Following the decision to end their annual rivalry matchup earlier in December, both Notre Dame and USC have placed the blame on each other for the series going on hiatus. However, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt is a bit more empathetic toward USC’s case for not wanting to continue the series.
In an appearance on “The Herd,” Klatt argued that it doesn’t benefit teams from the Big Ten or SEC to schedule Notre Dame moving forward because of its upcoming agreement to receive an automatic bid in the College Football Playoff if it finishes with a top-12 ranking.
“It does not behoove anybody, I can’t believe I’m saying this, to schedule Notre Dame because they have such an advantage over these teams that are playing in the Big Ten and SEC [who have] much more difficult schedules,” Klatt said Tuesday. “Now, there’s this bar, a minimum bar, where all Notre Dame has to do is be in the top 12. With their schedule? That’s crazy. Meanwhile, we’ve seen that in the selection-based model, in the invitational we have in college football, it really comes down to just a number of wins and losses. We saw that this year, we saw it last year, when those 9-3 teams in the SEC were left out.
“So, if you’re USC, you’re like, ‘Hold on a second, we have to play nine Big Ten games … and we’re just going to add Notre Dame because, and they have this sweetheart deal?”
Notre Dame’s strength of schedule was, arguably, the top reason why it didn’t make the College Football Playoff in 2025 despite finishing with a 10-2 record.
The Fighting Irish lacked marquee wins that other CFP contenders had, but still finished ranked 11th in the final CFP poll. While that ranking made Notre Dame the first team out of the CFP, it would’ve made the CFP in 2026 under the agreed-upon stipulations it has moving forward beginning in 2026.
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For what it’s worth, USC was OK with continuing the series with Notre Dame. USC athletic director Jen Cohen wrote in a letter to the USC community earlier in December that it wanted to continue playing Notre Dame, just earlier in the season.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters on Monday that Cohen made a proposal to Notre Dame earlier in December to continue the annual rivalry. Instead, Notre Dame quickly rejected USC’s proposal that would’ve continued the rivalry for at least two more seasons, Riley said.
“We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us anytime and anywhere,” Riley said. “That proposal was rejected. Not only was it rejected, five minutes after we got the call, it was announced that they had scheduled another opponent [BYU], which I’ll give them credit. That might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”
The decision by both programs not to face off in 2026 will mark the first time the game won’t happen since 1926, outside three years during World War II and the COVID-affected 2020 season. Because of that, Klatt would like to see the two programs put their differences aside and still play the annual matchup. He also understands, however, where USC is coming from, and that there’s only one way to ensure that the rivalry continues on an annual basis moving forward.
“There’s a huge side of me that’s like, ‘No, I just want to see the game. I want to maintain this game.’ But it doesn’t make any sense for USC. Because of that, they have to look out for themselves. I think Notre Dame should join a conference, and I get a lot of heat for saying that, but it’s time. I think them joining a conference would be better for college football.”
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