The USC Trojans moved to No. 16 overall without playing a game on Oct. 17. But as USC rested, college football created new chaos outside of the five top 10 upsets during that weekend.
This one involved the College Football Playoffs nearing completion of a 24-team format, which only sparked thoughts on how this would impact USC plus the Big Ten Conference. There were even theories on which USC team, including the ones led by coach Lincoln Riley, would've made the 24-team field had it existed before.
Now, Riley got a chance to address that topic among other important elements like the upcoming Wisconsin showdown during his Oct. 19 appearance on Trojans Live.
Lincoln Riley Drops Honest Take on 24-Team Playoff Possibility
"I do think it's going to be a really good thing for the sport."
"I've yet to see a sport where you create more competition, give more teams access to the playoffs, you have more meaningful games and then somehow that doesn't turn out to be better for the sport."
"Like, the sport's still great. I do think this playoffs is a little bit in response to how just the way conference structures have gone. I think how the conference structures are so uneven, like the Big Ten and the SEC, we're just not going to continue to let that happen."
"So to me, the playoffs expanding is a response to that. I think had the conferences remained the same, I don't think there would have been much of a push to expand, in my opinion. But you got to give the best teams access to it and then you still want to have the best teams competiting for championships. That's the hallmark for any sport."
How USC Approached the Bye Week
"We had some good practices throughout the week. Got a chance to get a bunch of guys on the road recruiting here through the weekend and see several of our commits, which was really valuable."
"Obviously there's a lot going on in college football. Some pretty entertaining games to watch."
"It was nice to spend time with family, enjoy some college football and then back at it on Sunday."
"Our Sunday night practice was phenomenal. Probably the best one we've had all year. You can tell the guys recharged. Bodies were feeling very good."
Lincoln Riley Addresses Parity in College Football Especially in Big Ten
"It's an interesting question, and I don't know that I have an answer for it. Or if anyone else has it at this point. The things that we do know is that there's more parity that that's even been in my lifetime."
"And I think the combination of NIL and the way the portal is working has certainly contributed to that."
"There are more teams that have a chance to win. And there's more teams that can beat other teams. You're seeing teams that, historically, haven't been much of a factor in these championship races in college football that all of a sudden have access to that. It's making for great entertainment. Nobody is going to waltz their way into it."
Diving Into Wisconsin and What USC has Seen
"It's going to be a fun game. Obviously, their home crowd and atmosphere is well documented."
"This will be another one that I haven't had a chance to go in yet either. So we've got some great ones back-to-back."
"Coach [Luke] Fickell has done a really nice job. They've had a really good season and they responded in a lot of ways by making good portal additions. They were very aggressive in the transfer portal and it looks like it's benefitted."
"Offensively, a lot of what they do runs through the quarterback [Colton Joseph]. He can really beat you with his legs and he's definitely one of the best runners we've played against. He's a very capable thrower and they've added some nice weapons for him."
"Defensively, they're a good tough unit as they usually are. I think they'll have one of the best linebacker cores we've seen all year and they got guys who can really rush the passer. It's a good football team and in a challenging environment."
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