USC rises to No. 16 in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff selection committee released its penultimate rankings of the season. After coming in at No. 17 last week, the Trojans moved up one spot, and are now ranked No. 16.

USC jumped ahead of Michigan, who lost to rival Ohio State on Saturday. The Wolverines were ranked No. 15 last week, but dropped to No. 19 after the defeat. Both USC and Michigan finished the season 9-3, but the Trojans defeated the Wolverines head-to-head at the Coliseum in October.

Unfortunately for USC fans, right now, the Trojans being ranked in the top 20 actually helps two of their biggest rivals. Two of USC's three losses were on the road to teams currently ranked in the top 10: No. 5 Oregon and No. 10 Notre Dame. For both the Ducks and the Irish, the Trojans are the only win over a current top 20 team on their resume, meaning that both teams' playoff positioning is significantly helped by the fact that they played and beat USC.

The Trojans, Wolverines, and Ducks are three of the six Big Ten teams featured in the rankings. Also included are No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, and No. 23 Iowa. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will square off for the conference title on Saturday night in Indianapolis.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football ranked No. 16 in penultimate playoff rankings