USC Trojans to face Texas A&M in Las Vegas Bowl
The USC Trojans received their bowl game bid on Sunday, with organizers announcing that they'll face off against Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl in late-December.
The game, slated for Dec. 27 at Allegiant Stadium, current home of the Las Vegas Raiders, will take place at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Trojans, who are 6-6 on the season, will look to avoid their first losing campaign under head coach Lincoln Riley, which would also be the first losing season of his eight-year career. It's the third time they'll play in the bowl, with the last appearance coming in 2013 when they defeated Fresno State, 45-20.
It will be the first time that the Aggies, who are 8-4, will play in Las Vegas. Despite a stellar start to the year, Texas A&M struggled at the end of the year and are coming off back-to-back losses.
USC and Texas A&M have faced off three times in the past, all of which the Trojans have won.
The Trojans season ironically began at Allegiant Stadium back in September, when they defeated the LSU Tigers 27-20. The rest of their season has been lackluster, however, finishing in the bottom half of the standings in their first year in the Big Ten.
With the recent conference realignment, the Las Vegas Bowl now has third choice of the available former and current Pac-12 teams, following the Alamo Bowl and Holiday Bowl. It is also among the SEC's "Pool of Six" bowls for the 2024 season, along with the Gator Bowl, Music City Bowl, Texas Bowl, Liberty Bowl and RellaQuest Bowl. The Citrus Bowl has the first selection of SEC teams follwoing the College Football Playoff selection.
