Arlington, Texas — After missing its chance to get into the College Football Playoff, Southern California is going to the Cotton Bowl and will play American Athletic Conference champion Tulane on Jan. 2.
Two days after the Trojans lost in the Pac-12 championship game, when a win likely would have put them in the four-team CFP playoff, they got matched up Sunday against the highest-ranked Group of Five team. The Green Wave were 16th in the final CFP rankings, six spots behind USC.
It is a matchup of 11-2 teams that have both have made record improvements this season.