SCliff Notes: Insiders Predict Holiday Bowl Berth and More USC Football News

Can’t get enough USC football? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

Holiday Season… While the world will have to wait until Sunday to find out for sure where and when USC will play it’s bowl game, all signs point towards San Diego.

Marshall Cherrington of USCFootball.com cited sources on Twitter Wednesday indicating that the Trojans would be picked for the Holiday Bowl against Big Ten West Division runners up Nebraska. That game would be played at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday December 27th at Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Other potential opponents include Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Iowa.

The Holiday Bowl makes a lot of sense for a USC team with better national appeal than a team like Arizona State. On top of that, Arizona State would be making back to back appearances in the bowl while the Trojans have never participated in the Holiday Bowl despite it’s long history with the Pac-12 stretching back to the 1970s.

With more rumors swirling around USC’s other potential destination, the Foster Farms Bowl, it seems all the more likely that fans can start looking at hotel rates down south. AP reporter Antonio Gonzalez said on Wednesday that the Foster Farms Bowl has all but picked Stanford as their Pac-12 representative.

If the Foster Farms Bowl is set on Stanford, the Trojans other likely spot is in El Paso in the Sun Bowl.

No offense to El Paso, but no one wants that.

In Other News…

• Scott Wolf makes a case for the Trojans ending up in the Alamo Bowl. (Daily News)
• As USC gears up for whichever bowl bid they ultimately receiver, Johnny Curren singles out young receiving options Bryce Dixon and Ajene Harris as freshman to watch in bowl practices. (ESPN)
• Cody Kessler was named a finalist for the Manning Award. He’s also a finalist for the Unitas Award. (RipsIt Blog)
• Julian Lopez breaks down Kessler’s record-breaking, but quiet season in 2014, comparing his production to a pair of Trojan greats named Matt. (Conquest Chronicles)
• Chris Dufresne looks at the what ifs that surrounded USC’s season and college football as a whole. (LA Times)
• With the regular season over, Steve Sarkisian earned a B grade in his first year according to Greg Wallace. “This feels like it should be better than an 8-4 team. But it isn’t, which is Sarkisian’s problem to solve,” he says. (Bleacher Report)
• Solving the aforementioned problem involves keeping key underclassmen away from the NFL draft. Nelson Agholor tops the list of players to recruit into staying, says Lindsey Thiry. (LA Times)
• Kyle Kensing thinks it is the 2014 signing class which will hold the most sway over USC’s future. Those young players are competing with the past, but they have the ability to come out on top. (Bleacher Report)
• Looking forward to 2015’s recruiting class, Edwin Weathersby explores the push to secure five-star defensive tackle Tim Settle, who could be the key to filling the void left by the likely departure of Leonard Williams. (Conquest Chronicles)
• On the hardwood, Jordan McLaughlin and the men’s basketball team showed flashes of what Andy Enfield aims to bring to USC full-time. (LA Times)

Stat of the Day:

Cody Kessler is on pace to set new USC season records in completion percentage (passing Matt Barkley’s 2011 mark), passing efficiency (passing Mark Sanchez’ 2008 mark), an interception rate (passing Rob Johnson’s 2003 mark).

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