Playoffs or bust? Our 2026 USC football schedule overview

In this edition of the Peristyle Podcast hosts Ryan Abraham and RJ Abeytia are back in studio taking a look at the challenging 2026 USC football schedule to see what it will take for this Trojan squad to make the College Football Playoffs for the very first time. Head coach Lincoln Riley is confident he has the right team in place to make a championship run, and we take a high-level look at the schedule with notes on each of USC's opponents.

With the Fighting Irish absent, the path to the playoffs should be easier, but USC is still facing off against three of the projected top-5 teams in the country and will need to win at least one of those games to make the postseason tournament. Defending national champion Indiana will be a tough road test and uber-talented Oregon and Ohio State both visit the Coliseum. If the Trojans can come out on top of at least one of the big three and then take care of business in the rest of the games, a berth in the playoffs would be almost guaranteed.

The guys also talk about information on USC football tickets for the 2026 season, the news coming out of SEC spring meetings including the standoff with the Big Ten on expanding the college football playoffs plus listener questions.

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