USC-ND could be playoff casualty
The rivalry between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish is on life support.
The contract establishing an annual game between the two teams ends after the 2025 season, with the potential final game of the historic series set to be played in South Bend this October. Fans of both teams want the rivalry to continue, fans of the sport want the rivalry to continue, television broadcast partners want the rivalry to continue. The only sides that might disagree?
The two schools involved. USC has reportedly made it clear they want the game to continue, but at the start of the season instead of the end. Notre Dame has reportedly made it clear they want the game to continue, but played in October in Indiana and November in LA.
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The disagreements over timing, though, are a symptom of a broader issue with college football: the sport is broken, perhaps permanently so.
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – OCTOBER 14: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans looks on against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 14, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
USC-Notre Dame Rivalry Is Worth Saving
The USC-Notre Dame rivalry, in theory, makes little sense. Two teams separated by thousands of miles, with little-to-nothing in common. But as is so often the case with college football, history and tradition have made it into something special.
But the era of quaint, historic, traditions is rapidly coming to an end, as the sport increasingly reorganizes itself around money. It’s understandable why; money makes the world go round, after all, and it’s rational for schools, conferences and broadcasters to maximize potential revenue.
In USC’s case, that almost certainly means changing the terms of the rivalry. At best. Because USC, again, rationally, chased the increased payout from the Big Ten, they’re now forced into traveling thousands of extra miles per year. Road games in Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois are now common. For a school that’s based in Los Angeles.
Why should they make their travel schedule that much harder by adding an extra trip to Indiana every other year?
Is the benefit of a potential win over Notre Dame worth it in the era of the expanded playoff versus the risk of further jeopardizing their season?
For Notre Dame, why should they change the schedule when they don’t deal with the same kind of travel hassles USC created for themselves? When they give themselves the opportunity to add an impactful win either in the middle of the season or at the end? When the trip to LA late in the season offers another recruiting trip right before signing day?
Again, these decisions are rational and justifiable. They make sense. They’re also extremely disappointing and frustrating. In short, they’re the epitome of the modern college football landscape. What made the sport special, emotional, exciting and unique is slowly being taken away in favor of incorporating the bland corporatism of the NFL.
Hopefully the game is saved and extended indefinitely, because it needs to be to save some semblance of tradition. Not just for fans of the two teams, but fans of college football in general.
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