USC Rose Bowl: Trojans To Cap 2016 Season In Pasadena vs. Penn State

A USC Rose Bowl berth vs. Penn State was confirmed Sunday, with the Trojans capping the season in Pasadena for the first time since 2008.

USC is smelling roses, officially

The Trojans settled in at No. 9 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, finishing ahead of Colorado, who fell to No. 10 after losing to Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday.

With the Huskies booking a spot in the playoff bracket at No. 4, their place in the Rose Bowl will be filled by the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the CFP. That team is USC.

The berth in the Granddaddy Of Them All is a reward for an impressive season turnaround for the Trojans.

Clay Helton’s seat was hot and USC was reeling after losing three of their first four games, falling to Alabama, Stanford and Utah.

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A quarterback change, a renewed focus and time to improve propelled the Trojans to a perfect record in October. Then, in November all the hard work paid off when they went north to Seattle and knocked off the No. 4 Washington Huskies.

The upset validated USC’s rise and the Trojans didn’t falter from there, blowing out rivals UCLA and Notre Dame to end the regular season.

The turnaround wasn’t enough to overcome two early conference losses and get USC into the Pac-12 Championship Game, because Colorado won the division with their only loss in conference coming to the Trojans.

However, as one of the hottest teams in college football, USC will now have the opportunity to prove their mettle against another team on the rise the Big 10 Champion and No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions.