When asking if the Pac-12 made its 2023 schedule difficult for USC, one should consider how the conference framed its 2022 football schedule for the Trojans.
We have noted that when compared to Oregon’s 2023 football schedule, USC’s slate is a lot tougher — not necessarily the teams themselves, but the sequencing of games, the arrangement of off weeks, and the full construction of the start-to-finish schedule.
It is pretty obvious that the Pac-12 went out of its way to accommodate Oregon, which — as we have said — is actually smart politics for George Kliavkoff. Oregon will stay in his conference, USC won’t. Of course it makes sense to look out for Oregon.
If anyone is still uncertain about the intent to accommodate one school but not another, consider that USC’s 2022 schedule — before the Trojans bolted for the Big Ten — was very agreeable. USC had a home game against Washington State before the road trip to Utah. It had a week off after the Utah game. USC played all of its November games in Los Angeles and didn’t have to travel any farther than Tucson, Arizona, over the final seven weeks of its season.
The Pac-12 accommodated USC when it was still in the Pac-12. The conference accommodated Oregon more after USC chose to leave. It’s all very simple.
Trojans Wire discussed the schedule with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football:
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