USC hopes to break playoff dry spell for Pac-12
The Pac-12 will take a neutral stance when No. 4 Southern California plays No. 12 Utah in the championship game Friday night, but there’s little doubt what a USC victory would mean for the conference.
A win by the 11-1 Trojans would put them in the College Football Playoff and make USC (No. 4 CFP) the first Pac-12 team since Washington in 2017 to make the final four.
“I think it’s incredibly important that one of our teams makes the playoff,” Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff said Thursday. “It’s been one of our goals, and we’ve been building a multiyear strategic football plan to make that happen. That said, I don’t have a rooting interest tomorrow.
“We think there’s a great opportunity for multiple of our teams to be in New Year’s Six bowls. We’re taking a step forward compared to where we were a year ago. We’ll take a step forward again next year.”
Next year will be the final season that the playoff field will remain at four teams. The CFP announced it would expand to 12 schools beginning in 2024. The six highest-ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids, so the Pac-12 will likely be an annual participant.
If USC beats Utah this weekend, it would mark a major step in the Trojans’ return to prominence under first-year coach Lincoln Riley.
“Everybody sees (the high stakes) now, but the reality is all the games have had this much at stake,” Riley said. “If you don’t win those, you’re not even playing in this one. You’re at home and getting ready go out and recruit, and players aren’t practicing like 99% of the teams out there.”
Utah (9-3) hopes to do more than simply play spoiler. The Utes will try to defend their conference championship.
“A lot of things had to line up for us,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said of the journey to the title game. “They all transpired. Our team did a really good job of taking care of our business.” you think of a 9-3 season as not quite what you were after,” Whittingham said.