Big Ten Media Days are currently taking place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This season, there are some new schools involved with media days thanks to conference realignment, and USC football is one of them. Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley took the podium on Wednesday, and he had a lot to discuss. One thing that he talked about is future scheduling and how USC wants to set themselves up to win championships.
With how strong the Big Ten is, there really isn't any point in scheduling difficult non-conference games. The conference schedule is going to challenge everyone, and a tough non-con just gives teams another chance to lose a game which will hurt their chances to make the College Football Playoff. The fans like those big out of conference games, but USC football head coach Lincoln Riley doesn't seem too concerned with pleasing with the fans.
“Alabama didn’t schedule for their fans, they scheduled to win championships,” Riley said, according to a post from Brett McMurphy.
Riley has a point. With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, USC can afford to lose 2-3 games and still make the playoff. However, is there really any gain if you schedule a difficult non-conference game with the way the Big Ten looks right now? Going 10-2 should get a team from the Big Ten in the playoff, so why would you add a team to your schedule that is will put your CFP chances at risk?
A prime example last year is Michigan. The Wolverines had a very easy non-conference schedule as they played East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green. However, they played Penn State and Ohio State in Big Ten play, beat them both, and went into the playoff as the number one team and won the national championship. They proved how good they were by beating the top teams in their conference, and they were rewarded with the number one ranking. Rivals fans poked fun at the schedule, but why do it any other way?
Lincoln Riley and USC football have plenty of tests in the Big Ten
That example with Michigan still holds true despite it being before College Football Playoff expansion and realignment. Now, every team in the Big Ten is getting a couple more tests on that schedule as some good football schools have been added to the conference. USC football will certainly be tested plenty during conference play, and they don't need a difficult non-conference game early on to get their strength of schedule up.
This season, however, the Trojans do have a tough non-conference game, and it's the first week of the season. USC will kick off the year against LSU in Las Vegas, and they better hope that they get a win, because they have a lot of tough Big Ten matchups, and another challenging non-con game as well.
In conference play this season, USC plays at Michigan, home against Penn State, home against Wisconsin, at Washington and they also have another challenging non-conference game against rival Notre Dame. That LSU game is going to be fun for fans to watch, but it could end up harming the Trojans' chances to make the College Football Playoff.
It's fun to watch teams battle it out early in the year in tight non-conference games, but there isn't a lot of upside for teams to schedule those games, and Lincoln Riley knows that.
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