Alabama’s game against USC has been canceled.
Alabama’s annual Week 1 primetime matchup was supposed to be a meeting of two of the sport’s blue bloods, as Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide were going to take on Kedon Slovis, Clay Helton and the USC Trojans. Unfortunately for both parties, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has forced that game to be scrapped.
Fans looking to see how Slovis and the air raid offered up by USC will perform against an Alabama defense full of future NFL talent will be extremely disappointed, as the Advocare Classic pitting those two teams against one another has been canceled in the name of safety.
Alabama vs USC, which was scheduled for Sept. 5, has been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/KrAj7399nN
— Jill Martin (@ByJillMartin) July 30, 2020
Alabama will not take on USC due to the Pac-12’s decision to scrap non-conference games.
This game would have been the perfect chance to see if Helton and the Trojans can really contend for a Pac-12 championship now that Justin Herbert is off to the NFL. Furthermore, Mac Jones’ first start as the unquestioned QB1 heading into 2020 would be against a Power 5 program with 4-star and 5-star athletes littering the field will now have to wait.
The Pac-12 had already canceled all non-conference games, a practice adopted by the Big Ten, while the ACC unveiled a revamped schedule that includes Notre Dame and one non-conference game.
The SEC, as well as the Big 12, has yet to unveil anything specific like a revamped schedule or a blanket cancellation of non-SEC games, but they will likely follow one of these three conferences in an attempt to get a schedule in while keeping players as safe as possible.
As much as it hurts for diehard college football fans, this is unequivocally the right decision, as keeping these players safe and healthy takes precedent over any college football game.