USC Football Bowl Game Scenarios: Week 14 Edition

USC entered the Rose Bowl on Saturday night with big postseason possibilities in front of them. Defeat their crosstown rivals, the No. 9 ranked UCLA Bruins, and have things break their way, the Trojans would play Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game. Instead, a third consecutive defeat at the hands of the Bruins has cleared up the bowl options for USC.

The Trojans will wrap up their season against Notre Dame at the Coliseum, but their Pac-12 schedule is now complete. USC went 6-3 in their first season under Steve Sarkisian in the ultra-competitive Pac-12 South division. The Trojans will finish either fourth or fifth in the Pac-12 standings depending on the outcome of this weekend’s Territorial Cup between Arizona and Arizona State.

The most likely bowl options in play for USC are the Holiday Bowl in San Diego or the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara. The Trojans defeated Arizona 28-26 in Tucson but lost to Arizona State 38-34 on a Hail Mary. Therefore, an Arizona win would mean the Trojans would fall to fifth in the Pac-12 bowl pecking order, but an Arizona State victory would push USC to fourth in the Pac-12 bowl selection order.

However, all Pac-12 teams should be boosted up the selection order since Oregon is currently in the College Football Playoff. If UCLA defeats Stanford on Friday, the Bruins will get another crack at the Ducks in the Pac-12 title game and keep UCLA in the Top 10 of the committee’s rankings. Oregon is almost assured of landing in a major six bowl game, but a win would put them in the national semifinals.

The winner of the Arizona-Arizona State game and UCLA would be in contention for a top six bowl game, especially the Fiesta Bowl which would love to host a West Coast team.

For USC, this likely means being boosted up the pecking order and landing at the Holiday Bowl in nearby San Diego. This would keep the Trojans in Southern California and allow for a good contingent of fans to attend. The opposition for USC in the Holiday Bowl would be the Big Ten’s No. 4 team.

At this point, the winner of the Nebraska–Iowa game on Friday will likely determine the USC’s opponent. I’m going with the Hawkeyes to defeat the Cornhuskers at home and create a rematch of the 2003 Orange Bowl against the Trojans.

Prediction: Holiday Bowl – USC vs. Iowa

Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.