Texas, USC canceling spring games a sign of college football's changing times

Texas and USC joined the slowly growing list of teams that are doing away with their spring football games on Thursday, according to ESPN's Dave Wilson.

The two schools cited different reasons for canceling the traditional games, which have historically been used to get fans hyped up in the middle of a long, uneventful offseason without games.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian noted that the Longhorns have played in 30 games in the last two years, and a combination of wear-and-tear on players and turnover in the roster prompted the decision.

"Normally you play your last game, and you have a bowl game 30 days off," Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte told ESPN. "We went last game at [Texas] A&M, then SEC championship game, home game, quarterfinal and semifinal. The reality is we played four extra games. In my mind, it was, 'Hey guys, we gotta reimagine what the spring looks like."

USC's rationale was less about wear and tear, and more feeling the game was obsolete, risking injury to players while providing limited upside for the program.

"The biggest purpose that a spring game actually serves now is a fan engagement tool, and we just think we can engage fans in a better way," a USC source said.

Both of those reasons differed from Nebraska's, who canceled the game in an effort to prevent players from being poached during the spring transfer window.

If these three are any indication, this is a trend we're likely to see continue into the future. The spring game was already of dubious benefit to most schools; other than being a source of revenue by selling tickets, it didn't have any real practical purpose. It was seldom played at full speed, and coaches could likely glean more about their teams and depth charts from scrimmages at practice than they could in the spring game.

And USC is right; if the goal is to connect with the fans during the offseason, there are likely better ways to do that than risking serious injury to players in a game that means nothing and doesn't really even keep close track of score or stats.

It's unclear what will be replacing the game at these schools, but you can bet they won't be the last ones to make the jump.

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