This season really depends on the last three games. They should be favored in the next 4 (not saying guaranteed wins) but the next four are extremely winnable. Then byu tech and Houston to finish the year

Since we're being optimistic, I'd like to remind all of the former Big12 Teams and their championship records since 2012.

Oklahoma 7

Baylor U 3

TCU 1
U of H 1
Texas 1
Tech 1

A&M 0
Arkansas 0
Missouri 0
Nebraska 0

cowach said:

---

Since we're being optimistic, I'd like to remind all of the former Big12 Teams and their championship records since 2012.

Oklahoma 7

Baylor U 3

TCU 1
U of H 1
Texas 1
Tech 1

A&M 0
Arkansas 0
Missouri 0
Nebraska 0

---

Why did Kansas State get left out? They've got one.

No team on our remaining schedule is unbeatable. That said, no team is a shoo-in victory either.

TCU - A capable defense, but dire offensive performances. A QB who has lacked high-major decision making skills.

@ KU - probably the most "gettable" team we have left. There's a talent gap between them and most of the rest of the conference.

@ UCF - good on defense, but a train wreck on offense.

ISU - may be figuring it out, but not a lot of high level talent at the offensive or defensive skill positions. They have a good coaching staff, though.

@ BYU - injury-riddled at the moment, and lacking in explosive athletes. Want to bully you into submission, which is a similar style to how we've started to play.

Tech - amassed the most talent (on paper) in the conference, but the OL is bad. No two ways about it. Hammond isn't great, and the Sorsby situation will cost them at some point this year.

@ UH - Houston is good, and they won't beat themselves. But they're not great. And their home field is hardly an intimidating place to play.

If we put it together on both sides of the ball, like we did on Saturday, I like our chances in every game left. If we don't come to play in any of them, we are going to get beaten. That's life in the Big 12, where no team is a world-beater.

bear2be2 said:

---

TrojanMoondoggie said:

---

Watching male college football fans discuss their teams is like watching the women on The View.
Hysterical one moment. Brazen the next. And then on to being defensive. Back to hysterical. Then back to 'We just might make the CFP.'
And I've been guilty of that. As have a good number of USC fans.
But I think the same goes for all team fans.

At the end of the day though it has so much to do with coaching.

USC has one of the best recruited teams in the country, with a fairly strong NIL. And yet the performance has been lackluster with wins barely being pulled out.

Baylor doesn't have the same level of NIL really and, at one time, was quick to rule themselves out because no way they would ever be able to contend with the big NIL budgets.

Yet, now Baylor fans are suggesting a possible track to the CFB.

Go and figure.

I think the parity in the XII actually gives Baylor, and other teams, an advantage. There's no one team that is dominating every year. So that keeps the pathway open.

Our path is far worse now. Not only do we still have Oregon. We have Washington who can play well with USC, as well as an up and coming ucla team. Add them to a new bank of challenges in the B1G with tOSU, and the potentials of Penn State, Michigan, etc. at any given time and our pathway to the CFB is a lot tougher. Even with a strong NIL and recruited team.

---

I think both USC and Oklahoma will come to really regret leaving their old conferences as many fans at Nebraska already have. Both went from being the big fish in their own ponds to just being another fish in a bigger one, with no natural advantages whatsoever over their new pond mates.

Honestly, outside of Oregon and Texas, I don't think these conference moves to the SEC and Big Ten have been particularly beneficial for any of the schools that have made them. Sure, you get a bigger paycheck, but it comes at the expense of your fans' enjoyment of following your teams as you fall deeper into perennial also-ran status.

---

100%

And Oregon had a great team going into the B1G. USC didn't. We were average at best. So everyone knew Oregon would probably perform fine. Right out of the gates. SC not so much.

We had had some paradigm shifts going on at SC too at the time. Since pretty much the early/mid 90s.
Even SC fans were lamenting on how USC was placing more emphasis on academics and not so much on football. CPC came along though and turned things around, and we were thinking, wow, we've got the team and the academics going on. Right on!

And then the sanctions hit and we were like will success in football ever happen again. Admin seemed to be playing it extra safe because they knew we would get nailed while other schools wouldn't be, so we had to play it cool with soft hires in coaching, etc.

I wasn't happy with the move to the B1G. Sure, it meant more money. But to what cost. Like you said, a lack of fan enjoyment. Not to mention fans who really don't feel like USC is B1G anyway. Nor is ucla. Or Oregon or Washington for that matter. The B1G might have been one of the two "majors," but the PAC was the "Conference of Champions" with academic prowess.

I know USC had talked about leaving the PAC on occasion because of a dislike as to how the conference was being run. SC had even talked about going Independent.

But I don't think the move has really served SC well. And it's not like we thought we were going in there and taking the conference by storm. Even though we do have good records against even the big boys in the conference. USC just isn't good right now so the timing was way off for such a move. If it had to happen.

And Independent might not have had the same success as, say, ND, because ND is "America's team" and has not only the support of a network but also every Catholic and Irishman in the USA who didn't go to USC. It's a smaller school and because it has every Irish Catholic high school junior looking to apply there from the abundance of Catholic schools alone, it makes it very selective. ND is a good school, but it's selectivity is not so much because it's a good school but because it's the target school of every Catholic high schooler out there. And those numbers alone are huge. They want to be part of THE Catholic uni in the USA.

TrojanMoondoggie said:

---

Watching male college football fans discuss their teams is like watching the women on The View.
Hysterical one moment. Brazen the next. And then on to being defensive. Back to hysterical. Then back to 'We just might make the CFP.'
And I've been guilty of that. As have a good number of USC fans.
But I think the same goes for all team fans.

At the end of the day though it has so much to do with coaching.

USC has one of the best recruited teams in the country, with a fairly strong NIL. And yet the performance has been lackluster with wins barely being pulled out.

Baylor doesn't have the same level of NIL really and, at one time, was quick to rule themselves out because no way they would ever be able to contend with the big NIL budgets.

Yet, now Baylor fans are suggesting a possible track to the CFB.

Go and figure.

I think the parity in the XII actually gives Baylor, and other teams, an advantage. There's no one team that is dominating every year. So that keeps the pathway open.

Our path is far worse now. Not only do we still have Oregon. We have Washington who can play well with USC, as well as an up and coming ucla team. Add them to a new bank of challenges in the B1G with tOSU, and the potentials of Penn State, Michigan, etc. at any given time and our pathway to the CFB is a lot tougher. Even with a strong NIL and recruited team.

---

Nice to hear from a Trojan. Fight On! (Except against Baylor, of course!)

I've got to ask how you feel about Lincoln Riley.?

Chuckroast said:

---

I think UCF could be sneaky tough on the road. Also think home against tech and on the road against BYU will be tough. But I think all three of those games are also very winnable.

Utah has looked the best to me using the eye test. I'm also concerned that Oklahoma State could really be rolling (at least their offense) by the end of the year. Thankfully, we don't play either of those teams during the regular season.

---

I will be in the bounce house for the "space game" vs UCF. I've been wanting to go to a game there for a few years. It seems like the campus is like 30 miles from where all the good Orlando resort hotels are.

Because I forgot. I was enjoying the fact that we were 2 ahead of Aggie and Cows combined. Let's go for 3!

Here's my take. We're gonna do very well. I've been saying 9 wins. Moving towards saying I'm low.




(He's more hip hop than in my childhood.)
(Doesn't look like he'd kill a Christian!)

Bearfan1998 said:

---

11-1,10-2. Could win big 12 and make playoffs

---

"Could....."? Will !

Stefano DiMera said:

---

Dear God man..you must go through life like the Sword of Damacles is hanging over your head..

No better than 6-6?

---

Yep a true HATER! Bets with his mouth but not with his wallet!

The absolute optimistic case is losing at BYU and winning the rest.

Tech doesn't have a ton of pop this year. Decent to solid right now - could gel late. But Dave has a history of over performing v Tech.

Houston is well coached but underwhelming talent wise vs everything pitched pre season - decent but several weaknesses. If Bu is solid they'll have 25% + of the crowd so not a true road game either.

I don't expect it to happen but it's definitely possible. I think Az St at home plays relatively tight with the two Texas teams that are part of the "gauntlet." That performance was different

El Oso said:

---

Willing to predict baylor beats TCU when that prediction thread drops.

I like what I see, but I'm still not sold on better than 6-6. That's not a good season. But I'm more willing to suspect Im wrong.

Down year for Big XII could be good for us.

---

Very confusing analysis El soso! Not sure what is going on in your head!

Ewalker80 said:

---

(1) the defense continues to stay relatively healthy and be what it is.
(2) dj stays relatively healthy and plays similar to how he did last night. Maybe even runs a little more.
(3) the offensive line and rbs continue to improve just a bit.

If those things happen I think we are healthy favorites for next four games. If we take care of those we go into last three weeks with tons of momentum and as a serious contender for title game. None of those three are unbeatable where we play them.

If all that happens I think we look back on this season and think it took on a different feel the moment Gavin hurdled that dude last week and if the momentum continues has the chance to be something special.

---

That will take a good bit of good luck on our part and some bad luck on the part of the other teams in the Big 12.

For now, let's be satisfied in the best total performance turned in by the team with Aranda as head coach and see if it can be replicated in two weeks against a bad TCU team.

Realitybites said:

---

Ewalker80 said:

---

(1) the defense continues to stay relatively healthy and be what it is.
(2) dj stays relatively healthy and plays similar to how he did last night. Maybe even runs a little more.
(3) the offensive line and rbs continue to improve just a bit.

If those things happen I think we are healthy favorites for next four games. If we take care of those we go into last three weeks with tons of momentum and as a serious contender for title game. None of those three are unbeatable where we play them.

If all that happens I think we look back on this season and think it took on a different feel the moment Gavin hurdled that dude last week and if the momentum continues has the chance to be something special.

---

That will take a good bit of good luck on our part and some bad luck on the part of the other teams in the Big 12.

For now, let's be satisfied in the best total performance turned in by the team with Aranda as head coach and see if it can be replicated in two weeks against a bad TCU team.

---

There's no question that the optimistic case requires quite a bit of "luck" to pan out. That's why it's optimistic! But the point to me is that it doesn't require something "crazy" like having an entire unit completely turn things around. We basically just need to stay in the top 25% or so of luck and normal contingencies on these factors, and we are looking at a potentially very special season. That's not something that has really been close to being true since 2021.

Also, in this age of parity in the Big XII, almost any team making the Big XII title game received a healthy dose of injury luck, barring 2025 Tech which probably could have sustained quite a bit and still made it. I don't think that will be the norm.

I've followed Baylor football since 1986. This is usually the point in the season where they cue, "Hello darkness my old friend..."

BearlyBeloved said:

---

TrojanMoondoggie said:

---

Watching male college football fans discuss their teams is like watching the women on The View.
Hysterical one moment. Brazen the next. And then on to being defensive. Back to hysterical. Then back to 'We just might make the CFP.'
And I've been guilty of that. As have a good number of USC fans.
But I think the same goes for all team fans.

At the end of the day though it has so much to do with coaching.

USC has one of the best recruited teams in the country, with a fairly strong NIL. And yet the performance has been lackluster with wins barely being pulled out.

Baylor doesn't have the same level of NIL really and, at one time, was quick to rule themselves out because no way they would ever be able to contend with the big NIL budgets.

Yet, now Baylor fans are suggesting a possible track to the CFB.

Go and figure.

I think the parity in the XII actually gives Baylor, and other teams, an advantage. There's no one team that is dominating every year. So that keeps the pathway open.

Our path is far worse now. Not only do we still have Oregon. We have Washington who can play well with USC, as well as an up and coming ucla team. Add them to a new bank of challenges in the B1G with tOSU, and the potentials of Penn State, Michigan, etc. at any given time and our pathway to the CFB is a lot tougher. Even with a strong NIL and recruited team.

---

Nice to hear from a Trojan. Fight On! (Except against Baylor, of course!)

I've got to ask how you feel about Lincoln Riley.?

---

Thanks!

Not really impressed. On a couple of different levels.

I've never felt there was much USC buy in from the guy. Which is something that is very important to the family dynamic that being a Trojan brings with it. The university makes you feel like family the first day you walk on to campus.

It felt more like he came here just for the money and was just going through the motions. And nothing wrong with being linked to one of the major football traditions in the country. Nice to have on his resume regardless of what he does or did for us.

But I don't think he understood the tradition, or the school, completely. Nor really cared to.

He had that QB follow him who did bring another Heisman to SC, but I never felt that CW was all that much SC either. IMO, it seemed his coach came for money. He followed him to get the Heisman. But I never felt either cared much for SC beyond that.

Pete Carroll was different. There was a big question mark following him at first. But he came in, grabbed hold of the university, and the city. He had passion, and it oozed Cardinal and Gold. It was pre-NIL so the players who came there wanted to be there. And it was one big love fest that produced results. They loved playing for him. They loved the interaction with the fans. They loved the school.

As some have noted, the only time you see CLR is on the sidelines. He doesn't connect with the community, or the city. Again, is it just the paycheck? Well, USC fans expect more than that. I'm sure when he interviewed he feigned some excitement about bringing USC back. And I'm sure in the back of his mind he was thinking that it would be a no-brainer considering how "weak" the PAC was. Boy was he surprised.

The other thing is his flat out performance. I think he thought he was going to come into the "weak" PAC and dominate. He did okay the first year, but after the conference figured him out, totally lackluster. And that has continued into the B1G. I really don't see much growth. We're 5-1, but have only played Oregon so far. If he gets past PSU, tOSU and ucla, then we'll come back and talk. But that is a tall order. Quite honestly, the way they played against Rutgers and Washington, I doubt SC beats ucla this year. ucla has a new coach, with nothing to lose and no expectations. They're in a prime position to do well this year because of it. I wouldn't even be surprised to see them upset Oregon.

SC will be at a disadvantage with the coach we've got. He doesn't get SC. He doesn't get LA. And he doesn't really get our rivalries. Nor do I think he really cares. That is my opinion.