When USC plays Washington in football this year, the game is likely to mean a lot. The Trojans and Huskies are both contenders for the Pac-12 championship. Unless something goes disastrously wrong, both teams should be in the thick of the conference title chase when they meet on November 4, 2023, in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The game was always likely to matter as soon as the date was announced. Now, the game might take on even greater dimensions.
Ohio State canceled a planned home-and-home series with Washington for 2024 and 2025. Obviously, Washington was really looking forward to that series, which would give the Huskies a chance to make a national statement and return to the Don James glory years of the early 1990s.
We can all do the quick math here and put one and one together: Ohio State bailed on this series because it knows it might have to fly to California for a Big Ten game in 2024 or 2025. The Buckeyes don’t want to make too many cross-country flights and leave their team tired for the heart of the Big Ten season.
What if Ohio State plays UCLA in early or mid-November and then has to play Michigan shortly thereafter? The Buckeyes want none of that, and the impulse is understandable.
Yet, imagine being a Washington fan, coach or player. You’re sitting there watching Ohio State adjust to a new world in which USC is part of the Big Ten. That movement — approved by Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, who is no longer on the job — is causing aftereffects which are continuing to hurt the Huskies.
Washington’s anger at USC just became greater and more pronounced.
Early November in the Coliseum just became even more contentious.
USC’s last ride in the Pac-12 will not be a friends-saying-goodbye tour. The Trojans will wear the black hat, and Ohio State just reminded Washington of that reality.
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