One of the most storied rivalries in college football will go on hiatus as Notre Dame and USC couldn’t reach an agreement to extend the series.
The Fighting Irish have won nine of the last 12 against USC, including seven of the last eight.
In recent years, the series has been driven by which team has the better coach.
When Notre Dame went through the Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis years, the Fighting Irish were 3-11 against the Trojans. In fact, Weis was able to secure a contract extension after almost beating USC in the famous “Bush-Push” game.
Since Pete Carroll left for the NFL in 2009, USC has posted a combined 4-11 record against Notre Dame. Current USC head coach Lincoln Riley is 1-3 against Notre Dame.
With the Trojans playing in the Big Ten, despite a rotation of conference games (i.e., not a round-robin schedule), the school is massaging the schedule to reduce the quality of opponents in the nonconference. With the Big Ten, along with the SEC, being the most influential conferences on the College Football Selection Committee, it’s not a surprise that in years where USC and Notre Dame are being compared, having the backing of the Big Ten without having a loss to Notre Dame on their resume could be the difference between getting in the playoff and not getting in.
In response to the hiatus, Notre Dame announced a home-and-home with BYU. This could be great timing for the Fighting Irish with the current state of NIL and BYU’s willingness to go all-in; the move to play the Cougars might be a plus to Notre Dame’s strength of schedule.
Marcus Freeman Being Courted
Marcus Freeman has been the subject of vacant head coach openings all offseason. LSU and Penn State, just to name two, tried to convince the Notre Dame head coach that their jobs would present greener pastures. LSU’s interest was ironic considering that the Tigers convinced Brian Kelly to leave Notre Dame just to fire him during the season.
Now Freeman is getting interest from the NFL.
It’s been widely reported that the New York Giants have Freeman as one of their top candidates for their vacant head coach position.
Since Tom Coughlin left after the 2015 season, the Giants have gone through four head coaches and two interims, so the job hasn’t been a beacon of stability.
