Lincoln Riley does not seem concerned with what will be said about his program on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.
The network’s pregame show is heading to Eugene, Oregon, as the No. 17 Trojans play No. 8 Oregon. USC needs to beat the Ducks to have any hope of sneaking into the College Football Playoff, while Oregon likely also needs a win to make sure it gets into the playoff, too.
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Unlike Oregon, USC was not ranked to start the season. The Trojans got votes in the preseason AP Top 25, but weren’t in the poll. And it seems Riley has not forgotten that. When asked about GameDay’s presence on Saturday, he quickly dismissed it.
“I think for us, these are all the same people that thought we were going to suck,” Riley said on Trojans Live on Monday night. “Like, seriously. This is all the same people — what, we were going to do this and USC was this and that, so for us to pay attention to them now, like, would be a little counterproductive. So we haven’t forgotten that.”
Again, USC got AP poll votes. That’s not the sign of a team that is universally expected to be bad. Though the Trojans did come in at No. 9 in Cleveland.com’s preseason conference media poll (the Big Ten does not officially release a preseason poll). Perhaps that’s still fresh in Riley’s brain.
But at the same time, you can understand why people would want USC to prove it in 2025 before believing the program had significantly improved. USC won just 15 games the previous two seasons and was 6-6 in its first regular season in the Big Ten last year before beating Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl.
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That win was USC’s second in Las Vegas after beating LSU to start the season. The Trojans didn’t win a game outside of Vegas or the state of California all season.
This year, USC’s two losses have come at Illinois and Notre Dame as the defense is allowing fewer yards per play and 2.4 fewer points per game. Offense has never been the problem for Riley at USC. But the Trojans allowed at least 29 points per game in each of his first two seasons at the school.
USC will need that defense to step up again Saturday, as Oregon has one of the most efficient offenses in the country. If it does, Riley will be able to crow all he wants as his team will be in the thick of the playoff conversation.
