FOOTBALL

If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Lincoln Riley will be making his Big Ten debut in 2024 without Caleb Williams.

Malachi Nelson would be a redshirt freshman. USC’s first game in 2024 is vs. LSU. So the Trojans would play Notre Dame, LSU and some mix of Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State?

But Riley is looking forward to it!

  • The irony is USC president Carol Folt and UCLA chancellor Gene Block, who both played a role in the Pac-12’s demise (letting Larry Scott run wild) and oversaw their own football programs’ struggles, now get to act like visionaries because they depart for a bigger conference. They deserve no credit and left behind a mess for the remainder of the Pac-12.
  • For all the lip service Bohn pays about atheltes’ mental welfare, I’d be interested to hear him talk about how sports like women’s volleyball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball will handle the excessive travel from a move to the Big Ten. It sure won’t help those athletes from being exhausted mentally and physically.
  • Athletes will fly three time zones and 3,000 miles. Bohn doesn’t care.
  • “Although this move increases travel distances for teams, the resources offered by Big Ten membership may allow for more efficient transportation options,” UCLA A.D. Martin Jarmond said Thursday.

That means chartered flights are coming for all sports.

  • Andy Enfield hates this move. I’m not sure Mick Cronin likes it either as his team makes all those road trips to hostile atmospheres. You can’t compare playing in a Big Ten arena to playing in most Pac-12 arenas.
  • How motivated will fans of USC opponents be the next two seasons as the Trojans play their final Pac-12 games against all those schools?
  • Today is the one-year anniversary for George Kliavkoff as Pac-12 commissioner. Happy anniversary! Yesterday just happened to be the day Larry Scott received his final paycheck from the Pac-12.
  • For the past few months, Pac-12 football coaches have marveled at how Kliavkoff has tacitly catered to USC and Oregon. His reward? USC departs for the Big Ten.
  • The honeymoon is over for Kliavkoff, who got nothing but fawning coverage from much of the Pac-12 media the past year.
  • Can you imagine what Kliavkoff thinks of Bohn and Jarmond, who negotiated with the Big Ten behind his back last month when the Pac-12 and Big Ten held meetings in Arizona.
  • If USC can wrangle some of those noon (PT) kickoff times Michigan seems to always get, this might be a good move for the fans.
  • It just got a lot more expensive to travel with the Trojans.
  • Conference upheaval is not unprecedented. In 1959, the Pacific Coast Conference disbanded and the Athletic Assn. of Western Univeresities (AAWU) was formed. Original members were USC, UCLA, Cal and Washington. Stanford joined a month later. Washington State joined in 1962 and the Oregon schools joined in 1964. This group became the Pac-8.
  • What happens to the Rose Bowl now? Will it need to form a partnership with the SEC to survive or remain relevant?
  • I can’t wait to hear Bill Walton explain how his alma mater and USC could possibly leave the “conference of champions.”
  • USC interviewed Grand Canyon baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz on Thursday. Second baseman Tyreese Turner, who hit .330 last season, entered the transfer portal Thursday night.
  • One idea on the many possibilities for expansion: The Big Ten takes Notre Dame and Stanford.

70 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. “I can’t wait to hear Bill Walton explain how his alma mater and USC could possibly leave the “conference of champions.”

    Scott, It is USC, UCLA and Stanford that make it the conference of champions. They are not leaving it, they–USC and UCLA–are moving it.

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  2. That is absolutely, completely false. Folt was hired in July 2019, TEN YEARS after Larry Scott ran wild. I’m not a Carol Folt fan, but that is a complete lie.

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    1. True –Carol is not 100% responsible for the demise of the Pac12. [But] by opposing Meyer and backing Helton Carol did her share.
      P. S.
      Enfield & Cronin are upset? I’m fairly sure their teams will never have to play in the rain or snow.

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      2. Urban would have done just fine at USC. Trust me. He’s made for college football. His big mistake (make that his Big, Big Mistake) was thinking he was made for NFL football.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. I rarely disagree wih you, MG. This is one such occasion.

        I was very relieved he never became our coach. He’s a win-at-any-cost kind of guy.

        During his 6 years at Florida, 25 different players were involved in a total of 31 arrests. No, thank you!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. 67 and SoCal — I believe Urban would have been on best behavior at USC. He pitched himself for the job every Saturday on CBS. It would have meant the world to him to get it. He jumped to the NFL outta desperation. The lap dance was performed by a guy who bet on the wrong horse…and knew it.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Michael, I worry we dodged a bullet with Urban as well. Trouble does seem to follow him wherever he goes. Maybe he would have changed for USC. You never know…

        Liked by 1 person

      8. …and look at the fine job he’s doing coaching the ped unit at Somerset Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania ….

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      9. Thank you Michael, Ms Folt likes to take credit for successes (although not sure this is a full success). She never takes credit for her ignorant decisions like helton and scott. The two additional years of destruction to the program will take that much longer for us to climb out of the abyss — witness the line problems!!!!. However, she got kiss her ass game ball that should have gone to Kedon for a record game. BTW, I’m also still seething that she didn’t admit it’s all about money, not all the “fabulous attributes” she listed. What about the travel, weather, difference in playing style, time differences……..how are those going to be managed for a more even playing field. The potential billion from Apple left her with dollar signs in her eyes. So they have to travel more…..not so great for the athletes.

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    2. Add Stanford, Cal, Washington, and Arizona State to the BIG 12 along with USC and UCLA. These are schools with a TV audience. Then make up a new division within the conference or change the divisions so that these teams play each other every year. This will allow for the traditional match-ups that most of us crave. We can then have a play-off between the division winners. With respect to the minor sports, just have the teams play within the division. Women volleyball cannot be taking 5 hour flights through multiple time zones every week.

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      3. Chip’s 2-22 record versus teams over .500 is really going to get exposed now. By michigan, ohio state, michigan state, wisconsin, penn state…

        Liked by 2 people

      4. When Chip heard the news he tried to kill himself with strawberry cupcakes …
        #MissusGotEmergencyServicesToPumpHisStomach

        Liked by 1 person

  4. The PAC 12 demise started the day Pat Haden hired Clay Helton to run the football program. USC was the face of the conference, and when they became irrelevant, so did they.

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    1. You mean the second USC thought the drunk Notre Dame broadcaster would make a good AD. Helton was already there when Haden came on board.

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    2. Haden destroyed USC more than the NCAA sanctions. He didn’t fight them for a reduction of sanctions, he did a poor job on the Coliseum,
      he hired helton because the players want Clay….. helton was too lazy and incompetent to do the due diligence needed to hire a quality coach. Re Sark, Washington was laughing since they already knew Sark was a sot.

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      1. When Haden was asked if he might have made a mistake in skipping a rigorous search and merely sticking with Clay he said “it’s possible…. but how big a mistake could it be?”
        Fast forward to Helton’s last recruiting class [and last 3 football seasons] for your answer, Pat….
        #NowLincolnIsDealingWithTheLeftoverStench

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  5. I think the demise of the PAC-12 started with the outrageous penalties levied in the Reggie Bush affair. USC was the glamour school for the NCAA and the crazy penalties and years of investigation put a pox on west coast football that we are still climbing out of. Everyone in the Pacific conference was affected, though most didn’t know it at the time and they may have even cheered the star chamber on. It was totally unfair and way out of scale. We now know that SC truly had no idea what the deal was with Reggie’s parents’ house. Much worse things at other schools have come to light and not been punished at all. But there we were, a string of Heisman winners, national championships and an impressive tree of coaches and players developed. Until … poof! The NCAA casts a huge cloud for years and then decided to destroy the whole entire program. Taking scholarships away from SC also destroyed the future of innocent kids who were never given the opportunity to play for SC. It also took hundreds of millions out of the pockets of everyone in the conference. It was horrendous

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    1. After careful consideration of his own personal interests, Pat Haden didn’t see it that way.
      [By saying he’d leave the matter “in the hands of the NCAA’s Board of Appeals”, Haden pulled off what defense attorneys call waving a jury trial in favor of a judge in cases involving an obviously guilty client —“a slow guilty plea”]……

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      1. Whatever happened to “if you’re innocent, you want trial with a judge, if you’re guilty you want a jury trial?” O.J. Simpson anyone?

        Liked by 2 people

      2. True –but you usually [particularly if the evidence favors you] don’t opt for a judge trial with a conflicted, corrupt judge….unless you don’t mind getting ruled against….

        Liked by 1 person

    2. This was also the start of the SEC rise to prominence, which I believe was no coincidence. The NCAA was the SEC’s Mafia muscle. Payback Time now that they have been rendered powerless.

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    3. You are right Bryan. However as I posted, Haden contributed by not fighting the NCAA. Ohio State had many players getting perks, Jim Tressel lied on national TV and yet they were granted a reduction when they fought. ND same, Penn St, same………..SC had no one in their corner.

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  6. Why’s everyone crying about the travel schedule on the west coast, but not a peep from any teams in the Big Ten ? That’s one of the reasons why the PAC 12 was considered soft. Where else do you hear about players making a big deal about what numbers they’ll be wearing.. 😂😂

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    1. I’ve heard people say the weather in Michigan and Ohio gets a teeny bit colder in November than in California… Big Ten Players will get a summer vacation traveling west —USC and UCLA will get screwed going the other way….
      #There’sThat….

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    2. I’m not, nor have I ever been, on their boards. I have no idea what they’re saying about it and I suspect you don’t either.

      As the article Charles posted from the LA Times (via Yahoo), this sucks the most for sports who play mid-week games.

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    3. You were sounding almost smart, why did you have to say something dumb? Two schools are on an island a couple of thousand miles away for all their opponents except each other. The rest of the Big 10 might have to deal with playing one game out West in the sun once every year or two.

      For them its like a throwing in a bowl game for their program (student athletes and alum) and a recruiting bonanza in LA. For USC student athletes and alum/fans it’s all bone and gristle all the time– 2,500 or 3,000 mile trips to the most unattractive parts of the country in freezing weather will be most of our schedule– you think we don’t travel well now? Hmph.

      Funny thing is, Roy Kramer the genius that set up the SEC and poured over stats forced SEC teams to NOT do what we are going to do ever because stats show teams that travel the farthest and teams from the warm South that travel to play in the inclement north statistically have a strong tendency to lose and these matchups for both teams and fans eat away and undercut programs.

      The P12 may have a few kinda snobby schools but they either hate CFB (and that’s a reality) or are inept at the business of football, whereas the SEC has had the most brilliant leader, and a series of capable ones.

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    4. You so realize those teams in the BIG-10 will only have to fly all the way out here once a year? USC will be going the other way at least 4 times a year. Basketball is the one who really gets screwed.

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  7. Scott,
    You always manage to find the clouds in the big ol pot of silver linings. Great takes!

    In other news, USC athletics just became significantly more funded. They are now part of a real network with coast to coast interest and NIL opportunities for all athletes. Recruiting base and interests for all sports is that much larger. Charter flights will eliminate the travel concerns and I would argue make it easier than they currently have it now (I travel a bunch, private is significantly easier and faster). We are in the best athletics conference in the country and we are only one of two schools in the conference that is located in a a warm climate. In other words, if you want to play Big10 sport but live in LA, you can now do that.

    Also Mike Bohn is a really great AD.

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    1. Can you imagine what Scott was like as a child on a long-distance trip with his parents? “Are we there yet?”, “I am thristy..” , “Bobby is hitting me..”, “Are we there yet?”……and of course “Scotty, stop kicking the seat!”

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  8. This is front page news, not the sports page, although it’s there too, front page above the first Black born female on the Supreme Court. And I’m willing to bet it has something to do with Biden’s approval rating.
    So travel time will take longer? I am sure nobody complained when USC played in Hawaii. What’s the distance from Washington to Tucson? 21 hours by bus. If the team leaves after classes on Thursday and practices on Friday, it’s not a big deal (but for Scott on a bicycle it might be- regular 2 wheel VW that guy is)
    Anyway playing in some the most iconic stadiums in the country cannot be bad for the TV ratings. I think this will be great for us.

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  9. hi john,wil relokashun sirvissis be pruhvidid to us fir r moove to the mid wessed,and wil we get hellp fineding wirk,and can i stil reed ur blahg wen me and missus ed fined a new howm,

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    1. Joe Biden to Ed: “Guaranteed income for all USC & UCLA students…and graduates…& their families…. and their friends living outside the country.”
      #[PersonallyIThinkWeDeserveMore] …
      #…ALotMore

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  10. Brillant move per the poaching of OK & TX by the SEC….Rick Caruso with Mike Bohn understood what the risk was in ‘staying pat’ in the Pac-12 as the SEC continued to expand its’ control nationally over CFB. Doing nothing meant having one’s future dictated by other smarter athletic directors and presidents – Nikias is thankfully gone….that incompetent sap Swann gone … Helton, the worst head football coach in my lifetime (don’t bother to mention Hackett) is finally gone.
    The university is blessed with replacing all with shrewd individuals with foresight. This move to join the Big 10 was USC’s move and they presented the idea to Ucla to ensure the offer to the Big 10 was irresistible.
    Caruso and Bohn have their second coup – Riley and now this move. Special kudos to Bohn for his ability to ‘wait’ and ‘pounce’ akin to how he enticed Riley to come west. Most programs, corporations, et. al. are leaking sieves keeping moves ‘secret’….not this guy they didn’t go to Ucla until the very very last moment to ensure no ‘counter’ from Kliaviakoff or other schools.

    Lastly what say thee ‘legoland’ aka ‘Stanford’? Where dost thou go to now?

    To you Scott – your vinegar snide remarks would have been the same had USC not done this especially if one of the other programs jumped first. I have to conclude the real ‘payday’ will be for USC and all the rest ‘….get in line…’

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    1. One thing I want repubs to do is stop using the phrase “managed decline” to describe the Biden approach to the economy. This is so obviously “managed destruction.”

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      1. When the network that helped the most, in covering for his dementia and family corruption pre-election, is saying this WITH OBAMA’S OWN GUY:

        During CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Thursday, former senior Obama advisor David Axelrod echoed President Biden’s critics, admitting that things in the country are “out of control” and that Biden is “not in command.”

        Anyone with any sense knew in 2019 that this is exactly how a Biden Presidency would go. It’s hilarious there are fools trying to claim that we are now better off than we would have been with DT.

        The people of Afghanistan, Ukraine and Taiwan would agree that we are not.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Guess what? Several Ukrainian television channels are reporting that Biden has sent so much money all at once there’s “no way the money can be monitored and corruption is a certainty.” Looks like Biden is spending money domestically that never gets to the streets (shades of Obama) and sending money overseas that isn’t being used for defense. And the funniest part? Dems —and their media whore pals—are happy to see the money leave the pockets of the American working class and head straight into the pockets of foreign & domestic elites.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. And people who were stupid to vote for all of this lob childish insults our way!

        Deflect, blame, lies. It’s all they’ve got.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. It is all they’ve got. Some do it better than others .. [and they seem to come here] but Biden is losing on all fronts. It’s impossible to seriously argue otherwise.

        Liked by 2 people

  14. I have been to South Bend several times, one time in October it was 30-degrees, and I felt like I was watching the game in a freezer. SC got shelled that day. The Rams playing Minnesota in the winter got stomped on regularly. Southern California guys just are not suited for cold weather.

    So forget about any football national championships unless Troy can slip one in in 2023 before embarking to the Big-10 (or is it now the Big-16?).

    Of course, I will not miss the Washington States, Arizonas, and Colorados of the Pac-12. But that midwest conference has similar teams in Indiana, Purdue and Maryland.

    I was getting some real work done while being away from this blog, but SC joining forces with sucla, of all schools, jolted me awake.

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    1. Lawyer John: “Thanks! I needed that!”
      [Or Tyrone Power –as Zorro —dueling Basil Rathbone: “I needed that scratch to awaken me!”]….

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      1. Yeah, Michael, I am like the guy who sees a pimple on the arm of Miss America; or was upset with the 55-24 ND massacre because SC could not crack 60 points; or… (oh, you get the point)

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I get it —I’m always disappointed when USC runs out the clock when they’re on the 4 yard line —up by 28 points —with 23 seconds to go…..
        #Score!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. [Pete & Jim kinda came to an accord, though —-they say more or less nice things about each other these days]….

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    2. SC quit going in Nov they always got clobbered playing in the snow on frozen tundra…Oct can be real cold as you said…this B10 bs is gonna’ cost’em…Pac12 was starting to rebuild SC,utah,oregon and Wash were going to be competitive along with stanford…the only thing really wrong with Pac12 is the tv part…dumb announcers and coverage…and being allowed to influence sched timing .

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  15. Hey, to anyone who might be heading out of town and not on the board with us on Monday, have a nice 4th!! Be safe out there!!

    Even you, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal of mine.

    Liked by 2 people

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      2. Not gonna hold my breath.

        Poor guy obviously has serious issues. His posts have actually started making me feel sorry for him.

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      3. If I were him I’d definitely see that as throwing down the gauntlet…. now he has to wish you a happy holiday….

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  16. The lack of foresight is remarkable. USC moved to the Midwest teams to get access to more talent. Even Klivakoff admitted that football participation is down on the West Coast and Pac 12 footprint. The other teams are going to beg to get into the Big 10 because the Big12 is nothing and SEC don’t want trash teams in its league. The ACC is broke and going independent won’t work either. So don’t get too happy or perplexed because the Big 10 just became the latest pro football league in America.

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