College Football Playoff Rankings: USC stays put for Week 12

USC Football did not move from their No. 11 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings for Week 12, dimming some of the hope around postseason consideration.

Despite their Pac-12 South-clinching victory over Colorado, USC Football did not rise in the Week 12 College Football Playoff rankings.

Even though a number of teams ahead of USC suffered losses over the weekend, the Trojans remained at No. 11, bypassed by a pair of Big 10 contenders.

No. 12 TCU did drop behind USC after falling to Oklahoma, but No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 7 Georgia only tumbled a few spots as they joined the two-loss club.

Meanwhile, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 Penn State jumped the Trojans in the Top 10. The Buckeyes impressively blew out No. 17 Michigan State, while the Nittany Lions handled Rutgers.

USC is now the fifth-ranked two-loss team in the nation, which does not bode well for their small hope of a place in the playoff come the end of the season.

When they were ranked No. 11 in last week’s Top 25, there was a small sense that the Trojans could creep up the ladder towards the Top 4 by winning the Pac-12, if other results went their way.

However, doing so would require impressing the CFP committee enough to get in over other two-loss options. This week’s rankings suggest the Trojans would not be preferred over the others.

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

The men of Troy stand as the highest-ranked Pac-12 team at the moment, but USC’s three potential challengers in the Pac-12 championship game are all ranked this week as well.

After taking care of business against Utah, No. 14 Washington State will be on a bye week before battling No. 18 Washington for the right to represent the North in the title game on Thanksgiving weekend.

No. 22 Stanford must get past their rivalry game against Cal this weekend before awaiting the result of the Apple Cup to find out their postseason fate. If the Cardinal beat the Bears and the Huskies beat the Cougars, David Shaw’s team will advance to the title game.

TRENDING: Four Lessons from Colorado, What They Mean vs. UCLA

Either way, the Trojans will look to make one more strong impression on the playoff committee this weekend against UCLA before sitting out during the Thanksgiving festivities and awaiting the conference title game.