USC Loss Damages Others

The Trojans looked pretty bad last night. Washington was clearly the hungrier team and deserved the road win. USC will tumble out of the rankings and while they still have a lot to play for it remains to be seen if they can rally. But you know that already. The point of this post is that you may not like USC and are happy that they are tanking. But should you be? Fans of Stanford, Notre Dame and UCLA should be rooting for USC, not against. I know that goes against everything you believe in your heart about fandom, but a near great Trojans team is the best way for your team to make the final four. This year the three teams I mentioned all needed USC to win last night. Beating USC in Los Angeles helped restart Stanford's season and being that they are so far from the top four they needed to not only win out but for the USC win to look good. UCLA is in a different position as they needed the win over their rivals to look good as an end-of-the-year statement before, hopefully, they win the Pac 12. And of course without a conference title game Notre Dame needed the USC prime-time game to be a huge win for them. The Irish desperately need Stanford to run the table. The history of Notre Dame's football program points this out. The Irish last won a national title in 1988 just a few weeks after winning an unprecedented no. 1 versus no. 2 battle with the Trojans. The last title before that featured the wearing of the green beating of the Trojans in 1977--that USC team went on to win title the following two years. And in 1973 Notre Dame beat the defending champion Trojans, who one year later would win another title. So root loudly against USC while inside you secretly hope they win every game but the one they play against you.