The 2023 college football season has gone from promising to painful in a very short time for USC.
A team that was 6-0 is now 6-2. A team with College Football Playoff aspirations probably will not even make the Pac-12 Championship game. USC has gone from prominent to irrelevant in one fortnight.
The two-week crash-and-burn sequence has led to a very unexpected development: The Trojans will appear one last time on Pac-12 Network this weekend in Berkeley against the California Golden Bears. If USC had been 7-1 or 8-0, the team would not have been relegated to the Pac-12 Network. Given how bad the Trojans are right now, their game against Cal simply doesn’t rate as a featured attraction on the Pac-12 slate.
What’s also notable: There has been no outrage from USC fans about the Pac-12 Network game assignment. If anything, being on Pac-12 Network this weekend gives USC fans a reason to not watch a bad football team. It’s a relief.
When USC was thriving under Lincoln Riley last season, playing Oregon State on Pac-12 Network was outrageous and a reminder of how bad Larry Scott was as the former commissioner of the conference. This season, a Pac-12 Network game in late October is drawing no real reaction. This is because USC fans are fed up with this coaching staff and want Alex Grinch fired as soon as possible, alongside strength coach Bennie Wylie.
What a time at USC. A Pac-12 Network game is a non-story for a lot of fans.
That’s a very unexpected story for us here at Trojans Wire.
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