Why USC football tried to back out of playing the LSU Tigers this season

USC football will play the LSU Tigers in the 2024 Vegas Kickoff Classic on September 1. It is the Trojans’ first neutral site opener since 2016’s forgettable destruction at the hands of Alabama. Meanwhile, the 2024 opener at Allegiant Stadium is LSU’s third consecutive Week 1 neutral site game.

The rumors are true: USC tried to get out of playing LSU.

The Trojans unsuccessfully tried to avoid participating in the Vegas Kickoff Classic. However, USC’s motivation was primarily their move to the Big Ten and the conference’s TV contracts.

Fans must consider that USC agreed to play LSU to open the 2024 season in September 2021. The schools formed their pact years before the unprecedented realignment of college football’s major conferences. Indeed, USC and UCLA were granted entry to the Big Ten conference in August 2023. Then, the Big Ten signed new TV contracts with Fox, CBS, and NBC worth $8 billion.

The last thing the mega-conference wants is for its newest program, the USC Trojans, to play their first game as Big Ten members on ESPN. ESPN will broadcast the Vegas Kickoff Classic on Sunday, September 1, in prime time.

USC football doesn’t fear playing LSU.

There is no truth to the fan-generated rumors that USC fears playing LSU. Why would the Trojans fear the Tigers?

All-time, USC is 1-1 in games against LSU. The Tigers won the last time the two schools played in 1985. Thus, a dynamic where one program is historically dominant over the other is nonexistent. Also, LSU isn’t entering Las Vegas, boasting a Georgia Bulldogs-like dominance over the college football regular season.

The LSU and USC programs are contextually aligned. Both teams will feature new starting quarterbacks and overhauled defenses in 2024. Also, Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly have mirrored one another since migrating to their current programs. The Trojans and Tigers played (and lost) conference title games in 2022 and followed up with consolation bowl wins in 2023.

If USC fears anything with the Vegas Kickoff Classic, it's taking money out of its pockets by playing a marquee game televised by a rival network.

Nevertheless, the Trojans’ attempts to withdraw from the Week 1 neutral site game failed, and they will play LSU in front of a large television audience.