USC's is outside the College Football Playoff bubble, but all that can change Saturday

There are people who are heavily into game analytics, and they tend to explain certain decisions by explaining that you make those decisions because then you'll know what you need.

That's where USC football is after the third weekly release of the CFP rankings have the Trojans sitting at 15th, up a couple of spots from last week, and not really gaining much credit for beating Iowa. But it is what it is, because from the beginning we knew that USC had to beat Oregon to get into the playoffs. If the Trojans win in Eugene on Saturday, they will be in position to be the third Big Ten team in the 12-team bracket. 

There will be no fourth Big Ten team

For a while, there was some speculation that USC or Michigan could position themselves to be the fourth Big Ten team depending on how things shake down, but that's not the case. The good news is that USC still has a path with a win Saturday, but Michigan, at 18th, probably doesn't have a path to the playoffs even with a win over Ohio State in two weeks. 

It is what it is. Despite the Big Ten winning the past two championships, it's still the SEC that takes up most of the air in the room and the committee seems more concerned with figuring out a way for Vanderbilt or Texas to squeeze in there rather than really focus on the best remaining teams after the conference champions are decided. 

No news is probably good news for USC

Coming into tonight's rankings, USC knew what it needed to do and now that the rankings have been released, nothing has changed. The Trojans will play in the biggest game of the week. ESPN College GameDay will be in Eugene in the early morning hours. This is exactly what this program has been asking for over the past few years. 

Would it have been nice for the committee to show USC a little more respect? Sure. But if we're being honest, it was always going to be on the Trojans to prove that they are worthy of being back in the discussion. Now it's time to put up and if USC leaves Eugene with a win, no one can deny the Trojans their rightful spot in the bracket.