Illinois Football: Everything the Illini need to make the College Football Playoff

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TUCSON, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 29: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans looks on during the second half against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium on October 29, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

6. USC stumbles in one of the final two games

Loss to Notre Dame on November 26
or loss in Pac-12 Championship vs Oregon
2 losses – Eliminated

There is no question Illinois football needs some serious help to reach the College Football Playoff this season. One of the big things that need to happen is USC needs to stumble down the stretch.

USC’s next two games are at home against California and Colorado. Those two games are going to be victories. I had USC beating UCLA to knock the Bruins out of contention for the College Football Playoff. So, that has to be a win for the Trojans.

And then we come to the final two games of the season for USC. The Trojans take on Notre Dame and then have a big PAC 12 Championship game against Oregon.

In a perfect world, USC would fall to the Fighting Irish. This would give the Trojans their second loss of the season, which would put them out of the College Football Playoff. USC would then go into the PAC 12 Championship game and take down Oregon.

But I am trying to be as realistic as possible with this scenario. As long as USC losses either the Notre Dame game or the championship game against Oregon, then I would be happy. One of these two games needs to be a loss because I am not sure Illinois will jump a one-loss USC team. Although, there is a chance we do jump the Trojans because the Illini would have multiple top 25 wins and USC would have one. But USC is the bigger brand. We need them to lose another game.

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