Should the Notre Dame-USC rivalry continue? Marcus Freeman makes his stance clear

New York Times

2 days ago

Marcus Freeman wants the Notre Dame-USC rivalry extended.
With the future of one of college football's most glamorous rivalries in doubt, Notre Dame's head coach weighed in on a series that began with Knute Rockne but might end with Lincoln Riley. This season's meeting in South Bend — the 93rd game in a series the Irish lead 50-37-5 — could be the final one in the series unless both schools agree on an extension.
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'Where I feel about USC is very clear, would love to play 'em every single year,' Freeman said Thursday. 'Don't matter when we play 'em, I would love to continue the rivalry as long as I'm the head coach here. I think rivalries are great for college football. I think they're great for sports.'
Sports Illustrated reported earlier this month that the schools see the future of the series differently, with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua pushing for an extension to the annual series between programs that have combined for 22 national championships, 15 Heisman Trophy winners and the most NFL Draft picks. USC reportedly doesn't want to enter into a long-term agreement with Notre Dame after its difficult debut season in the Big Ten amid uncertainty about the future of the College Football Playoff model. The Trojans finished 4-5 in the conference, tied for ninth in the league with Rutgers and Washington.
Freeman looked back at the rivalries he has played in, including the Michigan-Ohio State series that rates among the sport's most-watched games annually. Before he was a starting linebacker for the Buckeyes, Freeman was an All-American at Wayne High school in Huber Heights, Ohio.
'I think back to high school when we played this team called the Centerville Elks where we were trying to go after this guy named A.J. Hawk because it was a rivalry,' Freeman said. 'Kirk Herbstreit went there. It was a huge rival.
'You got the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry — those contests are extremely important I think for all sports. And USC-Notre Dame is one that fits right into that category. I think it's great for college football and it's important for us. I'm very clear on wanting to continue that.'
The Notre Dame-USC series has been played annually since it began in 1926, with exceptions for the COVID-19 pandemic (Notre Dame's 2020 trip to Los Angeles was canceled) and World War II (the teams didn't play for three seasons from 1943-45). Beyond that, the series has endured conference realignment and program upheaval, producing iconic moments because of it.
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While it's less clear who needs the rivalry more in the expanding College Football Playoff era, it's obvious to Freeman that Notre Dame is reliant on the USC series for schedule-building purposes. As the sport moves more toward seasons being defined by making the CFP or missing it, Notre Dame's schedule becomes even more paramount, especially as the SEC ponders a move to a nine-game schedule and perhaps even a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten.
If that agreement happens — several SEC coaches, including Brian Kelly, talked it up this week — it could put the Notre Dame-USC series in more peril while also leaving Notre Dame with some difficulty in scheduling other SEC or Big Ten schools due to a lack of availability.
'As far as scheduling, we know that we have to continue to have a challenging schedule to stay independent, and I know Pete Bevacqua and (deputy athletic director) Ron Powlus do a great job of making sure that we stay competitive enough but also not making decisions that are detrimental to our football program, too,' Freeman said. 'So we have to continue to have a competitive schedule that we're not going into the season and say, 'Hey, if you lose one game, you're out of the Playoff.' That's not the same as the SEC and the Big Ten and really any of the other conferences.
'We've got to continuously have a challenging schedule that is truly coast-to-coast.'