Why UCLA-USC is the most overrated rivalry
The UCLA-USC rivalry is the most overrated in college football. There
is a rivalry. There is some emotion. There is some dislike.
But, c'mon. It's in L.A.
There are the sellout crowds at the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum and
the Rose Bowl. There's the delight the Bruins took in ending the
Trojans'
national championship hopes in 2006 with a 13-9 upset. There's the 1967
game, in which the No. 4 Trojans and their Heisman Trophy candidate,
tailback O.J. Simpson, defeated the No. 1 Bruins and their Heisman
Trophy
winner, quarterback Gary Beban, 21-20. The game turned on Simpson's
64-yard, gravity-defying touchdown sprint in the fourth quarter. Dan
Jenkins, the best college football writer since Grantland Rice, has
that '67
game on his short list of all-time greats.
But, c'mon. It's still in L.A.
These people don't know how to hate a
college football opponent. The weather's too nice. There's too much else to
do. College football is just not important enough.
—Excerpt from Ivan Maisel's new book, "The Maisel Report: College Football's Most Overrated & Underrated." Click here to read more on UCLA-USC. Click here to see the Maisel Report website and read more excerpts. Click here to buy the book.
