A week after Alabama and Tennessee announced they’ll both wear home uniforms when they meet this season, the idea of more color-on-color matchups has started bubbling up again in college football. Trojans Wire’s Matt Zemek made the case that it should become the norm. But when it comes to USC and UCLA, that path would strip away something that has made the Crosstown Showdown stand out for decades.
The Trojans and Bruins already do this every year, and that’s exactly why it works. The uniform setup isn’t just a stylistic choice; it’s tied to the history of both schools sharing the Coliseum, which made the rivalry feel like a home game for each side.
Even now, that feel hasn’t gone away. In even years at the Rose Bowl, USC still brings a big contingent of students, fans, and band members to Pasadena, while UCLA gets the same kind of treatment in odd years at the Coliseum.
That’s why the matchup hits differently. Both teams in their home jerseys gives the game its own identity, and that identity would fade fast if it became common everywhere else. If USC were already wearing Cardinal on the road throughout the season, then the sight of the Trojans and Bruins in matching home looks wouldn’t carry the same punch when the Crosstown Showdown rolls around.
The argument for more of these games is easy to understand, but the appeal is partly in the scarcity. The same logic shows up in College Football Playoff expansion: more can sound better until it starts watering down what makes the big moments matter. The special stuff stops feeling special when it shows up all the time.
There’s also a real case for keeping USC’s road whites exactly where they are. They’ve become linked with some of the program’s most memorable wins in brutal road environments, including the Bush Push at Notre Dame in 2005, Matt Barkley’s game-winning drive at Ohio State in 2009, and the upset of Oregon in 2011.
Those white jerseys have a certain edge to them. They say USC is walking into somebody else’s house.
Flip that script, and it gets strange fast. USC in Cardinal on the road would look off. And in the Coliseum, there’s no reason to make the Irish, Ducks, or any other visiting team wear home uniforms there - except UCLA, which is the one rivalry where it belongs.
The NFL already tried to push this idea with its Color Rush campaign in the 2010s, and the results were messy. A Bills-Jets game became a problem for color blind fans, and a Buccaneers-Rams matchup ended up getting nicknamed the “ ketchup and mustard game ”.
USC-UCLA is different because it is different. That’s the whole point.
The rivalry has a uniform tradition that fits the history behind it, and there’s no reason to turn that into an every-week gimmick. College football has bigger problems than uniforms.
This one isn’t among them.
In Other News...
Why USC Fans Still Treat One Enemy Different Than Everyone Else
For USC fans, the old grievances still have a way of dwarfing the modern rivalry map. ESPNs recent list of arch-enemies for power conference programs put the NCAA at the top of the Trojans board instead of a fellow school, a nod to how deeply the sanctions from the Reggie Bush investigation still linger in the fan bases memory. The punishment tied to improper benefits never faded into simple history around here; it became part of how USC supporters tell the story of what the program lost and who they blame for it.
The resentment is sharpened by the feeling that college footballs enforcement has never looked even-handed. USCs punishment remains a touchstone in debates over fairness because the NCAAs handling of violations has often seemed inconsistent, and Penn States less severe sanction for far more serious infractions is still a painful comparison for Trojan fans. So while rivalries usually come with a school, a mascot or a border war, USCs most personal beef remains institutional, and it is not hard to see why that edge has never really gone away. [Read more 🡒]
USC Secondary Hype Around Jontez Williams Comes With One Big Catch
Jontez Williams arrives at USC with the kind of rsum that naturally gets people talking. The Iowa State transfer was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2024, and his reputation as a disruptive defensive back has already made him one of the more intriguing pieces in the Trojans secondary heading into the upcoming season. An analyst even slotted him 145th among college football players, which says plenty about the respect he carries and the level of expectation surrounding him in Los Angeles.
For USC, the appeal is obvious: Williams is expected to play a significant role right away in a unit that needs difference-makers. The catch is just as obvious, though no less important. His value to the Trojans hinges on health, and that makes his availability one of the quieter but more consequential storylines as USC tries to stabilize its defense and turn a promising addition into a real asset. [Read more 🡒]
Jayden Maiava Just Gave USC Fans A Huge Reason To Dream
Jayden Maiava is already getting the kind of preseason buzz that can change the temperature around a program. After leading the Big Ten in passing yards last season and piling up more than 3,700 yards with 24 touchdowns, the USC quarterback landed at No. 11 in Blake Brockermeyers preseason ranking of the top 150 college football players, a sign that his stock is rising well beyond the normal offseason chatter.
For USC, that kind of recognition matters because it feeds directly into the bigger picture around the offense and the season ahead. Maiava is being talked about as one of the top quarterbacks in the country, and if he takes another step, the Heisman conversation could follow quickly. The Trojans do not have to wonder whether he belongs on the national radar anymore, only how high that ceiling can go once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]