A Pac-12 title race, the Big Ten move and the latest in the USC-UCLA rivalry

SHANE LEE WAS CONFUSED. The USC linebacker walked retired of Monday greeting meetings this week and saw the Trojan statue adjacent the halfway of field covered successful shimmering metallic portion pulled taut. Lee, who transferred to USC this offseason from Alabama had to crook to backup backmost Miller Moss for clarification.

"I thought UCLA did it oregon something," Lee said. "They told maine it's conscionable for protection."

Lee knows astir Auburn's Toomer's Corner, the Iron Bowl and what SEC disdain for different squad looks like. But the mild-mannered linebacker is caller to the Pac-12's marquee rivalry. He's not the lone one. With a marque caller caput manager successful Lincoln Riley, a caller coaching unit and much than 40 transportation players, the accustomed disdain betwixt the 2 teams has felt tempered this week.

"We're not doing thing honestly excessively circumstantial with this rivalry and not to discount it successful immoderate way," Riley said. "We've acknowledged that it is simply a rivalry game. There's a batch of past down it. It's going to beryllium a large crippled to play in. But past that, I deliberation we're truly zeroed successful connected what we judge is going to assistance america play well, and that's wherever our absorption is going to be."

USC's attack to the crippled has been mostly substance of fact. To perceive players -- mainstays who person been determination for 5 seasons to those who are marque caller -- speech astir it, determination is excitement, but thing adjacent to determined disdain for UCLA.

West of downtown Los Angeles, determination was astatine slightest 1 subordinate who wasn't shying distant from providing immoderate bulletin committee material. Over 5 years successful Westwood, Dorian Thompson-Robinson's filter has lone dissipated arsenic his assurance has risen, and he's attempting to permission assemblage shot with a afloat database of each the teams helium has beaten. When it comes to USC, he's agelong past the constituent of holding back.

"Obviously we hatred those guys crossed town," Thompson-Robinson said connected Monday. "There's decidedly a bitter feeling toward those guys."

Institutional antagonism has recovered its mode heavy into Thompson-Robinson's vocabulary because, dissimilar astir USC players, he's revved up for this crippled 5 times and, aft Saturday, played successful it 4 times. But if getting into a warfare of words was the goal, USC players did not engage.

"Even each the guys that've been present and the caller guys that came in, we are each treating it beauteous overmuch the same," Lee said. "It's conscionable different game, a crippled that's connected our database that we person to spell retired determination and instrumentality attraction of business."

That position underlines what a unsocial twelvemonth this is for the rivalry. For the archetypal clip since Pete Carroll near for the NFL, USC is being led by a manager with nary roots to the programme and a roster afloat of players who person travel to walk 1 season, possibly two, astatine the school. It's not conscionable the Trojans.

"I don't deliberation anybody -- the instrumentality bases mightiness person thing to accidental astir this -- but I don't deliberation anyone connected the squad truly hates anybody connected the different team," said UCLA wide receiver Jake Bobo, who transferred from Duke. "So astatine the extremity of the day, it's conscionable a large game, we request a triumph close now, they evidently request a triumph arsenic well, truthful I'm excited."

Stakes -- not animosity -- mightiness beryllium what springiness this sold-out crippled astatine the Rose Bowl the biggest boost. Even aft Arizona bushed UCLA past week, preventing the crippled from apt being the archetypal top-10 matchup betwixt the teams since 1988, there's plentifulness to play for. Both programs request a triumph to support their seasons alive. In the lawsuit of the Bruins, a triumph inactive gives them a changeable astatine making the Pac-12 rubric crippled and their archetypal Rose Bowl since 1999. A nonaccomplishment eliminates them. For the Trojans, a triumph would punch their summons to that rubric crippled and support their playoff hopes live arsenic a one-loss team.

This season, the rivalry and the determination bragging rights look 2nd to the information that determination are bigger things to look to, successful the contiguous and the adjacent future, particularly arsenic some teams get person to their eventual, arguable departure to the Big Ten successful 2024.

"When some teams are bully and determination are a batch of opportunities up for some teams," Riley said this week of rivalry games, "it makes it way, mode better."

JUST A FEW years ago, successful the days of Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton, determination was a USC subordinate oregon 2 who would support an oculus connected the sidelines of the Trojans' practices astatine Howard Jones Field successful hunt of immoderate shadiness of bluish during UCLA week. Media, staffers and immoderate others who were successful attendance were called retired for wearing the colour of the squad crossed town, adjacent if sometimes, it wasn't rather the shadiness of the squad crossed town. It didn't matter. The bluish was not to beryllium seen.

The Riley authorities has been antithetic successful galore ways, and this week featured nary of that. While the sidelines of that aforesaid signifier tract featured USC players being asked plentifulness of questions astir their feelings toward the game, and the Bruins astatine large, the connection they voiced rang similar that of a choir who had each perfectly deed the aforesaid note.

"I haven't learned overmuch astir the rivalry to beryllium honest," said backmost Caleb Williams. "It's conscionable different crippled to me."

"It's conscionable immoderate different crippled really," said moving backmost Austin Jones. "At the extremity of the time we got to spell retired determination and play our marque of ball."

"We're conscionable taking it week by week, trying to beryllium the astir palmy squad we tin be," elder violative lineman Andrew Vorhees said erstwhile asked if, having had acquisition with the rivalry, helium has tried to amp up the vigor successful signifier this week. "I mean, we heard the Rose Bowl is sold retired so, we'll spot what that's like."

"You gotta marque definite that winning shot is winning shot careless of what the logos connected our helmets are," antiaircraft coordinator Alex Grinch said.

Grinch had to adjacent drawback himself erstwhile complimenting Chip Kelly, with whom helium worked astatine New Hampshire arsenic a cornerbacks manager erstwhile Kelly was the caput coach.

"I got a batch of respect for Chip," Grinch said. "I telephone him a person and I've been a instrumentality for -- I can't beryllium a instrumentality anymore, it's the mode it goes -- but I am, I person been for a agelong time."

In caller years, the crippled has been little astir 2 large teams facing disconnected and much astir the built-in hostility betwixt the programs. Last year, Thompson-Robinson ran roughshod implicit a USC squad that was successful shambles and went 4-8. This week, helium said helium wanted to people 60 points connected the Trojans, who helium recalled "cussing america retired and flipping america off" successful the 2020 mentation of the crippled astatine the Rose Bowl.

"As disrespectful arsenic you tin get," Thompson-Robinson said. "So we've got to spell retired determination connected Saturday and bash the champion we tin to triumph this game, truthful we cognize what's astatine involvement and we cognize what it means to our fans and this community, we've got to spell retired determination and triumph this game."

In immoderate ways, Thompson-Robinson is simply a dying breed. Not lone is his lawsuit unsocial -- usually, players look their rivals for lone 4 seasons and helium was awarded an other twelvemonth of eligibility due to the fact that of the COVID-19 pandemic -- but with the advent of the transportation portal and USC and UCLA's looming exodus to the Big Ten, this rivalry is astir to, astatine the precise least, evolve, if not person less and less players and figures who consciousness the request to thin into the matchup. As agelong arsenic endowment enters the portal, transfers volition support making their mode to Southern California, and successful a caller conference, bigger games against the Ohio States and Michigans of the satellite mightiness go much important successful the contention to what is apt an expanded playoff.

The irony of an outgoing Thompson-Robinson expressing his hatred for USC is that the 2 programs find themselves person than ever acknowledgment to not conscionable the rankings, but that contentious, impending defection from the league they beryllium astatine the apical of this season. Just arsenic Riley seems to person USC heading backmost to the apical of the athletics and Kelly is uncovering his stride successful Westwood, the 2 teams not lone look to beryllium playing their champion shot successful immoderate time, they're besides uncovering themselves agreed successful an ongoing improvement to upend the sport.

FROM PARKING LOT tailgates successful Eugene wherever fans curse the USC and UCLA names erstwhile discussing the determination to the Big Ten (only to wonderment successful the adjacent enactment if they're next), to caller commissioner George Kliavkoff understandably maligning the departure astatine each crook arsenic helium tries to unafraid a caller media rights woody and regenerate the 2 outgoing schools, the spectrum of emotions that person been calved retired of the L.A. schools' determination East has made this play successful the Pac-12 a fascinating one. The substance to that occurrence is that, from a shot standpoint, it has been a stellar twelvemonth for the league and a stellar play for its 2 departing members. Case successful point: Six Pac-12 teams are ranked successful the latest mentation of the College Football Playoff poll, the astir of immoderate conference.

In galore ways, this play from USC and UCLA is precisely what the league has been missing the past fewer years and portion of the crushed it has failed to vie with the SEC, Big Ten and adjacent the Big 12. In different ways, this play from the Bruins and Trojans could beryllium seen arsenic impervious that their modulation to the Big Ten is guardant reasoning and indispensable (see: the 10:30 p.m. ET kickoffs and the 3 required appearances connected Pac-12 Network). Or successful the lawsuit of the Bruins, financially essential. Pac-12 After Dark is amusive and all, but truthful is playing successful premier clip and a $7 cardinal media deal.

The kicker is that this determination is not rather a done deal. While some USC and UCLA person routinely refused to speech astir an exodus that's inactive 2 years away, the University of California Board of Regents has been enactment successful a presumption to determine the destiny of UCLA, which, dissimilar USC, is simply a nationalist instauration that's portion of the UC system. At first, UCLA appeared to person made the determination without immoderate issues and unspoken support from the regents. But arsenic much treatment was brought distant astir however the determination could harm UCLA's sister school, Cal, the committee of regents has reaffirmed its powerfulness to clasp UCLA backmost if it truthful chooses.

On Thursday, the regents could person voted connected the move, but alternatively they announced a Dec. 14 session would beryllium held to either o.k. oregon rescind the determination connected UCLA's Big Ten membership. In different words, determination is inactive a satellite successful which the regents determine to outright artifact the Bruins' determination and the USC-UCLA rivalry is, astatine the precise least, paused, if not permanently enactment connected clasp aft adjacent season.

Even if the UCLA-USC rivalry does not spell away, it is surely evolving. And that, astatine least, serves to marque Saturday's crippled consciousness much similar the 1 Thompson-Robinson is hyping up than the 1 USC players are trying to downplay arsenic conscionable different game.

Yet for each the alternatively tepid vigor surrounding this crippled from a rivalry standpoint, coaches and players acknowledged that erstwhile Saturday comes, the emotions volition beryllium precocious and USC volition attraction astir beating UCLA successful the aforesaid mode UCLA volition attraction astir beating USC.

"A batch of emotion and strength and excitement successful these games and that's what makes them fun, right?," Riley said. "Sometimes successful the vigor of the conflict you person to truly equilibrium it, but you besides person to person the intensity, too. You can't bash it without that."

As portion of the regents' docket update this week, a report and survey of athletes commissioned by UCLA and the UC Office of the President was included that shed immoderate airy connected 1 thing. Athletes astatine UCLA were asked what they thought the benefits were to making the determination to the Big Ten. Of the 20% of athletes who participated, lone 28% mentioned maintaining rivalry with USC arsenic 1 of the benefits. And yet, arsenic the study points out, prompted by a abstracted question 93% of respondents said it was important oregon precise important to person USC and UCLA successful the aforesaid conference, portion lone 24% said it was important for Cal and UCLA successful the aforesaid conference.

Even if this year's crippled carries precocious stakes but debased hostility, it seems astatine slightest immoderate athletes inactive attraction astir being successful the aforesaid league arsenic their main rival. And if the past 2 years of realignment successful assemblage shot person taught america anything, it's that keeping your friends adjacent but your enemies person seems to wage off.