USC season preview: Penn State is most important 2026 road game

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USC football faces a 2026 season with several high-profile games. Oregon is the biggest. Ohio State might be the sexiest on a national level. Indiana is probably the toughest, since it's on the road. The pivot-point game, however, could be Penn State.

This might be self-evident to some, but we will walk through the discussion to flesh it out and make it absolutely clear. Oregon is the "get rid of Dan Lanning's shadow and stand up to the Ducks" proving ground game. No game carries the same kind of local and regional weight the Oregon game owns. After that, however, Penn State could be the swing game which makes the difference between a College Football Playoff berth and failure (in other words, between 10-2 and 9-3).

Here's the explanation: USC should definitely beat Washington and will probably lose to Indiana. USC gets Ohio State and Oregon at home and has a real chance of splitting those two games. Let's say USC does exactly that. The Trojans will be 2-2 in four of the huge games on their 2026 schedule.

That leaves Penn State as the fifth game. Will the Trojans go 3-2 in their five massive Big Ten games, or will they go 2-3? The difference between those records is likely the difference between 10-2 (a playoff record) and 9-3 (a non-playoff record).

Penn State is also the biggest road game for USC this year. Indiana is probably going to be too tough a task for the Trojans, but Penn State is a game USC should win. USC can't expect to go 0-2 in its most important road games (PSU, Indiana) and make the playoff. USC could definitely go 2-1 in its three main home games (Oregon, Ohio State, Washington), but it will be hard-pressed to win all three. The likely path to 10-2 for USC is 2-1 in the three huge home games, 1-1 in the two biggest road games. That means winning at Penn State, if we are being realistic. This is the game which could swing USC's season in one direction or another.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC season preview: Penn State is most important 2026 road game

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