Two of college football's great programs are set to square off for the first time in 47 years, and just the fourth time ever, when Texas A&M and USC meet in the Las Vegas Bowl on Friday night. The Aggies and Trojans have combined for 14 claimed national championships (USC with 11, Texas A&M with 3) and rank among the winningest programs in college football history each with more than 750 wins all time.
But while the Las Vegas Bowl matchup brings to light all of the success over the decades for each program, these two coaches are also looking for a stronger finish to the season after both falling short to rivals in their regular-season finales. Texas A&M was in the driver's seat for a spot in the SEC Championship Game but lost its final three conference games of the season, including a 17-7 home defeat to Texas on Nov. 30. USC did a better job of righting the ship in November with a couple of conference wins to reach bowl eligibility, but the Trojans also took a home loss last time out with their 49-35 defeat against Notre Dame.
As is usual for teams of this caliber at this time of year, both Texas A&M and USC will be fielding teams impacted by opt-outs due to the 2025 NFL Draft and the transfer portal. That leaves some familiar names off of the depth chart heading into Friday night, but also provides plenty of opportunity for the backups that are set to get more work as a result.
Texas A&M vs. USC: Need to know
Trojans return to where the season started: USC started the year with a 27-20 win against LSU on Sunday night of Labor Day Weekend, and now it returns to the same site of that victory for a bowl game, facing another opponent formerly from the SEC West. This is also USC's third appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl, where it has a 1-1 record that includes a loss to Utah in 2001 and a win against Fresno State in 2013, highlighted by an MVP performance by quarterback Cody Kessler, who out-dueled then-Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr with four touchdown passes.
Marcel Reed looking to continue his development in the Aggies offense: Texas A&M freshman quarterback Marcel Reed regained his status as the team's starter in the back half of the season after splitting duties with Conner Weigman throughout the season due to injury issues and performance-related decisions. With Weigman off to the transfer portal, Reed has spent the bowl practices preparing to continue his development within Collin Klein's offense with an eye on building towards even more success in 2025. This year, the dual-threat star ranked third among SEC quarterbacks averaging 49.7 rushing yards per game while adding six scores on the ground to give him 18 total touchdowns on the year.
USC building on its success in the pass game: USC finished the regular season ranked first in the Big Ten and 11th nationally averaging 291.7 passing yards per game. And while the offense underwent a change at quarterback late in the year, the performance from Jayden Maiava in the final three games sets the stage for what could be an important bowl game for this offense looking ahead to 2024. Maiava went 2-1 as a starter, guiding the offense to wins against UCLA and Nebraska while taking the loss in the finale against Notre Dame. He totaled 10 touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) to just three interceptions and delivered five of those scores against the Fighting Irish in one of the Trojans' better performances of the season.
How to watch Las Vegas Bowl live
Date: Friday, Dec. 27 | Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium -- Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: ESPN | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Las Vegas Bowl prediction, picks
There is something to be noted from USC's bowl performance last year, when a team that was supposedly gashed by opt-outs showed up ready to play and brought the fight to Louisville in the Holiday Bowl. I'm not expecting Maiava to throw for six touchdowns like Miller Moss did, but I think it speaks to the preparation level and what USC wants to accomplish at the end of a season where most Trojans fans feel results could have been a bit better in year of Big Ten play. Pick: USC +3.5
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