Report: LSU, USC to face off in Las Vegas for 2024 season opener

LSU and USC will face off to open the 2024 season in a neutral game setting, Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported Wednesday.

The game will be played on Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

USC and LSU have only faced off twice in football, splitting the series 1-1. Their first matchup, on September 29, 1979, the John Robinson-led USC Trojans won in narrow fashion, with the final score just 17-12. USC went on to finish the 1979 season with an 11-1 record and a Rose Bowl victory. Five years later, they faced again on September 29, 1984, and first-year LSU head coach Bill Arnsparger emerged victorious by a score of 23-3.

The 2024 matchup will be the first time these two programs have faced in 40 years.

The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 formally announced their multi-conference alliance on Tuesday, with the goal of aligning on issues of governance, future postseason changes and scheduling. The alliance was formed in response to Texas and Oklahoma accepting bids to join the SEC; as such, part of their verbal agreement states that the three conferences will work together in scheduling exclusive interconference matchups in the future. The SEC was not included in Tuesday’s scheduling discussions.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday appeared on Jacksonville radio show XL Primetime to discuss the alliance, and he said that the SEC shouldn’t be worried about the trio of conferences scheduling new matchups.

“The great thing about the Southeastern Conference is that every week is a compelling matchup when we’re playing conference competition,” Sankey said.

The LSU-USC will be televised on ESPN/ABC platforms, Dellenger reported. Conference media deals with networks was a major topic in Tuesday’s introduction of the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 alliance.

LSU and USC both open up the 2021 season in the preseason AP top-25, as LSU comes in at No. 16, one rank behind No. 15 USC.

USC, led by head coach Clay Helton, comes off a 5-1 record in 2020 with a season-high AP ranking of No. 13. Helton won a Rose Bowl in 2016, his first full season as the Trojans’ head coach, but has not won one since — USC has made it to two bowl games, the 2019 Holiday Bowl and 2017 Cotton Bowl, but lost both.

LSU is now two years removed from one of the greatest seasons in college football history. Head coach Ed Orgeron and quarterback Joe Burrow led the Tigers to a perfect 15-0 record, including a regular-season road victory over Alabama, and they eventually beat Clemson in the 2019 national championship game. The Tigers were far less successful in 2020, as star players from the season prior entered the NFL Draft. They opened the season with an AP ranking of No. 6 but lost in a 44-34 shootout to Mississippi State; LSU eventually finished the season 5-5.