USC recruiting and everything else

Irish#1

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Henderson was the key to SC holding their recruiting class together. Hopefully him leaving paves the way for it to fall apart next year.
USC fan upon hearing the news. "We didn't want him anyway."
 

spoonidentity

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Oregon
Washington
@Penn State
Ohio State
@Wisconsin (not that Wisconsin's so good but that's not an easy trip and Riley's teams have struggled so much on the road)
@Indiana

They'll need luck to go 9-3. No wonder they dumped us.

I think that their schedule is easier than it's made out to be

Oregon and Ohio State will be tough, but both at home.

Washington has a good team and QB, but Fisch hasn't gotten them consistent enough to win big games yet, also at home.

Penn State is in State College but their team got decimated when Franklin left and due to graduation. Matt Campbell is a good coach but he's not a dynamic offense guy where they've struggled the last few years. I would expect defense to be good though.

Indiana caught lightning in a bottle but all it takes is for a few players to not pan out and the wheels can come off. They've been overall lucky these last few years.

They could easily go 10-2...I would have loved ND beating them the last game of the season to crush their playoff hopes and finish out of the field at 9-3 instead.
 

Dale

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I think that their schedule is easier than it's made out to be

Oregon and Ohio State will be tough, but both at home.

Washington has a good team and QB, but Fisch hasn't gotten them consistent enough to win big games yet, also at home.

Penn State is in State College but their team got decimated when Franklin left and due to graduation. Matt Campbell is a good coach but he's not a dynamic offense guy where they've struggled the last few years. I would expect defense to be good though.

Indiana caught lightning in a bottle but all it takes is for a few players to not pan out and the wheels can come off. They've been overall lucky these last few years.

They could easily go 10-2...I would have loved ND beating them the last game of the season to crush their playoff hopes and finish out of the field at 9-3 instead.

USCs best B1G road wins are 2024 UCLA, 2025 Purdue or 2025 Nebraska - Raiola broke his leg in the game.

Even if PSU and IU are what you described, USC has lost every single one of those games under Riley. Games like Minnesota and Illinois.

They haven’t beaten Oregon since 2019. They haven’t beaten Washington since 2016. They obviously haven’t been OSU in an extended period.

Long and short, I’m not sure any of the above indicates the games being winnable for USC.
 
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BleedBlueGold

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USCs best B1G road wins are 2024 UCLA, 2025 Purdue or 2025 Nebraska - Raiola broke his leg in the game.

Even if PSU and IU are what you described, USC has lost every single one of those games under Riley. Games like Minnesota and Illinois.

They haven’t beaten Oregon since 2019. They haven’t beaten Washington since 2016. They obviously haven’t been OSU in an extended period.

Long and short, I’m not sure any of the above indicates the games being winnable for USC.

Agreed.

I'm also not willing to concede that IU just hit lightning in a bottle though as the poster suggests. One year? Yes. Back to back? No. That program is in infinitely better shape than USC's imo because of coaching (both schools are big NIL spenders). It's also a mid-Nov game at Indiana.

Wisconsin on the road in late October when this feels like a must-win season for Fickell won't be easy either. USC needed 28 unanswered points to beat Wiscy two years ago at home.

USC's ceiling, imo, is 9-3.
 
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spoonidentity

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USCs best B1G road wins are 2024 UCLA, 2025 Purdue or 2025 Nebraska - Raiola broke his leg in the game.

Even if PSU and IU are what you described, USC has lost every single one of those games under Riley. Games like Minnesota and Illinois.

They haven’t beaten Oregon since 2019. They haven’t beaten Washington since 2016. They obviously haven’t been OSU in an extended period.

Long and short, I’m not sure any of the above indicates the games being winnable for USC.

Really good points. And just to be clear, I would love them to finish 5-7 with an embarrassing loss in the last game because the players have quit and would rather not qualify for a bowl game.
 

stlnd01

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I think that their schedule is easier than it's made out to be

Oregon and Ohio State will be tough, but both at home.

Washington has a good team and QB, but Fisch hasn't gotten them consistent enough to win big games yet, also at home.

Penn State is in State College but their team got decimated when Franklin left and due to graduation. Matt Campbell is a good coach but he's not a dynamic offense guy where they've struggled the last few years. I would expect defense to be good though.

Indiana caught lightning in a bottle but all it takes is for a few players to not pan out and the wheels can come off. They've been overall lucky these last few years.

They could easily go 10-2...I would have loved ND beating them the last game of the season to crush their playoff hopes and finish out of the field at 9-3 instead.
Oh, USC certainly COULD win all of those games. But you could also see them losing each of them. Oregon and Ohio State are simply better teams. They have been very poor in trips to Midwest under Riley, losing to much lesser teams than Indiana and Penn State. Washington is always dangerous and that game comes a week after Oregon. Could be a trap.

I don't think they'll lose all six, but even if they go 3-3 from that bunch, they don't make the playoffs. It is a very challenging conference schedule. I'm sure much harder than a lot of the others.
 

bpob55

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12 of 13 surveyed GMs said USC was the highest spending program for the upcoming 2026 season.
 

Irish#1

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When you buy kids for money, you can't be shocked when then act like it.
That's what is so special about MF. He knows you have to play the spending game, but he also realizes you can't have a team culture if you're not recruiting the right guys.
 

Huntr

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They did. Lol



It would be absolutely hilarious if they lost this


FmnE1a2WAAAGzOw.jpg
 

zelezo vlk

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So how are they playing Week 0? I thought they'd need a waiver

Edit: ah it's because SJSU is playing Hawaii so they get a waiver for Week 0. Side note: SJSU plays 13 games this season
 
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