Last weekend, USC football’s 2025 regular season came to a close with a 29-10 victory over UCLA. With a record of 9-3, the Trojans will not make the College Football Playoff this year. However, they do still have one more game to play, as USC will soon find out its bowl game destination?
So where could the Trojans potentially be headed for the postseason. Let’s take a look at some of the options. (Note, for this year at least, former Pac-12 schools will still take part in the Pac-12’s bowl game pairings, rather than those of their new conferences.)
Alamo Bowl (December 30 in San Antonio, Texas)
Right now, this is looking like the most likely option for USC. Somehow, despite the Alamo Bowl having taken the top non-College Football Playoff/New Year’s Six/BCS bowl from the Pac-12 since 2010, the Trojans have never played in the game. (Although it should be noted that USC likely would have received an Alamo Bowl invitation in 2020 had the Trojans not declined to play in a bowl that season due to COVID.)
If BYU loses the Big 12 Championship Game to Texas Tech on Saturday, the Cougars would be the Trojans’ most likely opponent. If BYU wins and earns a College Football Playoff bid, USC would face another Big 12 team.
Las Vegas Bowl (December 31 in Las Vegas, Nevada)
This would be a much more familiar bowl destination for USC than San Antonio. The Trojans played in the Las Vegas Bowl last season defeating Texas A&M 35-31. With this year’s game being scheduled for the afternoon of December 31, it would give USC fans an excuse to spend New Year’s Eve in Vegas, something that not a whole lot of people would likely complain about.
Holiday Bowl (January 2 in San Diego, California)
This is another bowl that the Trojans are quite familiar with. USC has played in the Holiday Bowl four times since 2014. The Trojans’ most recent trip to San Diego came in 2023, when they defeated Louisville 42-28.
Sun Bowl (December 31 in El Paso, Texas)
Of all of USC’s potentially bowl game destinations, El Paso is likely the most difficult for fans to get to. The Trojans’ last trip to the Sun Bowl came in 2012, when they suffered an ugly 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech.
LA Bowl (December 13 in Inglewood, California)
Finally, if you are hoping for a bowl game that does not involve traveling very far, this should be your preferred option. With rival UCLA potentially moving to SoFi Stadium next season, this might not be the only game that USC plays in Inglewood in the coming years.
