USC Trojans: PAC-12 Fall Schedule helps them out

The PAC-12 conference CEO group made an announcement Friday stating that all fall sports will be a PAC-12 schedule only for the USC Trojans, no games will take place between teams out of the conference.

The sports affected by the announcement include football, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball among others. The PAC-12 made the decision due to the COVID-19 virus and the increasing need to start their sports schedule in a safe environment.

The news may affect the fall sports but the focus of the news will land on what that means for college football.

The USC Trojans football might be the biggest benefactor of the PAC-12 schedule change. The Trojans were slated to play three out of conference games in the fall along with nine conference games.

The most prominent game the Trojans will be losing is against the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. The Trojans were slated to play the Crimson Tide in their first game of the season.

The season opener was supposed to be a showcase game for both teams, but the way the season ended for the Trojans in 2019 few gave them a chance to beat the Crimson Tide.

Coming off an 8-5 season the Trojans likely were not in the same league as the Crimson Tide who played in the College Football Playoff (CFP) four straight seasons before missing out last year. The Trojans can now pencil in another PAC-12 opponent instead of having to start the season challenging Alabama.

The Trojans other big game they miss will be against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The rivals will miss playing each other for the first time since World War II interrupted the transcontinental rivalry.

For the Trojans, they have not defeated the Irish since their 2016 meeting and have won just twice in their last eight meetings. The Trojans were set to face the Irish in their last game of the season, with late-season games always having an impact on the CFP implications the Trojans avoiding an always tense rivalry game can avoid that pitfall.

The Trojans can pencil lesser opponents like the Oregon State Beavers and the rebuilding Washington State Cougars to fill in their missed games. The details of how the schedule gets sorted out won’t be announced until July 31st, but for now, it looks like the Trojans benefit most from the PAC-12 announcement.