The USC Trojans 2024 football season ended on a high note with a 35-31 win over the Texas A&M Aggies in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Trojans finished with a 7-6 record, the worst in the Lincoln Riley era and missed the College Football Playoff.

Former USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart has been critical of Riley and open about the issues surrounding USC but recently took to social media to support the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. The seeding format has been critiqued after the No. 1 Oregon Ducks had to face arguably the toughest team in their first game, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

“I’m really tired of just the negative narrative around the College Football Playoff,” Leinart said on the Throwbacks Show. “There’s not a fair system. There’s just not. It’s impossible in college. NFL has their seedings and system and all that, and it works. College is different because there’s a million teams, and it’s a 12-team playoff, which I think at some point is going to get to 16.”

The current playoff favors non-Power Four programs, giving smaller schools at chance at a national championship.

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“I do think there needs to be some tweaks with the reseeding and all of that kind of stuff so that we don’t get some of the potential blowouts that we got in the first round but again that’s sports there’s blowouts in the NFL playoffs,” Leinart continued.

Another issue is the automatic bye week for the four highest-ranked conference champions. Each team who received a bye lost during the Quarterfinals of the CFP.

The 12-team playoff is under contract for 2024 and 2025 for now, allowing for changes to be made for the 2026 season. ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported that changes to CFP seeding and bye weeks ‘ are ‘unlikely’ for next year, despite the complaints, because the changes would have to be voted on unanimously.

“I think there’s nothing better than than college sports and college football, I wish we could all just sit and enjoy these games without the narrative of – this team should get in and this and my coaches are going to talk like things and things happen,” Leinart said. “But I see it so much online. I’m just like I actually tweeted it out this week. I was just like, can we just can we just enjoy these kids playing? I don’t care if they make money. Like, can we enjoy these games and these kids playing and the passion they have and the fans and the passion they have?”

It’s a moot point for USC, who must regain relevancy in the Big Ten conference to contend in the College Football Playoff in 2025.

The CFP Semifinals kick off on Jan. 9 as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn State Nittany Lions face off in the Orange Bowl at 4:30 p.m. PT (ESPN). Then, the Texas Longhorns will face Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. PT (ESPN) on Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl.

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