What might've gotten lost in the shuffle of the announcement of the new home-and-home series with Hawaii is that next season's opener against the Warriors in Honolulu has been moved up from Saturday, Sept. 4 to Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010.
The 48-hour shift was made for two reasons, according to senior associate athletic director Steve Lopes.
The obvious one is to accommodate TV. The Thursday night game will be aired nationally on a to-be-determined ESPN network at 5:30 p.m. Hawaii time (8:30 p.m. Pacific) as the second part of an opening-night doubleheader.
Also, the game was moved to elongate USC's game week for the following contest. Instead of returning on a redeye back to L.A. after a Saturday game in Hawaii and then hosting Virginia at the Coliseum less than seven days later, the Trojans will now get an additional two days, allowing them to stay in Honolulu an extra day, fly back on Friday night and then begin preparations for the 2010 home opener on a normal schedule.
The 48-hour shift was made for two reasons, according to senior associate athletic director Steve Lopes.
The obvious one is to accommodate TV. The Thursday night game will be aired nationally on a to-be-determined ESPN network at 5:30 p.m. Hawaii time (8:30 p.m. Pacific) as the second part of an opening-night doubleheader.
Also, the game was moved to elongate USC's game week for the following contest. Instead of returning on a redeye back to L.A. after a Saturday game in Hawaii and then hosting Virginia at the Coliseum less than seven days later, the Trojans will now get an additional two days, allowing them to stay in Honolulu an extra day, fly back on Friday night and then begin preparations for the 2010 home opener on a normal schedule.
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