Paul Finebaum thinks USC regrets leaving the Pac-12

USC’s 42-27 loss to Oregon on Saturday night sparked a broader conversation about whether the Trojans belong in the Big Ten at all, and whether the entire move was a mistake from the start.

On Sunday’s edition of The Matt Barrie Show, Barrie and Paul Finebaum didn’t bother dancing around it. They went straight at the idea that USC — once a coast-defining program — might not fit in the league it chased.

“I do. Because who are they anymore?” Finebaum said when asked if he believes USC’s administration regrets breaking up the Pac-12. “I watched that game yesterday because I do respect their tradition, and, by the way, it was the only really compelling matchup in that window. But around the country, you walk into a bar in Pittsburgh or Chicago, ‘Oh, Southern Cal.’ You go back 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, Southern Cal was on the top shelf with Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. They’re not anymore.”

Barrie pushed it even further, questioning whether the Big Ten even wants USC and the rest of the Pac-12 refugees around.

“I don’t think the Big Ten accepts them,” Barrie said. “I don’t think anyone in the Big Ten — Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, any of these legitimate Big Ten Blue Bloods — they don’t accept USC. They don’t accept anyone that used to be in the Pac-12. They tolerate Oregon because Oregon’s kind of a thorn in their side, but none of these Big Ten people look at them as Big Ten schools.”

“You think anyone in the Big Ten gives a damn about UCLA and Washington?” he asked.

They don’t. And they don’t seem to care much about USC, either.

The Trojans left the Pac-12 chasing money and relevance. They undeniably got the former. The latter? Not so much. They’re not competing for championships. They’re not drawing the kind of national attention they used to. And if you agree with Barrie’s sentiment about the Big Ten’s indifference toward them, they’re not even getting the cultural acceptance they might have hoped for.

And yes, the Pac-12’s collapse wasn’t created solely in Heritage Hall. The conference failed to land a media deal that kept pace with the rest of college football. USC and UCLA bolting for the Big Ten set off the chain reaction that killed the conference, but they were reacting to a problem the Pac-12 created. The question is whether the solution was worth it.

Right now, the evidence says no. USC’s not better off competitively. They’re still losing the games that matter, still sitting on the outside of the playoff picture, and still trying to figure out what they are under Lincoln Riley. The difference is now they’re doing it in a conference that, according to Barrie, doesn’t particularly care that they’re there.

Oregon’s thriving in the Big Ten because they’re winning, and winning buys acceptance. But USC is stuck in the awkward middle. Its too big a brand to ignore, but not good enough to demand the respect they once had. That’s not the position USC imagined when it left the Pac-12. And it’s not surprising Finebaum and Barrie are wondering whether the Trojans’ brass is starting to wonder the same thing.