If there was a Sweet 16 in college football, USC wouldn't be in it
· Yahoo Sports
On a historical level, of course USC football is a top-16 program. More than that, USC is easily a top-10 program and very possibly top-five, probably top-eight. However, the overall historical record is different from the present moment. Lincoln Riley has not created an elite program. With the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament being the main college sports story this week, we have to admit: If there was a Sweet 16 in college football, USC would not be part of it.
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Indiana
On a historical level, Indiana is one of the worst programs ever, but right now, Indiana is very clearly the best program going in college football under Curt Cignetti.
Oregon
USC is far better than Oregon historically but can't be viewed as superior to Oregon in the past five or 10 or 16 years. This is not a controversial take. Over the past 25 years, you could say that USC is better than Oregon because of the national championships, but certainly not since 2010.
Washington
USC is -- again -- clearly way better than Washington on an all-time basis, but Washington has appeared in a playoff and in a national title game in separate seasons over the past 10 years. USC hasn't even made the playoff.
Utah
The Utes have very little going for them in terms of all-time college football achievements, but they have been markedly better than USC over the past decade and a half, similar to Oregon.
Ohio State
This one requires zero explanation.
Michigan
No debate about this one, either.
Penn State
This is not a close call as well.
BYU
Kalani Sitake has clearly elevated BYU above USC.
Non-Big Ten, non-Western programs better than USC right now
Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma, Miami, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Texas Tech are all better than the Trojans and Lincoln Riley at the moment. We have listed 17 schools empirically better than USC in the present tense -- not on an all-time scale, but certainly within the context of the past two, five, 10, or 16 seasons. Given that USC has failed to make the College Football Playoff even once in the past 12 seasons, it's not controversial to say USC isn't a top-16 football program in the playoff era.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football, Lincoln Riley are not a top-16 program right now