USC Trojans College Football Playoff Longshots? Big Ten Playoff Betting Odds

The USC Trojans have not made a College Football Playoff since the format was adopted in there 2014 season. USC has knocked on the door a few times, but has not got over the hump. Will 2025 be the year they get in?

There are a handful of Big Ten teams with favorable odds to make the playoff, but USC is not one of them.

The odds are stacked against the USC Trojans to make the College Football Playoff this season. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Trojans have odds of +500 to make it and odds of -800 to miss it. 

USC has been on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff since it began in 2014. It was just a four-team playoff until last season, when it expanded to 12-teams due to all of the conference realignment. 

The past two seasons, USC was out of the playoff race once November came around. The last time they were in the hunt was in Lincoln Riley’s first season in Los Angeles in 2022. USC went 11-1 in the regular season and entered the Pac-12 Championship game against the Utah Utes. A win and they would have made the four-team playoff. 

USC came up short, losing to Utah for the second time that season and had to settle for a Cotton Bowl appearance. They lost to Tulane in that game, finishing the year 11-3. 

While USC has not made a playoff appearance, the same cannot be said for coach Lincoln Riley. In his time with the Oklahoma Sooners from 2017 through 2021, Riley’s Sooners made the playoffs three different times. He went 0-3 in these playoff games. 

MORE: Reggie Bush Gets Concerning Update On Lawsuit Against NCAA, Pac-12

MORE: LeBron James, Bronny James Proposed Los Angeles Lakers Trade Package

MORE: USC Trojans Receive ‘Surprising’ Ranking Before First AP Top-25 Poll

MORE: Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams Showing Continued Growth With Latest Move

Last season, the Big Ten had four teams that made the inaugural 12-team playoff; the Oregon Ducks, Penn State Nittany Lions, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Indiana Hoosiers. In 2025, Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State all have favorable odds to make it back. 

DraftKings Sportsbook has Ohio State’s odds to make the playoff at -400, Oregon’s at -270, and Penn State’s at -350. 

The USC Trojans have been a fringe bowl team the past two seasons. In 2023, USC went 7-5 in the regular season and won the Holiday Bowl. They followed this up in 2024 with a 6-6 season capped off with a Las Vegas Bowl win.

USC will kick off 2025 with a home game against the Missouri State Bears on August 30 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.