This week, what had been in the works for a while became official: The College Football Playoff is expanding to 24 teams beginning next year. And with the change, there will reportedly be a new scheduling rule in place starting in 2027: Every Power Four team will be required to play at least ten games against Power Four opponents each year.
So how will this affect USC? The Trojans currently play nine conference games per year in the Big Ten. However, that still leaves at least one nonconference game per season against a Power Four opponent. With USC's rivalry with Notre Dame not set to resume until 2030, that means the Trojans will need to find a Power Four nonconference game for each of the next three years.
One option that would seem to make
a ton of sense would be scheduling series with Stanford and/or Cal. The Cardinal and Golden Bears are two of the Trojans' most storied rivals, but USC has not faced either school since the collapse of the Pac-12 following the 2023 season. In addition, there have been rumors of USC opening the 2027 season with a nonconference matchup in Las Vegas, just as the Trojans did against LSU in 2024.
Of course, the easiest solution would have been if USC and Notre Dame had simply never stopped playing each other. But alas, that did not happen, so here we are.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: New College Football Playoff scheduling rule will affect USC
