Fans mercilessly roast Lincoln Riley and USC for blowing 15-point lead against Tulane in Cotton Bowl

USC and Tulane are two very different programs that faced off in one of the most important bowl games of the 2022-23 season. While USC has a lot of tradition -- and money -- Tulane is a much smaller university that played its first 'Major' bowl game in over 83 years.

It did not matter. During the Cotton Bowl on Monday, Tulane shocked the college football world with a 46-45 upset after coming back from a 15-point deficit against the favorites.

In college football, the start of the new year means that fans get to see the best games of the Bowl Season in an array of options. The so-called 'New Year's Six' includes two games from the College Football Playoff and four other major games every year. Tulane was the lone representative outside the Power 5, while USC was very close to the Playoffs but lost the Pac-12 Championship Game to Utah.

With such a huge disparity in talent, money, and tradition between the two teams, everyone expected the USC Trojans to cruise over the Tulane Green Wave. They did it for most of the time though, but their defense crumbled with less than five minutes to go, conceding 16 unanswered points and the greatest win in Tulane's history.

College football fans had a laugh over Lincoln Riley, USC's head coach, and his team's failure to close out a game where they had a 99,8% win probability late in the fourth quarter.

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Why did USC miss the College Football Playoff?

The Trojans were one game away from locking up their spot as one of the four teams in the nation. However, they lost to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship 47-24 and fell all the way to #10 in the final rankings.

Conference championships play a major part in qualifying for the playoffs. Georgia, TCU, and Michigan have all won their conferences this season. The exception was Ohio State, who finished the regular season 11-1 after a loss to Michigan. Nonetheless, they were so dominant throughout the year that they still merited a selection.

Ever since the playoffs were introduced, the Trojans have never qualified for the four-team postseason. This comes despite them being one of the richest, storied universities in all of college football. The 2022 season represented their best chance so far, but their defense allowed 47 points against Utah and could not get the job done.

Allowing 46 points to a Group of Five team in the final game of the season will certainly see some defensive coaches lose their jobs.