USC’s opener against San Jose State did more than leave a few seats open last weekend. It kicked off a familiar college football argument about what fans will actually tolerate when the schedule gets thin.
The pictures from NBC’s broadcast traveled fast on social media: wide patches of empty lower-bowl seats behind the end zone, and plenty of people ready to turn that into a referendum on Trojans fans. One of the loudest sparks came from a post that joked, “Didn’t realize USC’s spring game was today.” From there, the conversation took off in every direction, with even Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire piling on USC supporters for supposedly not caring enough about sports.
But the emptiness at the Coliseum was never just about one fan base. USC had added this game late last year after Lincoln Riley backed out of the Trojans’ semiannual Thanksgiving weekend meeting with Notre Dame, and that context matters.
The source of the scheduling mess is its own debate, but the result was a game that clearly did not pull much interest. If a chunk of fans had framed their absence as a protest, they might have found some sympathy.
Instead, the heat became the explanation, which only gave fans in Texas, Oklahoma and other hotter places a chance to mock Southern California softness.
That is where the bigger question starts to matter. A reader asked whether the empty-seat reaction from Week 0 should force schools to rethink the unappealing matchups they keep putting on the calendar, especially when TV dictates awkward kickoff times and ticket costs keep climbing. The logic is hard to ignore: if fans are paying more and getting less, at some point they may stop showing up for games that feel like filler.
Still, USC and Stanford are not perfect barometers for the rest of the sport. Stanford’s game against Hawaii drew an announced crowd of 23,222, and both schools sit in markets where college football has to fight for attention behind pro sports.
In those places, the home team is not necessarily the top draw in town. The comparison even stretches to the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries, who sell out every home game and would likely outdraw Stanford if Chase Center had more than 18,000 seats.
USC’s own situation is part of the story, too. The heat may have been real, but it is not the only reason the building felt light. Three straight mediocre seasons under Riley have drained some of the local energy around the Trojans, and that matters when the opponent is not a magnet.
The responses from fans of places like Alabama and Oklahoma also revealed the other side of the argument. They were quick to point out that their stadiums sell out regardless of who is visiting.
Fair enough. Nobody is telling fans how to spend their money, and nobody should pretend seven home games a year are nothing.
But that attitude is also part of why schools keep watering down the schedule.
The pattern over the past year has been impossible to miss. Big-name programs have backed away from home-and-home series, especially after the SEC moved to nine conference games.
Georgia-Florida State, Georgia-Louisville, Alabama-West Virginia, South Carolina-Miami, Indiana-Notre Dame - the list keeps growing. The replacement games are usually against G6 or FCS opponents, and the price of admission does not get cheaper just because the opponent does.
That is the real pressure point. Unless enough fans leave enough seats empty on those kinds of games - not just a USC-sized gap, but a visible one on television - schools have little reason to change.
Tony Petitti would argue the answer is the opposite: a 24-team Playoff. The Big Ten commissioner and his conference believe that if an early loss carries less danger, schools will be more willing to schedule a true Big Ten-SEC Challenge in September.
In Other News...
USC Is About To Get An Early Test Up Front
USC is getting a useful measuring stick early, and it comes in the form of a Fresno State defense that was the best unit in the Mountain West a year ago. The Bulldogs held opponents to just 286 yards and 19 points per game, and the strength starts up front under defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto, who brought his system over from Northern Illinois and has plenty of experience to lean on in the trenches.
The matchup should tell plenty about where the Trojans are on the line of scrimmage, especially against a front that has made life hard on the run game. Fresno State went 9-0 last season when it kept opponents under 140 rushing yards, and linebacker Tytus Khajavi is expected to be one of the key players helping set the tone. Against a USC offense that wants to establish itself early, that kind of resistance can reveal a lot quickly. [Read more 🡒]
USC Fans May Not Love This Name In The Next Coaching Cycle
The next college football coaching cycle is already taking shape, and USC will be watching closely as a familiar set of names begins to surface. Kliff Kingsbury, Mike Norvell and Kalani Sitake are all being discussed as possible candidates for upcoming openings, a reminder that the sports carousel never really stops spinning once the season gets going.
For Trojans fans, the part worth tracking is not just who lands where, but which coaches remain in the conversation if jobs at the top of the market open up. Kingsbury, Norvell and Sitake each bring a different profile and a different recent track record, which is why speculation around them is starting to build now, well before any actual vacancy is filled. [Read more 🡒]
USC Already Has One Clear Strength And One Growing Concern
USCs season opener against San Jose State offered an early look at what this roster might already do well, and which parts still need work. Jayden Maiava handled his first game of the year with plenty of positives, while defensive tackle Jide Abasiri also stood out in a performance that gave the Trojans something to build on. There were encouraging contributions, too, from wide receiver Trent Mosley and running back King Miller, suggesting the offense has multiple pieces ready to matter right away.
The concern showed up on the other side of the ball, where the secondary and some individual defenders had a rougher time keeping things clean. Kam Crawford was among the players who struggled, and that mattered because USCs defense is still trying to sort out its identity as the schedule moves forward. One game does not settle the bigger picture, but it did give the Trojans a pretty clear snapshot of where the strength is and where the questions are likely to linger. [Read more 🡒]