In the aftermath of news that USC football wants out of its Week 1 matchup with LSU this fall, Colin Cowherd is calling for an even bigger scheduling change for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.
Discussing USC’s hellish schedule Wednesday on The Herd, Cowherd explained why the NCAA and college football conferences have slowly chipped away at history and individual programs should be encouraged to do the same.
With their move to the Big Ten this fall, the Trojans will face last year’s national champion Michigan Wolverines, in addition to recent College Football Playoff programs in Washington and Ohio State. That’s not to mention their neighbors at UCLA or longtime Pac-12 foes at Oregon.
So it’s no surprise to Cowherd that USC tried to run away from LSU, and he thinks they should do the same with their tradition of playing Notre Dame each season. Instead, Cowherd argued, USC should cakewalk through their non-conference slate and hunker down for the murderer’s row of the new Big Ten.
“Why do they have to keep playing Notre Dame?” Cowherd asked. “College football punted on history last year. They disbanded the only Power 5 conference west of the Rockies. Punted it into the ether. Every man for himself. So spare me on the history.”
“I’m going to ask a question. Why does USC have to keep playing Notre Dame? College football punted on history last year.” — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/PojBgM9ZOY
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 29, 2024
Cowherd even called ending the Notre Dame tradition “respectful.”
“When you start that salty discharge comes from your eyes, down your cheeks talking about USC-Notre Dame, this is a sport … that punted on an entire region of the country,” Cowherd said. “Longtime regional rivals into the ether, why is USC playing Notre Dame? All good things come to an end.”
Beyond the relentless level of competition, USC also must worry about travel and fatigue. Traveling from south Los Angeles as far as Maryland and Rutgers is brutal on college students.
Besides, as Cowherd argues, Pac-12 leadership along with College Football Playoff and NCAA executives killed off tradition in the sport long before Riley and his staff ever tried to move off their LSU game and ease up their non-conference schedule.
The storied Notre Dame game may simply be the next domino to fall.
