USC Football: Home-And-Home Series with SEC Club Canceled

A home-and-home series set for 2025 and 2026 will no longer be played USC and this nemesis.

Nov 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports / Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

The USC Trojans will no longer face the Ole Miss Rebels in their scheduled home/home series in 2025 and 2026. The schools reportedly mutually canceled the matchups., according to Brett McMurphy of The Action Network.

The series was scheduled in May 2020 before Ole Miss and USC hired their respective coaches. 

Former USC head coach and current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin spoke about canceling the games. 

"I do think some of those things might be taking place around the conference, just because of realignment of the teams that went to the Big Ten and different scheduling on their part, and then down here, there's an uncertainty about nine conference games," Kiffin said. "There's been a lot of talk that that's the direction it's headed, nine conference games, and the difference in scheduling people, and people potentially having extra games with the Playoffs."

The move for these two teams to play each other was perfect at the time. USC filled out its nonconference slate in 2025, which put it one game away from filling out the 2026 nonconference game. However, the move to the Big 10 changed everything. In USC's 12-game schedule, they now have nine matchups against Big 10 schools. 

This move has many people pointing the finger at USC head coach Lincoln Riley, who reportedly tried to take the Trojans out of their 2024 season opener against the LSU Tigers. Many people believe that Riley is scared of the SEC for whatever reason. The rumors regarding that will be flying off the shelf; nonetheless, the Trojans will again look to establish themselves as one of the college football elites. 

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