As we have written before — and as we will keep saying in the coming months — the year 2023 will be unique for USC fans and commentators, because the Trojans will exist in one conference but prepare for another. We will be covering the Pac-12 but will have one eye on the Big Ten, preparing both ourselves and you, as readers, for life in USC’s next conference.
One obvious and fascinating question for USC football heading into the Big Ten is how the Trojans will be able to arrange their schedule. Will they be constrained by larger forces, or will they have any elbow room and leverage to make strategic tweaks to their schedule? There are so many interesting dimensions to all of this.
Without diving really deep into the weeds here, let’s make this basic overall point: If USC does have any leverage in the room in its negotiations with the Big Ten, and in its ability to craft a nonconference schedule which serves its interests, what should the overall schedule — noncon and Big Ten — look like?
We talked to Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football about these various items in a segment which lasted nearly 20 minutes. There’s a lot to think about here:
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