College Football Playoff Rankings 2019: Projected final Top 25

USC will cling to a spot in the 20s of the final College Football Playoff rankings this season after posting eight wins and finishing just behind Utah in the Pac-12 South. Though they cannot boast a victory over the Pac-12 champion after Utah fell to Oregon in the title game, the Trojans head into the postseason with the chance to close out the campaign somewhere in the teens of the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll heading into the offseason.

Kedon Slovis has been a revelation for the Trojans this year. After JT Daniels went down with an injury to his ACL and meniscus, Slovis took over the quarterback duties and promptly completed more than 71 percent of his passes to finish with 3200 passing yards and 28 touchdowns through the air. Giveaways hurt the Trojans, though, as Slovis threw nine interceptions and USC finished the regular season ranked 114th nationally in turnover margin.

A contentious decision to retain Clay Helton has the Trojans fan base conflicted, but they will have the chance to celebrate a strong finish to the season. USC is likely headed either to the Holiday Bowl or the Redbox Bowl to play a Big Ten opponent. It isn’t the Rose Bowl, but at least it will be a traditional conference rivalry matchup close to home.