Projected 2020 College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings for Week 14

USC was forced to shut down all team activities as COVID-19 cases increased on the Trojans roster. That included the showdown against Colorado for the Pac-12 South lead, which had to be canceled in Week 13 and will not be rescheduled. That leaves USC with just five games in the regular season. How will the College Football Playoff selection committee deal with USC after devaluing Pac-12 teams more broadly in their first set of Top 25 rankings?

The Trojans entered the committee’s rankings at No. 18 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, right around where the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll both had Clay Helton’s crew. Kedon Slovis is among the 10 most prolific quarterbacks in the country, throwing for more than 320 yards per game. USC has also been solid at protecting the football and taking it away, sitting among the top dozen teams in the country in terms of average turnover margin.

With Colorado now off the schedule, USC has just two games left to play in the regular season. They aren’t in danger yet of missing out on the Pac-12 championship game due to falling below a minimum number of games, but the Trojans also cannot afford to lose another game on their schedule. Washington State is scheduled to come to the Coliseum on the first weekend of December, with a trip to Pasadena to face UCLA wrapping up the regular season.