USC football has plenty of obvious reasons to make the 2026 College Football Playoff—ending a painful playoff drought, justifying Lincoln Riley's hefty contract, stepping out of Oregon's shadow under Dan Lanning, reclaiming their status as the West Coast's top program, and giving fans something to celebrate. But there's another, less discussed motivation that could define the program's legacy for years to come.

As College Sports Wire highlights, the conversation around postseason expansion is heating up. Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer recently weighed in, pushing back against the idea of a bloated playoff field. "If you go to 24, you might as well let everybody in because you're almost taking the whole top 25," Fulmer told the Knoxville News Sentinel. He's advocating for sticking with 16 teams, but the possibility of a 24-team field looms large.

Here's where it gets interesting for USC. If the Trojans don't crack the 12-team field in 2026, and the playoff expands to 24 teams the following year, they might sneak in—but at a steep cost. Critics would dismiss it as a participation trophy, arguing that USC only made it because the bar was lowered. That's not the kind of history a proud program wants to write.

This isn't just about making the playoff; it's about doing it on their own terms, in a field that demands excellence. USC needs to seize this moment now, prove they belong among the elite, and avoid the asterisk that would come with a later, expanded invitation. For a program with championship DNA, the time to act like a big-boy program is right now.