ND-USC rivalry renewed; IU nixes series vs. Irish
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- USC and Notre Dame announced a four-game series starting in 2030, with the first matchup in Los Angeles in Week 1 and the second in South Bend in Week 1 of 2031, and the final two within the first three weeks of their respective seasons.
- Indiana asked out of its previously scheduled home-and-home with Notre Dame — the Hoosiers were set to open the 2030 season at Notre Dame and host the Irish in late September 2031 — clearing those slots for USC.
- The USC-Notre Dame rivalry began in 1926 and has been played 95 times, with only a three-year WWII break and the 2020 COVID stoppage interrupting it; the two schools last met in 2024, a 34-24 Notre Dame win, with a four-year gap now set before the next meeting.
- USC conditioned renewing the series on playing it early in the season, arguing that late-season matchups hurt their College Football Playoff chances given the demands of their 18-team Big Ten conference schedule.
- Lincoln Riley said the Big Ten slate left no flexibility for late-season nonconference games — 'we don't choose our own kickoff times' — and framed the early-season timing as something that 'benefits everyone,' including college football.
- Indiana has systematically avoided Power 4 nonconference opponents, having withdrawn from its final two games against Louisville in 2023 and canceled a home-and-home with Virginia in 2025, with coach Curt Cignetti focused on nine Big Ten games per year and Notre Dame having been the only major nonleague opponent on its schedule through 2029.
Why it matters: USC secures the early-season showcase it demanded to protect College Football Playoff positioning alongside its 18-team Big Ten schedule, winning the timing fight outright — while Indiana's opt-out confirms the CFP program's wholesale pivot toward an all-Big-Ten nonconference model, leaving Notre Dame's 2030-2031 nonconference slate rebuilt around USC and no other Power 4 opponents from Indiana.
