On January 17, 2020, USCFootball.com reported that USC was actively trying to replace Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program UC Davis on its 2021 football schedule with a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. We have now received confirmation from USC athletic director Mike Bohn that UC Davis has been informed that the game is canceled.

Bohn joined hosts Ryan Abraham and Keely Eure on the Peristyle Podcast and broke the news that the game has been canceled. When Eure asked about the possibility of canceling the game, here is what Bohn had to say:

"Well, I'm happy to tell you that we have informed UC Davis that we intended to cancel that game," Bohn said. "We are in the final stages of formalizing an agreement with another FBS opponent to replace UC Davis, and I have to give our donors and fans a lot of the credit. When I arrived, I committed to listening and learning; and the feedback from our fans was clear. Preserving our history is critically important to us and to our fans, so we worked to make that happen."

Abraham followed up asking about the fans reaction to potentially losing the streak of never having played an FCS program:

"Well, I think it was clear," Bohn said. "Our fans didn't like it and our fans recognize that we're one of only three institutions to have never played a team at that level, and I think that says a lot about 'SC and our commitment to wanting to make sure that our fans see viable games and ensure that they have a great experience watching those games. So, they were really clear about it and, to be honest with you, I think there were a lot of people on campus that encouraged us to ensure that we could fix that as well."

Currently, there are only three FBS programs that have never played an FCS opponent: USC, UCLA, and Notre Dame. When the Trojans announced that an FCS opponent was scheduled for 2021, many USC supporters were upset. Not only would the Trojans no longer hold the distinction of being one of three teams to never play an FCS school, the two programs that would maintain that claim, the Bruins and the Fighting Irish, are the Trojans' archrivals.

USC set the table for the possibility of playing an FCS program back in May when then USC athletics CFO and COO Steve Lopes told The Athletic that the Trojans would try to schedule seven home games every season.

“The way you win a Pac-12 championship is to win your Pac-12 games,” Lopes told The Athletic. “The way you win a national championship is to go through the (College Football Playoff). That’s the system now. You can’t adapt (your schedule) overnight because we have these games scheduled but as we sit here today, that’s the system. The (question) is what’s the best way to get to the CFP?

“We think, knowing what we know and having to play Notre Dame and nine Pac-12 games, is to play as many home games as you can. Because your record at home, you can look over time, is always better.”

Go VIP to USCFootball.com with a 7 day FREE trial!

Lopes went on to say that seven home games were going to be a priority for USC, but with the Pac-12 and Notre Dame games creating five home and five road games every season, the two remaining out of conference opponents would have to be played in the Coliseum (or a neutral site game once every four years). Thus, getting FBS opponents to come to Los Angeles with no return home game would be challenging and would open the door to playing an FCS program.

“If you start looking at the teams that are available, it’s very limited,” Lopes told The Athletic. “We’re looking at schools that might not even be FBS, which I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. We may get criticized if and when we do it, but everybody does it. … Are you going to die on that sword? You can play very good FCS schools that are better than some of the FBS schools you’ll play, the directional schools you’ll play.”

Two months later, USC announced that it would be opening the 2021 season against UC Davis.

According to The Athletic, USC will have to pay $725,000 to UC Davis to cancel the game. If the Trojans were able to cancel before January 1, 2020, the buyout would have been $500,000.

Stay tuned to USCFootball.com for updates on the potential FBS opponent to open the 2021 season.