Much was made about USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley’s statements at last week’s BIG Ten Media Day regarding scheduling for wins, and not for fans. The insinuation was putting into question whether the incentives were aligned for USC to play Notre Dame every year as a de-facto non-conference game.
I’ll take Riley’s subtext one step further – the Notre Dame annual game with USC makes no sense anymore because the rivalry is dead.
The USC Trojans Main Rival Is Not UCLA Bruins Or Notre Dame – It’s Oregon
I hate to break it to the historical purists (and I’m one of them), but outside of a microwaved period from 2002-2006, the game for the Jeweled Shillelagh has lacked national significance for 35 years. Case in point, USC hasn’t played Notre Dame with both teams in the top 10 since 2006, and from that time, only four of the past 15 matchups have occurred with both teams even ranked in the top 25. There hasn’t been a memorable moment, breathtaking finish, or tectonic momentum to the rivalry since the “Bush Push” almost 20 years ago.
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While some argue the same national awareness argument can be said about USC’s rivalry with crosstown sibling UCLA – proximity breeds a rivalry.
Without the element of repeatedly interacting with the opposing team’s fans, alumni, and boosters, one needs transcendent personalities, conflicts, and drama to keep feeding a rivalry. USC and Notre Dame haven’t had any of that since Charlie Weiss’ pregame speech on South Bend’s uncut grass in 2005.
We believe USC-Notre Dame is a rivalry because we’ve been told it’s supposed to be a rivalry. The irony is that as the game is getting more national with recruiting, exposure, and strategy – the rivalries will need to get more local because super conferences across multiple regions, geographic cultures, and time zones will drive it that way.
Trojans don’t run into too many Notre Dame alumni in Southern California, the schools don’t often play in the same recruiting pool, and the teams aren’t vying for the same championships on the road to the CFP.
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Conversely, the school USC has been incessantly competing with in recruiting, resources, and stature over the past 15 years has been those Nike Ducks from the Pacific Northwest.
Oregon might be several states away but their recruiting presence in Southern California makes you FEEL them as if they were a neighbor school. Oregon and USC are vying for something even greater than national championships – the emphatic title of being modern college football’s competitive geographic balance as its unquestionable West Coast superpower.
Be honest Trojan Family, what riles you up more? A possible playoff game against the Ducks or the Fighting Irish? The defense rests your honor.