After a chaotic year of pandemic postponements and scheduling uncertainty that ended in a hastily thrown together title game defeat, USC’s slate for the upcoming 2021 season has officially been set.
And the schedule, as it currently stands, offers cause for hope that the Trojans could again be serious contenders for a Pac-12 title.
USC won’t play Washington or Oregon, who have won four of the last five conference championships. For the first time since 2009, it won’t play a regular-season game on a Friday (or any other day but Saturday). And its road slate, with just one set of back-to-back games away from the Coliseum, is as manageable as it’s been in recent memory.