University of Southern California

School: University of Southern California

Team: USC Trojans

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Conference: Pac 12

Stadium: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Capacity: 78,467)

The notes of Keith Jackson’s voice still ring in my head when he would introduce “Southern California” with his deep southern draw. The Trojans are without a doubt the stars of Los Angeles football when they are running hot. The glitz and glam of LA shines on this campus and their players as does the sun and heat of SoCal. While this is as much a vacation as a football destination, when the Coliseum is dressed up in Cardinal and Gold and “Fight On” bumps through the loudspeakers, you see why college football is better when these guys are good.

The Weekend

Travel: Here’s the good news. USC is a quick fifteen minute drive from LAX airport – it’s hard to make it more convenient than that.

Lodging: Here’s the bad news – USC is located in south central LA and if you are not staying on campus it’s probably not a location you want to explore. More likely, you will want to stay in one of the many sections of Los Angeles that offer restaurants, dining, bars etc. While I won’t tackle all of LA here since that could be a website in itself, I would suggest checking out downtown as it has seen quite a revival in the last few years and will be your most convenient location relative to the campus and the stadium. There are tons of hotels in downtown LA and if you choose to stay here, you will likely be about a ten minute drive to campus.

Local Food: I am biased here, but the must try in LA near campus has to be mexican food. You’re not going to go wrong at many places, but I would suggest La Barca restaurant which is about 15-20 minute walk depending upon where you are on campus.

Local Drink: The 901 Bar & Grill, or more commonly called “the 9-0” by students, is the sports bar to be at. In the days of Pete Carroll, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, the 9-0 would be packed with fans by halftime of most games with USC up big.

The Tailgate

Tailgating at USC can be hard to beat when you are almost guaranteed a sunny and 80 degree day. Most of the tailgating goes on in the areas surrounding the stadium and this might be an opportunity to use a tailgate company (the Tailgate Guys covers USC) as you will want to be where all the action is right by the Coliseum.

Unique Tradition

When USC plays UCLA in the Rose Bowl as a road team, they wear their home jerseys as a sign of disrespect of their cross-town rivals. The origin goes back to 1982 when the teams shared the Coliseum for decades and competed as a shared home game. For a long time, it was the only color-color home jersey rivalry in college football.