USC Football Roundup: Alabama rematch confirmed and more (5/23)

The Trojans confirmed the reported rematch with Alabama in 2020, while a Todd McNair juror is speaking out. Here’s the USC football roundup for May 23rd.

Last week FBSchedules.com reported an agreement between USC Football and the Alabama Crimson Tide to rematch at AT&T Stadium in the 2020 Advocare Classic.

On Wednesday, USC Athletics confirmed that report, officially announcing the matchup on Twitter.

The 2020 game will be a chance for redemption from the USC side of things. The Trojans were manhandled, 52-6, when they met Alabama in Arlington in 2016.

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It also figures to be a major payday for both sides. The initial report suggested Alabama would be guaranteed $6 million to play the game, while Joey Kaufman of the OC Register pointed out how USC’s payout from the 2016 contest was in that range.

As much as Trojan fans may cringe at the thought of facing Alabama again, the matchup ultimately proves that USC remains willing to schedule aggressively, regardless of potential slip ups.

As Clay Helton’s line goes: Iron sharpens iron.

McNair juror speaks

A verdict in the Todd McNair trial was reached on Monday, but the fallout from the juror siding with the NCAA on the defamation suit remains.

Notably, the presiding juror in the case has now spoken publicly about how the jury came to their decision and why.

Both Lizelle Brandt from WeAreSC.com and Dan Weber from USCFootball.com have interviews with the juror. In both, he lays out how the jury didn’t so much agree with the NCAA as they were limited by the legal burden of proof and charge at hand.

The money line: “There was a real problem with the NCAA process here.”

That much everyone seems to agree on, though it didn’t net anything for McNair or USC in the long run.

Athlon’s USC preview

Athlon Sports released their USC preview looking at offense, defense and special teams for the coming season.

They tag USC as the favorite to win the Pac-12 South, ranking the Trojans 21st nationally.

Things to fire you up

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports offers 100 things college football fans can get fired up over as the new season approaches.

USC gets a couple of mentions, first as one of the key players in a wide open Pac-12 race. Then the Trojans battle with Texas in Austin gets listed as the eighth biggest “can’t wait to see” game.

Top opponent quarterbacks

Who are the five best quarterbacks USC will face in 2018? That’s a question asked and answered by Chris Trevino of USCFootball.com.

Topping the list is Khalil Tate of Arizona, whose rise to dark horse Heisman contention last season was spectacular. USC did well to contain him in the first half at the Coliseum, but he also flashed his unstoppable talent, which could only be more of a problem this season.

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Other quarterbacks to look out for: Sam Ehlinger, Tyler Huntley, K.J. Costello and Brandon Wimbush.

Trojan Trivia

USC and Alabama have faced off eight times going back to 1938. The Crimson Tide have prevailed in six of those matchups, including games at the Coliseum, at the Rose Bowl, in Honolulu and Arlington. The Trojans, however, are undefeated in Birmingham, besting Alabama twice.