Lincoln Riley Returns To Alamo Bowl Against Familiar Faces with USC

The No. 16 USC Trojans are officially set to face the TCU Horned Frogs in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30 to close out the 2025 season. While it's the Trojans first time competing in the Alamo Bowl, coach Lincoln Riley will compete in his second, and faces a familiar coach.

Nov 29, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley leads the Spirit of Troy marching band in a rendition of Tribute to Troy after teh game against the UCLA Bruins at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The No. 16 USC Trojans are officially in bowl season, and are headed to the Alamo Bowl to face Big 12 opponent the TCU Horned Frogs. USC capped off the regular season 9-3 and will compete in their first ever Alamo Bowl.

While it's the first time the Trojans have competed in an Alamo Bowl, this is the second time that coach Lincoln Riley will appear calling plays in the San Antonion-based bowl.

Coach Lincoln Riley Reunites With Familiar Faces And Setting

Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Riley has a long and impressive coaching resume when it comes to where he is now, with all of it starting with the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

After former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach was indefinitely suspended in 2009, Riley served as the interim offensive coordinator with the Red Raiders, and was the offensive play-caller in their 41-31 win over Michigan State in the 2009 Alamo Bowl and produced 579 total offensive yards. Riley also has history with TCU's current coach, Sonny Dykes, during their days in Lubbock, Texas.

Riley was a quarterback at Texas Tech starting in 2002, and was coached under Dykes, who was the receivers coach from 2000-04, and added the title of co-offensive coordinator from 2005-06. After one season as the Red Raiders backup quarterback, Riley transitioned into a student assistant under Leach from 2003-05, and soon became an offensive graduate assistant in 2006.

Dec 31, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; TCU Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes at a press conference after the 2022 Fiesta Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Now, with both serving as head coaches of USC and TCU, Riley and Dykes will meet head-to-head as head coaches for the very first time. When Dykes was asked about the history between himself and Riley, he had all good things to say about the Trojans coach.

"Lincoln was a player when I was coaching at Texas Tech, and then transitioned into coaching for us. He was one of those guys, from early on in his career, you could tell he was going to be very successful," Dykes said at the Valero Alamo Bowl Team Announcement Press Conference.

USC Faces TCU For Sixth Time In Program History

Sep 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) celebrates his touchdown scored against the Michigan State Spartans with wide receiver Makai Lemon (6) and running back Waymond Jordan (2) during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Trojans and the Horned Frogs meet for the sixth time, as USC is 2-3 all time against TCU. Their most recent meeting resulted in a 28-19 loss in the 1998 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. 

However, one of the more recent times the schools met was in the 2022 Heisman Trophy Ceremony, when former USC quarterback Caleb Williams and former TCU quarterback Max Duggan were both named finalists, with Williams' ultimately taking home the hardware.

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USC rounded out the regular season with a 9-3 overall, 7-2 in conference play, and finished the year leading the Big Ten in total passing yards with 3,568, as well as quarterback Jayden Maiava's 3,431 as the Big Ten's top passing leader.

Wide receiver Makai Lemon also leads the Big Ten in receiving yards with 1,156 yards, and is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, awarded to the nation's most outstanding receiver. The Trojans also sit second in total yards per games with 471, just one yard behind the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers.

The Trojans have been impressive all year long, despite three hard losses. USC defeated then. No. 15 Michigan and then No. 21 Iowa, and completed an undefeated 7-0 record at home. USC is most recently coming off a 29-10 win over crosstown rival UCLA.

It's also been a successful week for the USC Trojans, as they just signed the No. 1 2026 recruiting class in the nation, marking the first non-SEC program since Miami in 2008 to secure a top-ranked class.

The Horned Frogs finished their Big 12 campaign 8-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play, with a notable win over No. 23 Houston. With Dykes in his fourth season leading the Horned Frogs, he sits at a 35-17 record and a trip to the 2022 College Football National Title game in his first season.

Sep 20, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Eric McAlister (1) celebrates with quarterback Josh Hoover (10) and running back Trent Battle (6) after McAlister scores a touchdown against the SMU Mustangs during the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

What TCU brings that parallels the Trojans’ Maiava–Lemon duo is a strong quarterback–wide receiver pairing of their own: quarterback Josh Hoover and wide receiver Eric McAlister. Hoover sits second in Big 12 passing leaders, behind Baylor's Sawyer Robertson, with 3,472. Additionally, McAlister leads the Big 12 in receiving yards with 1,121.

USC and TCU will face for their final 2025 game of the season at the Alamo Bowl aired on ESPN, kicking off at 6 p.m. PT on Dec. 30. The Trojans open up as a 5.5 point favorite, per ESPN Analytics, over the Horned Frogs.

• Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. 
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