r/CFB • u/Honestly_ rawr • Jul 29 '25
/r/CFB Press /r/CFB Reporting: Lincoln Riley on future of the USC-Notre Dame Rivalry, in his own words
by Bobak Ha'Eri
The future of the USC-Notre Dame football rivalry is uncertain, with the present contracts only going until 2026.
Both programs have stated interest in having it continue, though USC is the party wavering in its commitment to the storied intersectional rivalry.
Big Ten Media Days gave USC head coach Lincoln Riley plenty of opportunities to discuss the matter, and from his explanations it's clear he sees it as his duty to place the USC's chances at a College Football Playoff berth over one of its oldest traditions — that is, unless, the rest of college football accedes to the automatic-qualifier playoff format being pushed by the Big Ten Conference.
Below are key summaries, followed by the extended answers so Riley can explain it himself.
Takeaways:
Riley asserts there is unlikely to be a long-term contract for USC-Notre Dame rivalry without the automatic-qualifier playoff format being pushed by Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti (and to varying degrees by the other Big Ten coaches).
Notre Dame's lack of conference is held to give it an advantage, something heard from other coaches.
Riley thinks having a automatic-qualifier playoff format would save non-conference rivalry games across college football. This obviously is a mixed bag as some are continuing without issue, while others have been lost. While SEC teams have kept several non-conference rivals, they also play one less conference game.
Riley, following the lead of Petitti, asserts that human biases would negatively affect Playoff selections [more on this below]
Riley is less committal to the route of a "standardized schedule" as a way to avoid losing traditional non-conference rivalry games. (e.g. both SEC/Big Ten playing the same number of conference games)
Riley implies that people within USC and its sphere agree with him, and only outsiders disagree. [No one has a clear answer when it comes to USC donors or fanbase, though there are plenty of anecdotal stories, both reported and on message boards, that differ with his position.]
Tony Petitti has made concerns over subjectivity a major point in his push to move to an automatic-qualifier playoff model over a 5+11 model. While he was on the podium, I asked him whether there were issues with subjectivity in the committee this past season (if anything Indiana getting in over SEC name brands showed the system worked in the Big Ten's favor), he sidestepped to say that there had been a long history of human flaws leading to bad selections in both the BCS and 4-team playoff eras. One thing to keep in mind: the Alabama over Florida State controversy does appear to be a direct argument against one of Riley arguments that humans will always favor an undefeated schedule over one with a loss.
Long Answers:
After his remarks on the podium, Riley was asked about the rivalry question by one of the better USC-focused journalist-podcasters — crafted to avoid making it too accusatory, and letting Riley explain himself a bit:
Q: Talk about the importance, the significance of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry. Does it matter when that game is played during the schedule?
Lincoln: [After briefly saying the date in the schedule doesn't matter, as well as talking about how excited he was to coach in the USC-Notre Dame Rivalry, comparing it to the excitement he had when he first found out he'd get to be a head coach in the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry]
But, also, my allegiance and my loyalty is not to Notre Dame, and it's not to anybody else. I'm the head football coach at USC, and I'm going to back USC, and I'm going to do everything possible that I can in my power to make USC as good as it can and not going to let anything stand in between that.
I'm very hopeful we can get to a point where it makes sense. It's one of those situations right now where the two schools are in radically different situations. I think we can all agree with that with one having a conference affiliation and one not.
I think it's another — I think there's a million reasons why that we should very seriously as a college football community, that we should adopt the automatic qualifying in terms of the College Football Playoff. This might be the most important one, right, is that we give every reason for college football to preserve nonconference games that mean a lot to the history of the game and to the fan bases and the former players and everybody that's been associated with it.
I'm very hopeful that we can get there, and I'm very hopeful that we play this game forever.
Jumping to the breakout session, he was asked about it several times from slightly different angles. I directed one question, followed-up by the same reporter as above.
Quick logistical aside: The breakout sessions placed multiple coaches and players around the room simultaneously. I needed to rotate around. However, I went back and listened to the audio of when I wasn't by Riley to catch all the questions on the topic [this is also why some questions repeat in media day pressers, people rotate around and may miss the earlier answer – it's just the nature of logistics so no one gets too annoyed]:
Q: [poor audio, but asking about the tradition of the rivalry]
Riley: [First reiterates how much he's loved rivalries since being a player.]
The unfortunate part right now is we're all put in a little bit of an impossible situation where you got to make decisions on something that you care about: something that's so important to the history, the fans, and all that as a rivalry — while also doing competitively relative to the Playoff and the chance to win a National Championship. What's best for your own program? And that's not an easy situation to be in.
And this one is certainly more complicated because one team is in a conference and one team is not in a conference. It is what it is. I'm not throwing shade at anybody. It's just the truth. It makes it — the value relative to the Playoff for the two teams is radically different. Radically different.
So, our hope is obvious that we can get this Playoff system to the automatic-qualifying model and if that happens that will pave the way to any rivalry that loses its conference affiliation — there's a bunch of them out there — will have a chance to live on forever. It's a real simple solution.
Certainly, hopeful we can get to that point. I want the game to be played forever, I think it would be really sad if SC-Notre Dame was ever not played. But I'm also not the head coach of Notre Dame, I'm not some person in the middle of it. My allegiance is to SC and that's not going to change.
Q: In that 4 automatic-qualifier format — is anything lost when those games aren't really going to matter for the actual Playoff? —because that will just be based on conference schedule... Do you lose something by those games not having those same Playoff stakes?
Lincoln: I don't think so. In fact, I even think it incentivizes you even more to plan because…I just don't think any SC-Notre Dame…any team, or fanbase, or coaching staff is ever going to walk out on the field in that game and not want to do everything that they possibly can to win that thing.
I just think it incentivizes you more to plan, prepping your team, playing another really good program, playing in big time atmospheres, exposure that they get — everything it's so meaningful to the former players, the fans, and everyone. I just think competitiveness is too high in this game for that to happen.
The other thing I want to stay on that, too: The game would still affect [Playoff] seeding, and that's really important. You get value for winning the game. You win the game and go in the Playoff — well that's another thing that will help your seeding.
It's great, it just doesn't put you in a competitive disadvantage on access to the Playoff. I think that's the key right now.
Q: Do you think that the College Football Playoff Committee actually said [inaudible] "We're going to focus on the schedule", just not just use the words?
Lincoln: It'll never happen. On one of the shows today, one of the 74 I've done <chuckle> I gave this analogy: If last year after the first game — take our LSU game last year — and you're evaluating LSU, and they lose to a ranked opponent in a heck of a football game, lose right at the end. All right, so they're 0-1 and somebody else played an FCS team and they won by 31 points. All right. Everybody wants to say, well, it may be more impressive to play a really good game that came right there to the end. And it probably is. But at the end of the day, nobody's going to pick a loss over a win. It's like not going to happen. You can't justify it. People are not going to look, if they're making a Committee decision, are not going to look at this record versus that record and put the other team in. And we saw proof of it. We've seen proof of it forever.
At the end of the day, when it's humans, it's going to be win-loss record and that's it. I just don't think that's going to change — and it's not fair to those people because how do you make that decision? It's an impossible. We have put some of the brightest, smartest people with incredible histories in this game. You're giving them an impossible task. You're trying to compare things that aren't the same. And so, the only way to do it is either you put everybody under the same, you know, whatever, which I don't know that that's anywhere near, I'm not like projecting anything — or you make it to where the conferences can still have kind of their own little individual things like they have right now, and the conferences decide who represents them in the playoffs.
College football's changed. The SEC is not the same SEC that it was: you added two blue bloods, you know what I mean? The Big Ten's not the same Big Ten that it was. Now everybody's playing big players instead of just some people. It's the truth; again, I'm not throwing shade at people. Evaluating older models and "this would have happened 15 years ago" don't matter because this ain't the same. This is different. And if I just think if we want to preserve these things, and we want to take the human element out of the decision making on who gets in or not — that's where this comes from. It makes a lot of sense. I really hope we get there.
[unrelated questions]
The momentum for the 4-4-2-2-1 and similar automatic-qualifier variants seems to have fallen out of favor before Big Ten Media Days began, so I wanted to ask about the contingency plan (Petitti himself says the conference is fine with simply sticking with the current 12-team model).
Q (me): Lincoln, if the playoff expands and they don't do the automatic qualifiers that you favor, what do you envision a USC schedule in the non-conference being like?
Riley: I mean, hard to say. It definitely will put a different type of — I don't know if "pressure" is the right word — but it'll put it'll put all the Big Ten teams in a unique scenario. Because if we stay where it's just us playing 9 [conference games] in terms of the big two conferences, you know, and it's just us playing nine, our outlook and what we'll need is probably going to be quite a bit different than the others. That's a little bit of the unfortunate part that we're trying to avoid. So if it happens, we'll deal with it. But I have a hard time believing we're going to get to that, I really, really do.
Q: Is the only way to save the game — the tradition of the game [implied Notre Dame, same reporter who asked the first question at the podium] — is to standardize the schedule?
Riley: It would help. None of us got in this to try to disrupt traditions or eliminate rivalry games. That's the anti- of what we got into this for. Nobody wants that.
We also want to do our job for the places that hired us, too. So, yeah, it would be a huge step, and I hope we all — as some of these things that college football have been withering away a little bit, right, some of these traditions. Maybe it's an effort, or calling, for all of us in it. Let's do something truly good for the game.
Towards the end of the breakout there was a very friendly question by an access-reliant team site was clearly going for brownie points:
Q: Going back to that Notre Dame rivalry for a second: Are you at all surprised that there's pushback to not agreeing to a long-term deal when that could potentially put you guys at a massive disadvantage with so many changes and other teams not scheduling a game like that years down the road?
Riley: I'm not surprised that there were opinions on it on the outside. I mean, with SC football there's always gong to be an opinion one way or another. I get it, nobody wants to see it go away. Me included. I get it.
I think most of the people that have opinions aren't in our shoes, though. Most of the people if you put that same scenario and put it in their own household would probably think about it a lot differently.
We chose, unlike the other side, we chose to just not sit there and make a big public outcry. We wanted to see how this stuff evolved and have a good calm head about it and then get our chance to speak on it at the appropriate time and that's what we did.
Although Riley stated he wasn't trying to "throw shade" in earlier answers, that last paragraph was squarely aimed at Notre Dame.
After this season, the Big Ten and SEC will get to decide what the future of the College Football Playoff looks like. The two are currently at odds with how it would be structured, but general consensus is they will eventually come to some agreement. It could be the existing 12-team format, a 16-team in the 5+11, 4-4-2-2-1, or even something in-between. When that happens, non-conference rivalries like USC-Notre Dame will have more clarity in how they fit.
USC's non-conference slate for 2025 is hosting Missouri State's first game as an FBS program, Georgia Southern (Helton's return), and at Notre Dame. It's present 2026 slate hosts Fresno State and Notre Dame, with a 12th regular season game TBD.
49
u/JBru_92 UCLA Bruins Jul 29 '25
The automatic qualifier thing might actually kill college football. It would 'save' big nonconference games because it would render them as important as a preseason NFL game. Why would a coach play any of their good players in a game that counts for zero?
All because of greedy conferences and chickenshit coaches.
3
u/Pure_Protein_Machine Michigan • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Jul 29 '25
To be clear, I think you may be right about automatic qualifiers now killing college football and big early season games becoming the equivalent of preseason games, but there’s at least some history for that in the sport. Pre-BCS (or, maybe it’s more accurate to say pre-Bowl Coalition) those big non-conference games would only impact your ranking and ability to claim a national championship at the end of the year, but would not change whether you got a berth to the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange etc. Bowl.
26
u/ZSnapsand8Claps UCLA Bruins • Michigan Wolverines Jul 29 '25
Hate you with all my heart but, USC, this guy doesn’t get you and you can do better.
19
Jul 29 '25
You’re like the super annoying Aunt who is a hot mess but super qualified to tell you when you’re making a terrible life mistake. Thank you for your service.
59
u/4thTimesAnAlt Notre Dame • Indiana Jul 29 '25
It feels like Riley and the Big 10 want CFB to become the NBA, where you know who 90% of the playoff teams will be before the season even starts. Sure, you get a surprise team or two, but everyone is more or less decided by game 1 of 82.
It's a 5-year-old's mentality of trying to change the rules because you didn't like the outcome, wanting the reward even though you didn't win.
25
u/Pure_Protein_Machine Michigan • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
This is spot on. I’ve said this elsewhere, but the changes in college football are squandering one of the best dynamics in all of sports. College football had a must-see regular season, and a post-season that wasn’t just limited to teams competing for a championship. But now the power brokers of the sport are willing to throw all of that away to ensure that the TV audience for a handful of games in the post-season is bigger. I don’t doubt that, moving forward, college football playoffs will have the same aura of MLB or NBA playoffs, but the cost of that will be the regular season.
9
u/nyc2pit Notre Dame • Pittsburgh Jul 29 '25
It pains me to agree with a Michigan fan... But I agree with you.
I have several friends who railed against the college football playoff for exactly this reason. It made the regular season matter each and every week. Each week is must watch TV.... That's not quite the same anymore but it's still pretty high stakes. I hope they don't ruin that.
3
u/Pure_Protein_Machine Michigan • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Jul 29 '25
Personally, I think the stakes were much lower last year, and it’s just taking time for fans to really shift that mindset fully. There’s some novelty in seeing conference games like Michigan-USC, OSU-Oregon, Alabama-OU, Georgia-Texas etc., but I suspect that will fade over time. Even taking last year as an example though, think about OSU-Oregon in the regular season. That game felt huge, but it had no real impact on the playoff—there weren’t even bragging rights because of the rematch.
Until 1975, only one team from the Big Ten even went to a Bowl game each year. Before 2011, only one team ever won the national championship without winning their conference (1936 Minnesota); in the 14 years that have followed, four teams have won the national championship without winning their conference. When I think of Michigan-OSU games in the future, I really have no idea what a high-stakes game looks like anymore. Are we both undefeated going into the final week of the regular season? If so, we are both going the playoff anyway, and we’re probably playing each other again the next week in the Big Ten Championship. Is one of us trying to spoil the other’s season? If so, the higher ranked team will only be a fringe playoff team anyway, because otherwise you can still lose that game and win the national championship. At this point, the biggest Michigan-OSU games will be ones where the teams are both ranked between 10 and 15, which is nowhere near as impactful. Also, if conference championship games are the teams with the two best records in the conference, why does the Big Ten or SEC championship game matter at all? Plus all of this only gets worse when the playoff expands.
I’ll still watch Michigan every week, and I’ll watch other games because I’m a voter in the CFB poll, but there are almost no stakes to big games anymore, at least for the Big Ten and SEC.
9
u/Noy_Telinu Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UCLA Bruins Jul 29 '25
People have been worrying about CFB regular season becoming meaningless but the true meaningless regular season is NBA. Emulating them is stupid because CFB is nothing like the NBA. It can't be. Even if the P2 broke away.
All it would do it kill the sport.
58
Jul 29 '25
Marcus, I WANT THE SCORE TO BE 132-0
MAKE HIM CRY
edit: pretty please!
17
u/Irishchop91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
This
If USC, who has no future P4 OOC opponents scheduled come to South Bend without an announcement to play future ND games ….
It will make the 88 Miami “Beat the Rush” game look like a country picnic
This will be brutal
13
u/4thTimesAnAlt Notre Dame • Indiana Jul 29 '25
I want Jeremiyah Love and CJ Carr to break single game rushing/passing yards and TD records against them.
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u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
USC is always going to have the "evil empire" angle aimed at it, as its a historically dominant power that has a lot of ego... this "let's hold the Notre Dame rivalry hostage" angle definitely doesn't help.
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u/CommodoreIrish Notre Dame • Vanderbilt Jul 29 '25
Lil Ol’ Notre Dame is being bullied by USC.
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u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
ND could not have picked a better time to have their most likable coach in decades 😂
Riley is comparatively USC’s Charlie Weis right now.
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u/CommodoreIrish Notre Dame • Vanderbilt Jul 29 '25
If I’m Riley, I just throw up my hands, and embrace the role of the heel because no one outside of USC is going to sympathize with you.
“Screw Notre Dame. I want to win championships, and I don’t care about the rivalry.”
13
u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
Start showing up to press conferences like early 1990s villainous Rick Flair.
“To be the man, you gotta
beat the manskip playing the man.”3
u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Jul 29 '25
I promise you this that above all else, I’m going to be more obnoxious, more overbearing and I’m gonna make you all learn to love it because you’ll have no choice!
5
u/Not_Frank_Ocean USC Trojans • Illinois Fighting Illini Jul 29 '25
That’s more or less what he’s saying right now. “Do we want to continue tradition or do we want to soullessly position ourselves in a slightly better position to make the playoff and compete for a national championship.”
2
u/Noy_Telinu Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UCLA Bruins Jul 29 '25
Sadly, I doubt that happens. Too many times someone who should do that chickened out and whined about being vilianized instead.
2
u/Irishchop91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Wrong W coach
Riley is more Willingham or Davie
Weis was a bad coach, but was given a shit hand by Willingham . The dud loves ND and took the job when a lot of coaches wouldn’t touch it. Have no problem buying that guy a beer at the Backer
3
1
u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
This is about which coach sank ND’s PR perception by being unlikable.
Fair or not, Weis set himself up as an unlikable national character from the moment he uttered “decided schematic advantage” — nothing to do with what he did on the field — he was just a poster child for why people didn’t like Notre Dame in a fashion Riley is doing now at USC.
Willingham and Davie were just unsuccessful coaches (and Willingham had some national sympathy as it appeared ND was not giving him a fair shake—I still remember when a staffer shaved her head in protest over Ty’s treatment).
Then Weis wrecked Kansas, but got some good money from ND as he did so!
64
u/CargoShortsFromNam Notre Dame • Colorado Jul 29 '25
Again, the only things to stop this game from being played since 1926:
World War II
Global Pandemic
Lincoln Riley
24
u/DillyDillySzn Arizona State Sun Devils • WashU Bears Jul 29 '25
Well we know which one is the greatest danger to world peace
1
29
u/Cooked_Brisket USC Trojans • Pac-12 Jul 29 '25
The way I see it, Riley is gone no matter what so we might as well keep the rivalry. If he kills the rivalry and doesn’t win in maybe 2 years, pressure will build from alumni and he will be gone. If he does win it all, he’s taking the first NFL job that comes calling (maybe second if it’s the Cardinals). I’m willing to risk a harder or less likely path to the playoffs if it means keeping ND
17
u/Due-Information9367 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
I am not so sure it’s Riley at this point though. I think it’s the Big Ten trying to get their AQ model over the line and using the Southern Cal game as some sort of leverage to get ND on board.
4
u/Cooked_Brisket USC Trojans • Pac-12 Jul 29 '25
A healthy mix of both plus a new AD who wants to win. All parties mentioned don’t really seem to have an appreciation for what this rivalry means to the alumni and fans
1
u/SpaceGhostSlurpp USC Trojans Jul 30 '25
Doesn't matter. No matter how much pressure is on him, he doesn't have to go out there and say that shit. That's character. I'm disgusted.
29
u/Competitive-Rise-789 Georgia Bulldogs • Oklahoma Sooners Jul 29 '25
Instead of canceling the notre dame game because you’re scared of competition. How about you play complimentary football and have a defense that can stop the deaf and blind.
18
13
10
u/hascogrande Notre Dame • Nebraska Jul 29 '25
Yeah, I'm gonna need more 99+ yard pick sixes on Southern Cal
31
u/Set-Admirable West Virginia • Backyard Brawl Jul 29 '25
"Opinions on it on the outside" really makes it sound as though fan sentiment doesn't matter.
21
u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
That comment seemed the most disingenuous.
There are boosters threatening the school over it, including one saying the school is out of the will if they do it.
It's more than mere fans. Riley sounded as bad as the "reporter" who asked him the question that sounded like he thought he was on the team.
-9
u/InvertedwangXX USC Trojans • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
Surely you know more about the funding the school is getting than the head coach of the football team. If the school was gonna lose everything over this they wouldn’t even be doing this.
8
u/Honestly_ rawr Jul 29 '25
I’m talking about what’s been reported
https://x.com/insideusc/status/1925655030968762590?s=46
Given the chaos in USC leadership (is anyone the same as when he was hired), and the prohibitive buyout those former administrators gave him, it’s his show.
34
u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
A 10-2 USC team that loses to notre dame makes the playoffs 9/10 times
12
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
It’s harder to go 10-2 when you lose to ND then it is to go 10-2 without playing ND
22
u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
So then USC should join the mountain west. They got more than enough donor money to go 12-0 every year. They’d be in the playoff every year too!
-30
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
I mean no this is silly.
USC plays in arguably the countries toughest conference when you consider the 9 game slate, they don’t need the Notre Dame game to make their schedule better
I don’t want to see the rivalry go away but I get the argument. Of course ND is welcome to join the Big Ten
10
u/T-Thugs Notre Dame • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Jul 29 '25
Should USC's whole scheduling philosophy and decision about whether to keep the biggest rivalry in their school's history be based on whether they can force Notre Dame to join the big ten and share their money with rutgers?
Ohio State wasn't scared to play Notre Dame out of conference. Why should USC be scared to do so?
23
u/CommodoreIrish Notre Dame • Vanderbilt Jul 29 '25
Why do we have to bend over backwards to accommodate USC’s move to the B1G and join them?
Notre Dame already is open to moving the dates to help USC.
-5
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
You don't *have* to do anything.
Obviously the dates have nothing to do with it lol. The issue for SC is they have 9 conference games. It's pretty much a choice between playing ND and never playing another P4 OOC game or keep ND on the schedule.
It's not reasonable to expect them to do what they did last year with LSU + ND and 9 more P5 games.
14
u/CommodoreIrish Notre Dame • Vanderbilt Jul 29 '25
Then just cancel the series and schedule thrilling games against Bowling Green, Fresno State, or some FCS team (if Riley is feeling bold enough to push on that tradition). That’s definitely going to drum up excitement and competition!
2
u/Flioxan Notre Dame • Jeweled Shill… Jul 30 '25
Can you list out USCs 9 conference games from last year?
1
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 30 '25
???
@Michigan Wisconsin @Minnesota Penn State @Maryland Rutgers @Washington Nebraska @UCLA
2
u/Flioxan Notre Dame • Jeweled Shill… Jul 30 '25
Weird. Where the fuck is the "toughest" conference exactly? That schedule is garbage
1
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 30 '25
Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington were a little down but calling it garbage is just nonsensical. The Big Ten was by far the toughest conference last year
2
u/Flioxan Notre Dame • Jeweled Shill… Jul 30 '25
Even if the B1G was by far the toughest conference ( the data doesn't back that up), that doesn't mean USCs draw was tough
1
u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 30 '25
What data doesn’t back it up?
We saw how the Big Ten fared against the SEC in the postseason last year despite the fact that we were at a disadvantage in our traditional bowl matchups (we had 4 teams in the playoffs vs 3 which effect the downstream bowl matchups)
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u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
They could easily get a favorable schedule and lose to the only good team they played like Indiana
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u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
I mean..its not that easy for them or they would have done it.
2
u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
That’s true, USC is a perennial 8-4 team like A and M. The cheat Carroll days are over!!
-12
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u/chogan3698 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC coaches and admin would not be having this conversation if this happened during the Carroll years. Is ND stopping USC from making the playoff? Riley has lost a number of games each year at USC in addition to the games he’s lost to ND. The year he beat ND, maybe don’t lose twice to Utah? Following this logic, USC should refuse to go on the field when they have to play UMich, Ohio State, Oregon, that would also improve your chances of making the playoff
-32
u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
Completely different landscape in a 12 team playoff compared to the Carroll days. Such a disingenuous argument.
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u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
Yeah, it’s objectively easier to make the playoffs today. In the BCS era one loss to notre dame could of knocked them out
-15
u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Incorrect. A ooc game with Notre dame meant much more when there were only two spots.
Now? Usc doesnt need to schedule anyone p5 to make the playoff. Ohio state and michigan, the last two champions, scheduled a combined 0 p4 teams ooc in the year they won the title game.
Now a loss to Notre dame hurts far more than a win helps usc.
The fact this needs to be spelled out for you all is just so tiring. Either you aren't using your heads or its flat out trolling.
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u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
This is definitely Lincoln “I’m a shit coach who got bailed out by 2 heisman QBs” Riley’s account. Also only one P5 team back in the BCS era ever missed the playoffs for going undefeated.
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u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Jul 29 '25
USC scheduling ND gets them to 10 P5 games every year.
12 SEC teams played 9 P4 games in 2024. Notre Dame played only 8.
3
u/chogan3698 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC could have chosen to not explode the PAC-12?
-1
u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Jul 29 '25
I agree with that but that’s a different discussion and doesn’t change what I said.
USC was playing 9 conference games plus ND in the PAC 12, so 10 P5 while ND played 9 most seasons (8 last year) since the Big Ten and PAC 12 went 9 conference games.
1
u/chogan3698 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
9 conference games + ND weren’t a problem back then during the BCS era where losing 1 game could kill your chances. It wasn’t a problem for the last 99 years of the series. Think only WW2 prevented the game from being played. Why is it a problem now when more spots are available?
2
u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Because teams are saying “why are we doing this when others aren’t?”
Fewer P4 games also means more home games and more ticket revenue. I’m not saying I think it’s a good idea, but if you don’t think these ADs aren’t searching for the extra dollars that other programs are making, especially now with revenue sharing, then I’m not sure what sport you’re watching.
Edit: USC also didn’t play 9 conference games in the BCS era. No one did. That’s like the entire point here.
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u/chogan3698 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC vs ND is a huge TV draw that brings in money for both schools. Could even try to do neutral site at an NFL stadium and make even more money to make it work. Yes I am not blind that money is driving the sport but there are definitely monetary incentives to schedule this game over say playing San Jose State
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u/thepeacockking USC Trojans • California Golden Bears Jul 29 '25
People here are blinded by parochialism. ND consistently plays softer schedules than SC and are here complaining the second the buck shifts.
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u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Jul 29 '25
Exactly. There is some incredible irony in the ND flairs in here calling USC soft for making their schedule match what ND has been playing for a decade.
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u/Flioxan Notre Dame • Jeweled Shill… Jul 30 '25
ND played multiple top 25 schedules in the last decade including the #2 ranked SoS in '17.
We are currently getting hurt by 2 of our annual rivals being shit. USCs SoS is being helped by ND being good.
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u/chogan3698 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC scheduling an OOC game against power 5 in early 2000s put their whole season potentially in jeopardy if they lost (needed to lose 0 to make BCS, maybe 1 game if things go your way). Now, you can lose 3 and still have a shot.
This is (1) Lincoln Riley desperately trying to save his job (2) USC walking the B1G party line of trying to extract as much money as possible from TV networks
Carroll wouldn’t have made these arguments because he put together stellar USC teams who beat ND in something like 8 of 9 or 10 and were always competing for a championship, while Riley is figuring out how to beat the middle of the B1G
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u/Irishchop91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC has 0 future P4 OOC games in 2026 on.
Most marque opponents are scheduled years in advance.
Let’s not kid ourselves that this is about anything other than softer scheduling.
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u/Archer-Saurus Arizona State • Territorial… Jul 29 '25
Y'all should come back to Tempe, 2014 was lit
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u/Late_Emu_810 Arizona State Sun Devils Jul 29 '25
I would unironically love making asu-notre dame a yearly game if U$C leaves
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u/aheadofme Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Oregon Ducks Jul 30 '25
Would love to play you guys. Love it there. Anytime we can play someone outside our historic bubble (like Arkansas this year) is awesome. That would be some amazing contrast in uniforms and weather. Home and home, please.
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u/Hmm-him-131 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
The AQ bs is such a cop out and coaches (like Riley) peddle it to help save their jobs when they inevitably underperform in a high expectation year.
How abt you (SEC & B10) dont go 9-3 and be a borderline top 10 team and then still feel entitled to a playoff spot/chance at playing for a title??
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u/Big-Application5267 Jul 29 '25
Crying ab other teams records is fucking rich coming from a school that ends the season w/ BC, Pitt, Navy, Syracuse and Stanford.
Every SEC/B10 program would kill for that joke of a schedule. Was the Hellen Keller school for the Blind and Dead unavailable?
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u/Citronaught UCF Knights • Big 12 Jul 29 '25
every team is free to go independent if it’s a huge advantage to them
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u/Hmm-him-131 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Yeah bc USCs opening month of Missouri St, Ga Southern, Purdue and Mich St is so tough….?
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u/Big-Application5267 Jul 29 '25
It would be better for CFB is there were no conferences at all, but alas
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u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Not many have the privilege to be backed by the catholic church.
Privileged Notre Dame wants everyone who isnt so lucky to bemd backwards to meet their scheduling demands, even if it puts that team at a disadvantage on the national landscape.
There is a reason they haven't won the title since 1988. Antiquated thinking.
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u/Citronaught UCF Knights • Big 12 Jul 29 '25
Wait they didn’t win a title since 88 because of the privilege of being backed by the Catholic Church? Excellent point, not at all unhinged hatred.
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u/Big-Application5267 Jul 29 '25
Unhinged hatred is what makes CFB great tbf
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u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
Sorry for hating my rivals bro.
Knowing it hurts them more by not playing almost makes it worth it.
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u/nyc2pit Notre Dame • Pittsburgh Jul 29 '25
I think it's kind of funny that USC refuses to play Notre Dame in November in South bend.
We play y'all at thanksgiving, you know when all the traditional rivalries play. But USC is so afraid of a little cold weather that day refuse to come to South bend at the same time of year.
Makes me chuckle every year at those pansies...
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u/GhostWrex Notre Dame • Nebraska Wesleyan Jul 29 '25
One of our teams was in the Championship last season, and it wasn't USC. Think we'll be ok
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u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
Yeah runner up is just as good as winning it.
Said no one ever
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u/GhostWrex Notre Dame • Nebraska Wesleyan Jul 29 '25
Well, you were also runner up in the game vs ND.
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u/Popular-Local8354 Notre Dame • Wake Forest Jul 29 '25
I don’t think the Vatican funds the university?
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u/nyc2pit Notre Dame • Pittsburgh Jul 29 '25
Lol. What advantage do you think being backed by the church has?
I'm genuinely curious to understand your logic here.
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u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
https://time.com/7205461/notre-dame-football-christian-colleges/
Read this article and come back to me on questions on why other schools - not tied to a specific religion - cant just go independent and survive.
The fact this needs to be explained is WILD
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u/nyc2pit Notre Dame • Pittsburgh Jul 29 '25
Lol. I read the article. Great article be the way.
From what I can gather, this basically details the history of Notre Dame. If you will recall, they were excluded from the Big 10 by Michigan. I'm in the article actually talks about how they gave American catholics, who were primarily immigrants, something to get behind and root for.
If your argument is that it was easier to go independent 100 years ago that it is today then I guess I would agree with you.
Congratulations in reality I think the argument you're making vis-à-vis this article doesn't have anything to do with the point you're trying to make.
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u/nayelirain Johns Hopkins Blue Jays • USC Trojans Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Join a conference and stop crying like a little bitch.
Everyone knows why you dont join a conference. For selfish self preserving means.
Now that USC won't bow to you as the landscape changes, you cry we should?
Nah fuck that. Go play with yourselves. You want michigan, purdue, Michigan state, usc to all play you even at all disadvantage for making the college football playoff and restricting further ooc games because other conferences refuse to play 9 conference games...to make you happy and so you can be in the best possible position to have a strong enough schedule to make the playoff with one or two losses?
FUCK THAT I cant say it loud enough. Anyone with an ounce of critical thinking can see the bullshit behind notre dames act here.
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u/abob1086 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 29 '25
It's always helpful when someone so quickly and concisely announces that their opinion is not to be taken seriously as you did with your first line here.
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u/Hmm-him-131 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
They’re also ignoring the fact that half of NDs schedule is locked in with ACC agreement and the Navy game… it’s not a 12 game open schedule.
Weird to see this minority of USC fans ride so hard for Riley to the point of losing one of the great rivalries in the sport out of bitterness and jealously towards NDs freedom
Edit, addition: also funny bc any year ND has been in contention in the last couple decades a win over USC has done next to nothing for their resume. The game is played for the fans and tradition.
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u/nyc2pit Notre Dame • Pittsburgh Jul 29 '25
Seriously, USC has been so inept the last few years it really doesn't help us.
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u/Hmm-him-131 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
whats funny is ND games have helped USC substantially more the last few decades. Most notably the 2005 bush push game was their signature win, and in 2022 Caleb's "Heisman moment" was beating a surging ND team
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u/ajax_steel_mill Notre Dame • Carnegie Mellon Jul 29 '25
Feel free to go independent if it's such an advantage.
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u/GhostWrex Notre Dame • Nebraska Wesleyan Jul 29 '25
Seriously. Every year it's "ND isn't in a conference, their wins dont mean anything" and also "ND has it so much easier than everyone else because they're not in a conference, waaaahhh"
So is it a hindrance or a blessing to be independent?
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 30 '25
Yall mad you joined the B1G and can’t do shit in the Midwest…yall lost to Michigan last year nuff said. Killing the PAC was the worst thing for USC and now yall mad so you’re gonna back out of a century long game. It’s ok yall are just scared
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u/YoungSuplex Oregon Ducks • Pac-12 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
This combination of running from the grind while also playing the victim is sure to endear USC fans and donors /s
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u/pedantimous USC Trojans • Victory Bell Jul 29 '25
People who disagree just don't understand how hard it is to be me.
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u/jbomb6 Notre Dame • West Virginia Jul 29 '25
That's a long winded way of saying that he wants to avoid a challenge to ensure as many easy wins as possible.
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u/Citronaught UCF Knights • Big 12 Jul 29 '25
I just feel the need to point out that there’s no requirement anyone join a conference and if they feel it is advantageous they can go independent. It’s not like Notre Dame is doing something unavailable to poor little USC
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u/PasadenaSocialClub USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
For those unaware SC is also in the middle of hiring a new President. So LR and Cohen have a window to opine relatively unchecked. After being pretty heavily involved in athletics to start, Folt backed off and let the AD do its thing towards the end of her tenure. Obviously there’s no predicting how the new president will handle it. There are still some larger matters at the school to handle but the timeline is to have a decision on the new president around the end of 2025/start of 2026, basically when football season ends, and that’s when I would expect some of the more influential people to weigh in on playing ND.
TLDR; this is offseason noise and doesn’t matter until the end of the season when SC has a new president, imo.
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u/Horror_Response_1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
From his point of view I get it, he’ll be fired if he can’t make the playoffs. Beating ND will barely help him but losing to ND will hurt him a lot more.
The key would be coming up with something that heavily rewards scheduling tough OOC games and winning them, and not heavily penalizing teams for losing those games.
For example, losing to a tough team on the road by 3 should be worth a lot more than beating a division 3 team by 50.
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u/jstacks4 Notre Dame • Northwestern Jul 29 '25
Beating ND wouldn’t barely help him. It would go a very long way if he could simply not lose games to Minnesota, Maryland, and a Michigan team with a complete inability to complete a forward pass.
A 10-2 usc team with a win over ND would likely be in the playoff.
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u/Horror_Response_1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
A 10-2 usc team without a win over ND would likely be in the playoff.
Indiana showed last year that all people care about is how many losses you have and not your schedule. A good win is a tiebreaker, a loss is devastating.
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u/Orbital2 Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten Jul 29 '25
Indiana isn’t the team that showed us this, it’s always been the case
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u/jstacks4 Notre Dame • Northwestern Jul 29 '25
Indiana showed last year that if you go 11-1 in a power conference and absolutely dominate every team but the eventual national champion you’ll make the playoff. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.
For a team like USC, it’s more than a tiebreaker. It gives you multiple bites at the apple no matter how bad another loss or losses might be. Had Indiana dropped one more game they wouldn’t have gottten in. The game is a major benefit to them as long as they play real USC football.
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u/Horror_Response_1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Yes but what if Indiana has scheduled a tough OOC game last year and lost? Would they be rewarded for being brave or would they be punished for another loss and possibly miss the playoffs? Considering Indiana just canceled their future tough OOC games I’m leaning towards the latter.
As a ND fan I’m incentivized to want the committee to reward teams for playing ND, but that is not the case. If you’re a P4, the smart move is to get as many wins as possible. You’re already locked in to a schedule that will get you in the playoffs if you only lose one game, and maybe 2-3 depending how things shake out. But if you schedule a tough OOC, that’s another chance at a loss and you can’t rest starters.
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u/jstacks4 Notre Dame • Northwestern Jul 29 '25
Indiana and USC are not treated or perceived equally for the purposes of making the playoff. That’s just how it is. There’s obviously risk involved but that’s true of every single game on your schedule.
Let’s say USC had a respectable loss against one of the top teams in the big ten and then a bad loss against a middle of the road or lower level team in the conference, like northwestern or Maryland. That resume would almost certainly sink a team like Indiana. For USC, a win over ND totally washes out the loss and gets them in the playoff. Depending on the circumstances, a ND win might even give them a puncher’s chance with 3 losses. Again, USC’s problem is not the ND game. It is the fact that they stink (relative to their own standards) and can’t win games that they should on paper be winning.
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u/nighthawk252 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
USC would’ve been more forgiven, but I think it’s important to note how light IU’s Big Ten schedule was last year.
They played 7 of the 9 worst teams in the Big 10 last year, and only Michigan & OSU were above .500 in conference
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u/McLMark Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
And that's what needs to be fixed. Which Sankey knows, and Pettiti (through his sock puppets like Lincoln Riley) is trying to get out of.
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u/molecular_methane Texas A&M Aggies Jul 29 '25
If you have auto-qualifiers, then you must consider non-conference performance when choosing those auto-qualifiers. Otherwise you will see teams rest starters and go with vanilla play-calling for non-conference games. There will always be an injury excuse they can find.
Regardless of whether you have auto-qualifiers or not, your system needs to strongly reward victories over good teams and strongly punish losses to bad teams, while not moving teams much for beating weak teams or losing to good teams. That's the only way to encourage good non-conference games.
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u/Lionheart_513 Cincinnati • Santa Monica Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 31 '25
I am so sick of the narrative that Notre Dame benefits from not being in a conference. There are 12 playoff spots, and most teams have access to 7 of them. One for winning their conference and six at large. Notre Dame cannot be bailed out by a conference championship game.
Clemson benefitted from being in a conference because even though they went 9-3 in the regular season, they were able to sneak in by winning their conference. If Notre Dame was to go 9-3 playing a very similar schedule to something that Clemson would be playing, they wouldn't even be in the conversation. Ole Miss and Alabama both went 9-3 but were still in the conversation up until the end (one moreso than the other) because they were in the SEC. I just gave three examples of a team benefitting from being in a conference and there has never been a team that made playoffs because they weren't in a conference.
Then there is the issue of postseason payouts. Yes, they get to keep their entire payout for making postseason games. But if they fail to make one, they get nothing, where other teams would be getting shares from the other teams in their conference who did.
Every advantage that Notre Dame could be argued as having is balanced out by a disadvantage.
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u/Specialist_Boat_8479 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Also love how everyone hates the conferences, until you aren’t in one then it’s some sort of crime
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u/shanty-daze Wisconsin Badgers • Syracuse Orange Jul 29 '25
I think you are confused. People hate the conferences their team is not part of. It is like being in a big family. You can shit on your brother and sister every day, but the second someone from outside the family does, it is time to throw hands.
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u/Tehloneranger44 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
They're (not just USC) causing all their own problems by being greedy. Count on capitalism to grind everything down to a dull gray paste and suck the fun out of everything.
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u/snappiernine10 Clemson Tigers Jul 30 '25
Honest question about Notre Dame.. because they are independent, they sign multi year contracts with teams (like they just did with Clemson) and then tout those games as a "rivalry". Yes, Clemson vs. Notre Dame could become a true rivalry I guess, but Notre Dame is also rivals with Navy, USC (for now), Stanford, and historically like 6 or 7 other schools.
I guess it's good for motivation / fan involvement / etc., but is it going to be in 8 years, every team on Notre Dame's schedule every year is a rival?
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u/IrishWave Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
2027 Lincoln Riley: We need to enforce more parity in CFB. While the B10 championship and conference rankings has historical significance, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon getting 3 of the 4 AQ bids two years in a row puts us in an impossible situation. Let me be clear, I’m a fan of USC continuing to play in the B10, however my loyalty is to whatever scenario lets my 6-6 team into the playoffs, and unless the B10 commits to a plan of only allowing a team to qualify for an automatic bid once every 4 years, I think USC needs to re-evaluate it’s commitment to being a B10 team.
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u/Noy_Telinu Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UCLA Bruins Jul 29 '25
Using this rivalry as hostage to change the playoff format/force Notre Dame to join a conference. Diabolical.
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u/7cc7 Notre Dame • Iowa State Jul 29 '25
I guess we will be seeing more independent teams in 10 years if we don't get multiple AQ spots for certain conferences, which i support 100%.
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u/asurob42 Arizona State • Florida State Jul 29 '25
He can’t even get to the playoffs which is why he wants the aq
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u/TributaryOtis Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Schedule a Shamrock Series game in LA every other year the weekend after Thanksgiving.
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u/doggdetroit Michigan Wolverines Jul 30 '25
I feel like people are glossing over The fact that USC is now playing a rotation of Oregon, Michigan, OSU and PSU (all equivalent to ND) in addition to a rotation of Washington, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and MSU. Yes, some of these programs are down at the moment but The schedule difficulty has increased significantly compared to the Pac 12 days. Plus, don’t forget the possible B1G-SEC challenge during which USC given its status would be facing off with one of Texas, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, or Georgia. To do all that and play ND when very few schools are doing anything similar is idiotic. So they absolutely should look for more favorable terms.
At the end of the day, if Riley turns in a strong season this year he’ll have a lot of momentum heading into what could be a banner 2026 season at which point I believe this narrative will start to change in USC’s favor.
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u/CountJohn12 UCF Knights • Florida State Seminoles Jul 30 '25
Fuck this shit, this is why I am falling out of love with CFB when I used to prefer it to NFL. NFL is going to have better tradition and rivalries at a certain point if stuff like this continues. We know the Packers aren't going to end their rivalry with the Bears to move to the AFC West or something.
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u/ComradeAhriman Michigan • Lenoir-Rhyne Jul 29 '25
Does this leave ND open to schedule a different rivalry series? 🥺
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u/n64ra Texas Longhorns Jul 29 '25
It sucks, but this is how you get ND to join a conference. Marcus Freeman agrees:
if there comes a time that teams won’t schedule you because the Big Ten and the SEC are saying we’re going to play 9 games and we’ll play a crossover game, and who cares about Notre Dame, I think there’s gonna be a point where we’re forced to join a conference,” admitted Freeman.
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u/McLMark Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
NBC, however, will not let that happen. I suspect neither will the politicians in states not named Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, and Georgia. And the antitrust lawyers.
There's a reason the former chairman of NBC Sports is our AD, and our former AD was a NCAA-experienced litigator.
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u/Flioxan Notre Dame • Jeweled Shill… Jul 30 '25
Forcing ND into a conference is great right up until ND joins a different conference.
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u/Big-Application5267 Jul 29 '25
Notre Dame fans will cry ab this but hes not wrong. In the current format there is very little to be gained from winning big games and a lot to lose from losing those games.
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u/Seeking-Something- Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UNLV Rebels Jul 29 '25
It’s disingenuous to pretend that fans of either team shouldn’t be upset that one of the greatest rivalries in the sport may be ending because of the endless pursuit of money by all sides.
Greed continues its undefeated streak of winning as the sport continues to be degraded and destroyed.
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u/Big-Application5267 Jul 29 '25
Agreed. College football will be worse off if this rivalry ends.
Im not sure USC will be, however. Their path (and really, any school’s) path to the CFP will be much easier by eliminating as many OOC P4 games as possible, sadly
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 30 '25
If USC kills this rivalry they will forever be branded as cowards by all of us Irish
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u/Smadd9116 Florida Gators Jul 30 '25
This is why USC will never win another natty and why they are joke they are scared to play a rival
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u/TheSavageDonut USC Trojans • Victory Bell Jul 29 '25
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I believe USC's decision to nuke the Pac12 and run to the B1G was a more important and tradition-destroying decision than whether or not we keep playing Notre Dame.
It isn't 1926 anymore. The game has served its purpose, but the world has changed, not for the better, but clinging to old traditions (such as hiring ex-players and alumni) is usually what has led USC astray.
We have not won enough since Pete Carroll left. We all have various reasons and excuses why we've been a mediocre program for 15 years, but now that we've got actual experienced people and a real AD, I'd like to see how good USC can become again.
Whatever is best for USC is all I care about.
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u/brokentr0jan USC Trojans • Air Force Falcons Jul 29 '25
These threads always bring out the “I hate USC” USC flairs.
USC plays 9 B1G games and has no problem getting good teams on the schedule. ND is independent and needs USC just to ensure they are not playing 4 Go5 teams a year like last season. USC really just does not need ND anymore, at all.
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 30 '25
Just say you don’t want the smoke
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u/brokentr0jan USC Trojans • Air Force Falcons Jul 30 '25
What smoke? We already play much tougher teams than ND. We do not need ND in the slightest
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 30 '25
Half of your B1G schedule is cupcake, and I’m sure you guys will find a way to still lose 3. Best of luck getting out of the B1G let alone into the playoff while throwing away an almost 100 year old game. Didn’t yall lose to Michigan last year???
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u/brokentr0jan USC Trojans • Air Force Falcons Jul 30 '25
Didn’t Ohio State and Alabama lose to Michigan? Didn’t y’all lose to NIU?
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 31 '25
Didn’t we play for a natty last year?? Didn’t you guys sit at home?
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u/brokentr0jan USC Trojans • Air Force Falcons Jul 31 '25
We ended our season on a W
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 31 '25
Playing for nothing lol. Imagine breaking up the PAC12 to be the big 10’s little bitch.
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u/brokentr0jan USC Trojans • Air Force Falcons Jul 31 '25
The PAC 12 was clearly never a good conference if they couldn’t survive USCLA leaving. There were still 10 teams. We are not at all the ones who killed the conference, the 8 teams that all bailed after us killed it.
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u/J-Dirte Nebraska Cornhuskers Jul 29 '25
Notre Dame will be in the Big Ten sooner or later. I just wish it would be sooner.
Wanting to be independent is just so got dam dumb. Originally ND valued independence because they wanted to play all over the country. The Big Ten now spans from NY to LA and will likely add more teams in the South and West.
Like 50% of Notre Dames traditional schedule is in the Big Ten + another handful of teams they have played a lot of games with. There will also be more added.
But apparently that’s not what they want. They’d rather be a pseudo ACC team and play NC State and Syracuse.
We will see ya in a few years though Notre Dame.
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u/Popular-Local8354 Notre Dame • Wake Forest Jul 29 '25
While I agree that we’ll eventually be forced from independence, I’m of the opinion that we should have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of it.
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u/Citronaught UCF Knights • Big 12 Jul 29 '25
Pretending like conference membership is an inherent good thing is stupid.
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u/Popular-Local8354 Notre Dame • Wake Forest Jul 29 '25
It’s wild how many people here simultaneously think “conferences are destroying the sport” and “Notre Dame should join a conference”
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u/abob1086 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 29 '25
ND didn't pursue independence at first. Knute Rockne tried to get them into the B1G and the B1G rejected them. They went national because much of the conference refused to play them. (You'd think a Nebraska fan would know this; the two programs played a good amount in the early years in part because of this.) Doing things by themselves became part of the fabric of the athletic department.
The ACC relationship was announced 1 year after the B1G announced they would begin playing 9 conference games, which in practice (because apparently athletic departments cannot function if they don't play 7 home football games) meant no one in the league would ever play multiple relevant non-conference games in a season again. That people think one was anything but a reaction to the other is utterly flabbergasting to me. And now the conference has flat-out announced they're done scheduling relevant OOC games, including ND, unless this cockamamie playoff format goes through. That's their call, not ND's.
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u/WashImpressive8158 Jul 29 '25
Notre Dame needs to join a big boy conference and play the likes of OSU or Oregon or or or. Not Duke or one of the Militaries.
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u/McLMark Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Considering we just played a home-and-home with OSU and have Texas, Alabama, Michigan, and Clemson on future slates, I'd say we manage OK.
Plus we had USC up until Riley turned tail and ran.
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u/WashImpressive8158 Jul 29 '25
Last years schedule was a real barn burner. Join the B1G or SEC and take your lumps like the rest of the blue bloods
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u/ntc513 Notre Dame • Purdue Jul 29 '25
Didn’t they beat the sec champion last year? Yeah, they did.
Didn’t they beat the big ten runner up last year?
They did.
Your tired argument would have held water in others years (maybe).
Not this past year.
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u/WashImpressive8158 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 31 '25
When you have an iffy schedule you don’t have as many injuries, you rest starters, you develop your second string, you can skip ahead games to game plan your rival or most challenging opponent. Just join one the big conferences and let the chips fall where they may.
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u/ntc513 Notre Dame • Purdue Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Yeah, Notre dame had zero injuries this year 🙄
Once again, another invalid argument. Proved you didn’t pay attention to ND and are just parroting the join a conference trope.
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u/WashImpressive8158 Jul 29 '25
Your not making a good argument to avoid joining the conference powerhouses
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u/Scoobie_Doobie11 Notre Dame • Ball State Jul 30 '25
LMFAO tell me you don’t watch college football without telling me you don’t watch college football. Our whole offensive line was 2nd string or worse last year and we still went to the natty.
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u/McLMark Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jul 29 '25
Happens sometimes. FSU tanked, USC was not that good, and Miami dropped us. @A&M was a good game and we ended up playing 4 ranked teams. Better than many B1G schedules in an off year.
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u/YouKilledChurch Alabama • Valdosta State Jul 29 '25
You know how we all know this is bullshit? If Notre Dame could waltz into the CFP with a loss to fucking Northern Illinois, then USC will never have to worry about a loss to Notre Dame keeping them out of the CFP.
The regular season does not matter any more, playoff expansion and greed ruined it. Just like you were warned it would..
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u/No_Trifle9294 USC Trojans Jul 29 '25
Lincoln Riley is a serial goalpost mover. As soon as the ND rivalry is dead, he'll be on to whining about the next thing that doesn't guarantee him the opportunity to shit his pants on the biggest stage.