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USC vs Nevada likely to be Trojans’ last football game on Pac-12 Network

Matt Zemek
·10 min read
4

We know this for sure: Saturday’s USC football home game against the Nevada Wolf Pack will be the Trojans’ last home game ever shown on Pac-12 Network. We don’t yet know as an absolute certainty that it’s the last USC football game to be on Pac-12 Network, but it’s more likely than not. This probably will be the last time any USC fan will have to endure Pac-12 Network’s limited visibility and accessibility.

We want to be very clear: The problem with the network is the lack of distribution and accessibility. The actual on-air product of Pac-12 Network is and has been very good.

We wrote:

“One of the especially sad dimensions of the Pac-12 Network story is that the product itself — what you saw on the screen, getting beamed into your home, if you did have access to the P-12 Net — was really very good.

“The problem with Pac-12 Network was never the production quality of a game or studio broadcast. All the people who were responsible for putting a good product on the air did an absolutely fantastic job. The network’s daily work gained industry respect.”

It’s important to make that clear.

Having done that, we turn to the reality that this will be USC’s final home football game on Pac-12 Network. USC fans will be throwing a party to celebrate this occasion. No, really: Tim Prangley, co-host of Trojan Conquest Live and part of the USC postgame show at The Voice of College Football, told us earlier this summer he would be marking the occasion at the Nevada game. It’s a goodbye bash for USC’s liberation from this national burden which has limited the program’s exposure.

See how other USC fans are reacting to the end of the Pac-12 Network reign of error, which is in many ways one more step out of the shadows created by Larry Scott and the Pac-12 CEO Group:

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT END

SPEAKING FOR MANY TROJANS HERE

LAMENTATIONS

THE PUNCHES KEEP COMING

REALITY FOR MANY USC FANS

THE SAD HISTORY

FRUSTRATION

PEOPLE WANT TO SEE MORE OF ZACHARIAH BRANCH!

OUTSIDERS REMAIN CONFUSED

PEOPLE WHO USE HULU ARE OUT OF LUCK

SPORTS BETTORS WISH THEY HAD PAC-12 NETWORK

HOW IT ALL FELL APART

ZING!

END OF AN ERA -- AND ERROR

SO SAY WE ALL

ARIZONA PERSPECTIVE

THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL

COULD SOON BE THE PAC-2

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HAD MORE EXPOSURE THAN USC DID

NOT ASKING TOO MUCH

YOU MUST BE NEW AROUND HERE

WELL, SIR, IT WON'T EXIST MUCH LONGER

OUCH

PAINFUL

REMINDER ABOUT LOS ANGELES SPORTS FANS: IT'S HARD TO WATCH THE DODGERS, TOO

USC UNLIKELY TO BE ON PAC-12 NETWORK EVER AGAIN, BUT THERE'S A SLIGHT CHANCE

BERKELEY, CA – (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA – (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

There is only one remaining USC game which might have a slight chance of being on Pac-12 Network: USC at California on October 28 in Berkeley. USC could be favored by 35 points heading into that game, and the big networks might not pick it up. However, later in the season, the odds are that one of the main networks will want to show the Trojans, especially if they are still alive in the push for a College Football Playoff berth.

ARIZONA GAME PICKED UP BY ESPN/DISNEY

Oct 6, 2018; Fayetteville, AR. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2018; Fayetteville, AR. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN/Disney has picked up the rights to the October 7 USC-Arizona home game, so that will definitely not be a Pac-12 Network game. It’s why USC-Nevada is guaranteed to be the last USC home game on Pac-12 Network. Only the Cal game could migrate to Pac-12 Network. No other USC home game is a realistic possibility.

OCTOBER 28 PAC-12 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

OCTOBER 28 OPTIONS

Oct 12, 2019; Tempe, AZ. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 12, 2019; Tempe, AZ. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Washington State-Arizona State is the October 28 Pac-12 game most likely to be on Pac-12 Network. Washington-Stanford could also be on the network. Oregon State-Arizona is another possibility.

COACH PRIME RULES OUT USC-COLORADO ON SEPTEMBER 30

Apr 22, 2023; Boulder, CO. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2023; Boulder, CO. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

USC at Colorado on September 30 might be a huge blowout, but it won’t be on Pac-12 Network. ESPN or Fox will want to get Coach Prime, Deion Sanders, against Lincoln Riley on national television. With ESPN getting the October 7 USC game versus Arizona, it’s likely that Fox will pick up USC-Colorado on September 30.

OFF WEEK WILL BUILD AN APPETITE FOR USC ON SEPTEMBER 23

Nov 6, 2021; Tempe. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2021; Tempe. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

USC doesn’t play on September 16, so a network other than Pac-12 Network will want to show the Trojans on September 23 at Arizona State.

We repeat ourselves: October 28 at Cal is the only possible Pac-12 Network game left for USC. Every remaining USC home game after this Saturday’s Nevada game will be shown on a channel other than Pac-12 Network. This really is the end of an era on September 2 in the Coliseum.

USC POSTGAME SHOW WILL CELEBRATE

Above is the link to the San Jose State postgame show. This Saturday, catch the USC postgame show after the Nevada game with Tim Prangley, Rick Anaya, and Tony Altimore. They will all celebrate the end of the last USC home football game on Pac-12 Network.

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire