When you have a rivalry as heated as the Irish and Trojans have, it comes as no surprise that it is among the intense rivalries in the NCAA, on the gridiron or hardwood. Brad Crawford of 247Sports ranked the fiercest rivalries in all of collegiate athletics and Notre Dame’s annual contest against USC was among them.
Ranked as the 9th fiercest, Crawford noted that the rivalry between the two schools “is defined by it’s series of high stakes meetings as two of college football’s most stories programs.” Crawford is right by that as the game normally has national implications for the winner of the contest.
In recent memory It has been the Irish who have owned the rivalry, winners of seven of the last ten, including the last three years in a row. Prior to that ten-game stretch, it was USC who owned the rivalry, winning eight of the ten games in the 2000’s.
The hated between the two schools is strong, which is why I believe that Crawford ranked it a bit too low. At worst USC/Notre Dame is a top 5 rivalry in all of major collegiate athletics, and clearly it is up for debate. This year’s game will be played in LA Memorial Coliseum and is the final game on the schedule for both teams. Although the time is undecided right now, it should be a prime-time match-up as both teams should be highly ranked coming into the season.