Trojans, Bears to Play in ‘87, After All, and the Bay Area Party Is On, as Usual

USC and California, not formally scheduled to meet in the 1987 football season, have altered their schedules, and the traditional rivalry that began in 1915 will not be interrupted.

The Trojans will play the Bears Sept. 26, 1987, at Berkeley.

After negotiations, California dropped Washington from its schedule on that date, and USC canceled a game with Oklahoma.

USC was scheduled to play Oklahoma at Norman, Okla., in 1987, with the Sooners coming to the Coliseum in 1988. Now, USC is negotiating with Oklahoma for a game at Norman in 1989.

There was considerable rhetoric between the schools’ athletic directors, California’s Dave Maggard and USC’s Mike McGee, when it seemed that the game would not be played.

Maggard said that he and Dick Perry, USC’s former athletic director, had agreed verbally to play Sept. 19, 1987, and that game was listed in the USC media guide last season.

A USC spokesman said, however, that it was an outdated schedule that had been picked up from previous press guides.

Maggard has said that USC deliberately dropped Cal from its schedule. McGee said that the game was never on the schedule because of a revised format in the Pacific 10, adding, “The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot.”

There’s a significant social aspect to the resolution of this little controversy. USC alumni and students, who look forward to their annual trip to the Bay Area for games with either California or Stanford, will not be deprived of their weekend party in 1987.