USC Trojans vs TCU Horned Frogs Prediction, Odds and Alamo Bowl Picks for Today, 12/30/25

Bowl season keeps rolling along on Tuesday, and arguably the most fascinating game on the card comes in the form of the Alamo Bowl between the USC Trojans and TCU Horned Frogs. Both of these teams are going to be missing a ton of players heading into this game, which makes this a pretty difficult handicap on paper. On the TCU side of things, quarterback Josh Hoover is out, along with wide receiver Jordan Dwyer and running back Kevorian Barnes. That eliminates a lot of the potential for offense for the Horned Frogs, even against a USC defense that is going to be down a considerable number of pieces of its own. Furthermore, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is not going to be on the sidelines for this game, so it’s hard to see TCU mustering up a ton of offense in this one.

On the other side of the ball, USC is going to have quarterback Jayden Maiava in this game, as the veteran has re-signed with the Trojans for another season. However, Lincoln Riley’s team is dealing with a ton of roster turnover and will be without some of their best players on Tuesday, including the wide receiver duo of Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. With that in mind, we can expect Riley to lean on his ground game against a TCU defense that hasn’t exactly put up stellar metrics in that department this season. Given the fact that USC’s offense should be a bit more limited than usual and the TCU offense is down multiple key pieces in this game, the under is the only way I can look on Tuesday.

USC vs TCU prediction: Under 55.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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