The USC-Notre Dame rivalry is on the brink of extinction. Only the 2025 meeting is guaranteed and negotiations to continue are apparently at an impasse. The main issue? Notre Dame would renew the rivalry with a long-term deal. USC is only interested in extending the series one season at a time.
That's according to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, who reported on USC's reasoning for putting the rivalry in danger. The Trojans are waiting to see whether the Big Ten will get four automatic qualifiers to the College Football Playoff. They want flexibility until then.
USC could ask Notre Dame for reasonable concessions to keep the rivalry alive (like making the annual game a season opener). Continuing the series on a year-by-year basis is not one of them.
USC's scheduling plan for Notre Dame rivalry goes against current CFB trends
Teams schedule out of conference games years in advance. Out of conference schedules aren't built on a whim. Just look around the rest of college football.
Florida vs. Florida State is as comparable a rivalry as there is in college football. They play a marquee out of conference rivalry game every year as well. That game is on the books through 2037. Florida has a series with Notre Dame slated for 2031 and 2032. They're also going to take on Colorado and Arizona State in home-and-homes before then. Florida State has home-and-homes scheduled with Alabama, then Georgia, then Notre Dame all occupying one of their OOC dates with traditional rivals.
The scheduling trends for other major players in college football only make USC look worse in this. I lived on USC message boards in the 2000s and 2010s. Trojan fans were never shy about criticizing the SEC for weak scheduling. Now?
These are Georgia's upcoming OOC schedules:
- 2026: WKU, at Louisville, Georgia Tech
- 2027: at Florida State, Louisville, at Georgia Tech
- 2028: Florida A&M, Florida State, Georgia Tech
- 2029: at Clemson, at Georgia Tech
- 2030: Clemson, North Carolina A&T, Ohio State, Georgia Tech
- 2031: at Ohio State, Western Carolina, at Georgia Tech
- 2032: Clemson, Georgia Tech
- 2033: at Clemson, NC State, at Georgia Tech
These are Alabama's:
- 2026: at West Virginia, USF, Florida State
- 2027: West Virginia, at Ohio State
- 2028: Ohio State, UT Martin, at Oklahoma State
- 2029: at Notre Dame, Oklahoma State
- 2030: at Georgia Tech, Notre Dame
- 2031: Georgia Tech at Boston College
- 2032: Arizona, at Minnesota
- 2033: at Arizona, Minnesota
- 2034: at Virginia Tech, Boston College
Why is it that Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Alabama, and many other marquee programs, are all willing to aggressively schedule multiple Power 5 out of conference opponents across the next decade? Why is Ohio State willing to take on series with Texas, Alabama and Georgia despite uncertainty around the CFP?
USC's excuses for putting the Notre Dame rivalry on the brink are transparent
The shifting landscape of college football is a convenient excuse for USC. Let's get real here: If the Trojans were truly invested in maintaining the rivalry, they wouldn't be worried about automatic qualifiers or conference realignment. They would embrace competition and tradition, as they always have. Until now, at least.
The annual game with Notre Dame is not the reason USC has failed to make the College Football Playoff. Framing it as a potential barrier to the postseason without automatic qualifies is cowardice. USC teams that are capable of competing for national titles don't fear the Fighting Irish. They relish the chance to prove themselves against them.
It's this automatic qualifier talk that exposes the most. USC has said they want to keep the rivalry going. But the implication behind the year-by-year agreement is this: If the Big Ten doesn't get four automatic qualifiers for the CFP, then USC wants the option to ditch the rivalry. I'm a child of the Pete Carroll era, of "Always Compete," and I'm embarrassed by my Trojans.