Lincoln Riley addresses the likelihood of seeing prominent non-conference matchups in future

USC football fans better savor this year’s season opener vs. LSU, because head coach Lincoln Riley claims that blockbuster non-conference matchups could become scarce in the new era of college football.

Given the overhaul and expansion of the remaining power conferences, league slates for Big Ten and SEC teams will look incredibly daunting. With a game vs. the Tigers set up in 2024, USC gets a bit of both with that marquee non-conference game before their first nine-game Big Ten schedule. That will be tough sledding, but it could be the only year USC has to deal with that difficult of a slate.

When asked at Big Ten Media Days whether games like USC vs. LSU will become rarer in future seasons, Lincoln Riley answered in the affirmative.

“Yeah, I think if the playoff stays the way that it is right now, then I think you’ll see less and less of them,” Riley stated. “Especially with us and the SEC, just because our schedules are going to be so good at some point you’re like… is the juice worth the squeeze, right, in terms of playing these games?”

There’s always a desire to play in spotlight games for the players and coaches, but they have to be worthwhile in the pursuit of a national championship, or what’s the point?

“As competitors, we all want to play these games,” Riley continued. “Now, if and when the playoff shifts again, if you start talking about, let’s say, even more guaranteed spots for some of these conferences, all of that, then I think it could lend itself to these games being back, which will be good for the game, because games like this are awesome.”

Per Riley, it just depends on the nature of the CFP and the guidelines for getting in. Given the current setup, it’s hard to see the reason for USC to schedule aggressively out of conference.

So, when pressed to answer whether that reasoning explained the cancellation of the Ole Miss home-and-home series set for 2025 and 2026, Riley admitted: “To my knowledge, yes.”

He further explained why, going back to his point that such matchups just don’t make sense given USC’s current scheduling guardrails.

“That was kind of in the works for a while. But I mean, you got a responsibility to what you think is going to put you in the best position to do it. I mean, we have as good an argument as anyone in college football, because we have a yearly game against a good opponent in Notre Dame along with this schedule.”

Riley admits these are difficult decisions to make, especially when you’re making plans around non-conference games that occur several years in the future.

“The hard thing is you’re trying to make scheduling decisions so many years in advance, but then all this is changing. You’re not exactly sure what system that you’re scheduling for, which is a challenge.”

It’s just another hoop for modern college football coaches to jump through.