USC Wins Pac-12, Makes Long-Shot Case for CFP
Published on 2-Dec-2017 by Alan Adamsson
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Stanford coach David Shaw has taken his share of flak over the years for his red zone calls.
But there was only one call dude was gonna make on 4th-&-Goal from the USC 1, because that play is who the Cardinal are.
And yet again, Stanford fell short.
Clearly, USC was ready for who the Cardinal are:
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The Trojans followed with a 99-yard TD drive in only eight plays that allowed them to withstand a final Cardinal TD in the closing minutes and secure a hard-fought, 31-28 victory.
In the process, USC became the first Pac-12 South champion in the title game's six years to hoist the hardware.
Hard to believe, but that's Troy's first conference championship since 2008.
USC can now make all the logical arguments they want about making the CFP bracket, but to the Selection Committee a conference title isn't the seal of approval it should be.
There's already a pair of potential two loss conference champions that the Committee rank higher than the Trojans -- Auburn and Ohio State -- so a trip to the Fiesta Bowl looks to be in their immediate future.
That confirmation will occur tomorrow, soon after the brackets are filled and the Trojans are left to figure what to do with their blackball.