USC moves into College Football Playoff field in penultimate rankings
USC is one win away from the College Football Playoff.
After beating Notre Dame 38-27 this past Saturday to close out the regular season at 11-1, the Trojans moved up two spots to No. 4 in the penultimate set of CFP rankings, released live on ESPN Tuesday night by the CFP selection committee. USC is joined in the top four by Georgia, Michigan, and TCU.
‼️📈✌️ — @CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/ecB26P9SMS
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) November 30, 2022
Only one week remains before the CFP field is ultimately announced. The selection committee will reveal its picks for the 2022 CFP next Sunday, Dec. 4, at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN.
Should USC beat No. 11 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday (5 p.m. PT, FOX), it seems likely the Trojans will secure a spot in the field and give the Pac-12 its first Playoff team since 2016.
USC was knocked in the last rankings reveal for a tight, high-scoring win over UCLA. So what did it do? It went out and beat Notre Dame convincingly.
Quarterback Caleb Williams completed 18 of his 22 pass attempts for 232 yards, scored four total touchdowns, and struck the Heisman pose as the Trojans largely controlled things against what was a top-15 Fighting Irish team.
With Oregon State upsetting Oregon last Saturday and climbing to No. 15 in the latest set of rankings, the Trojans’ résumé got a boost there as well. Had the Beavers lost, they might have fallen out of the rankings. With a win, however, USC maintains three wins over teams currently ranked in the CFP Top 25.
The rest of the Top 25 can be seen below:
- Georgia
- Michigan
- TCU
- USC
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Clemson
- Kansas State
- Utah
- Washington
- Florida State
- LSU
- Oregon State
- Oregon
- UCLA
- Tulane
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- UCF
- North Carolina
- Mississippi State
- NC State