The Volunteers rank No. 5 at 9-1, but they have been eliminated from the SEC title fight. The No. 6 Tigers are 8-2 but have the chance to stun the college football world in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.

What will it take for USC to move up and ahead?

How does USC jump Tennessee, LSU in College Football Playoff rankings?

It’s actually quite simple: Just win, baby.

The Trojans have been knocked for not having many ranked wins, but their next three outings will solve that problem. They will take on No. 16 UCLA on Saturday with current No. 18 Notre Dame finishing out the regular season. If they beat the Bruins they will advance to the Pac-12 title game where they would likely rematch with No. 10 Utah or battle No. 12 Oregon.

If they make it through those three games with three wins, they will be a 12-1 Pac-12 champion with Caleb Williams, a Heisman candidate at quarterback, and Lincoln Riley, a head coach with playoff experience. The CFP committee might be hard-pressed to keep them behind the SEC teams in question.

But what about Tennessee and LSU? What could the rest of their seasons look like?

Realistically, it’s unlikely the Trojans will watch either of them lose the rest of the way in the regular season.

The Volunteers have two road games to come, but they are against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Pencil those in as victories.

LSU hosts UAB, then finishes out the season at hapless Texas A&M.

An upset would throw either of those teams behind USC no matter what.

USC’s case over LSU for the College Football Playoff

Then comes the SEC Championship Game. LSU will take on Georgia, and no offense to the Tigers but they will be a very hefty underdog in that game. A loss would take USC up a spot as three-loss LSU drops. A win would be extremely complicated.

How will the CFP respond to two-loss LSU wearing the SEC crown while one-loss Tennessee and Georgia sit available for a Top 4 ranking? God help college football if we have to find out. USC fans should be rooting hard for Georgia in this one.

Otherwise, it’ll be a debate over 12-1 USC with several good wins but no great ones against 11-2 LSU with the best win of the season over Georgia. Plus one-loss Tennessee, whose only loss of the season was to Georgia.

USC’s case over Tennessee for the College Football Playoff

The most realistic threat to USC making the CFP is Tennessee but history is on the Trojans’ side here.

Obviously, each season is different and scenarios will vary drastically, but there has never been a one-loss conference champion who was denied a place in the CFP in favor of a one-loss non-conference champion.

Non-champ one-loss Alabama got in over Big Ten Champion Ohio State in 2017 but the Buckeyes had two losses. The next season, the Buckeyes were left out again as Big Ten champs but that was largely because of the presence of undefeated Notre Dame. The committee favored one-loss Big 12 champ Oklahoma over the Buckeyes on that occasion.

The committee has valued conference titles heavily in the past. USC will need to hope they continue with that mindset.

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