Notre Dame Football: Would USC be wise to drop Irish from schedule?

Would USC ever stop scheduling Notre Dame?

One of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports happens in football each fall between Notre Dame and USC. The two national powerhouses have played annually since the 1920s and used the rivalry to help elevate their respective programs nationally.

With USC joining the Big Ten, should the Trojans continue the rivalry?

I don’t ask out of want because I value the history and rivalries that make college football what it is as much as anyone. However, the X account @BoardGeniuses, which finds some of the most outlandish posts on various college sports message boards, found a post from a USC football fan that I think raises a valid question. Below is the post for you to read yourself:

Notre Dame’s schedule is always strong but without USC on it annually, it would certainly take a hit. Although I don’t think USC is about to run, it’s still worth at least exploring.

Michigan, which the poster mentions, used to schedule one of the best out-of-conference schedules in the nation. Notre Dame, obviously, stands out as one of Michigan’s former annual rivals, but games with Alabama, Colorado (in its heyday), Washington and Oregon used to be regular occurrences.

Now Michigan has stacked its nonconference schedule with the UNLVs, East Carolinas and Bowling Greens of the world and won a national championship while doing so.

Again, I don’t see USC abandoning the series anytime soon. I’d like to think USC has far too much pride to run from one of college football’s greatest rivalries, but the poster certainly makes a solid point of everything being about making the College Football Playoff and how a cupcake non-conference slate would help.

This is something we’ll certainly discuss with Trojans Wire this offseason.

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