USC football versus Notre Dame is one of the fiercest and most storied rivalries in all of college sports. The series dates back nearly a century, and outside of the COVID season in 2020, the Trojans and Irish have faced off every year since the end of World War II.
Recently, however, the changing landscape of college football has called into question the future of the rivalry. With USC now playing in the Big Ten Conference and the expanded College Football Playoff potentially de-incentivizing teams from scheduling difficult nonconference games, there are questions on both sides as to whether continuing the series makes sense or not.
So could college football’s greatest intersectional rivalry be in jeopardy? In a recent interview with Antonio Morales of The Athletic, USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen discussed the future of the Trojans’ rivalry with Notre Dame.
“It’s such an important series to our fans and both universities,” Cohen said. “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: In an ideal world, we’re going to keep playing each other. With that being said, the landscape has changed dramatically. We’re now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every other week, and CFP expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected. Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions. So we remain in conversations with Notre Dame about the series. I think we’re clear to each other (that) we’re going to continue to evaluate what’s best, and it’s my job to evaluate what’s best for our student-athletes and our program. As we keep doing that, we’re excited to go back to South Bend next year.”
It is hard to imagine a world in which USC and Notre Dame do not play each other in football every season. But then again, 10 years ago, it would have been nearly impossible to imagine a world in which USC was in the Big Ten, the College Football Playoff had 12 teams, and the sport’s players were essentially free agents every offseason and could legally be paid seven-figure contracts. The sport of college football is changing rapidly, and for better or worse, many of the traditions that have lasted for decades are being left behind.
As of now, USC and Notre Dame have the series scheduled through 2026. Beyond that, however, the future of the rivalry remains uncertain. The Trojans and Irish will meet on October 18 of this fall in South Bend.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC AD Jennifer Cohen has to confront questions about Notre Dame
