Today is Sunday, July 2. That means we are two months away from a very special day for USC football fans.
On Saturday, September 2, USC hosts Nevada at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The game will be shown on Pac-12 Network. Because the Pac-12 television policy stipulates that a team must appear on Pac-12 Network as many times as the number of nonconference home games it plays, USC will fill its allotment of Pac-12 Network games on Sept. 2 against Nevada. That will be the Trojans’ second and last nonconference game of 2023. Their nonconference game against Notre Dame is a road game this year.
Maybe there is a slight chance that USC’s Sept. 23 road game at Arizona State or the Oct. 28 road game at California in Berkeley will be picked up by Pac-12 Network. ESPN and Fox might pass. However, it is unlikely that either game will be relegated to Pac-12 Network. Viewers want to see USC play this year. The Trojans will be loaded with talent and will be a preseason top-10 team. The Sept. 23 game at Arizona State will be a big game for the Sun Devils. That game probably won’t be stuck on Pac-12 Network.
The Oct. 28 game at Cal is a little more interesting. If USC has picked up a couple of losses by that time, the Trojans’ TV value could be diminished, in which case Pac-12 Network might pick that game up. However, if USC has no more than one loss heading into late October, the Trojans will still be in the College Football Playoff hunt. It’s hard to see a major network passing up the Trojans that late in the season.
It’s very likely that September 2 will be the last USC football game ever shown on Pac-12 Network. The guarantee is that it will be the last USC football home game ever shown on Pac-12 Network. This is because the October 7 home game versus Arizona has been picked up by ESPN/ABC/Disney.
No other USC home game is a realistic candidate for Pac-12 Network.
September 2 will mark the end of an era to some degree, if not for all time.
USC fans are already planning parties for the occasion. We at Trojans Wire have talked to fans who will mark the milestone with great happiness.
If that doesn’t tell you how eager Trojan fans are to go to the Big Ten, nothing will.
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