Arkansas vs. USC

Arkansas and USC have 5 meetings on file, the first in 1972; officially, USC leads 3–⁠1; as played, 4–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 5 meetings it’s USC 4–⁠1, and USC has won the last 2. The NCAA vacated USC’s win (2005); it doesn’t count officially. This page counts every game as it was played.

Official series
USC leads 3–⁠1
Arkansas wins on file
1
USC wins on file
4
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1972
Longest streak
2 USC
Current streak
2 USC
Last 10 meetings
USC 4–⁠1
Most recent
2006

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1970s1–⁠2
2000s0–⁠2
Both ranked
2 meetings: Arkansas 1, USC 1; 1 both in the top 10
Average margin
28.4 points; 0 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Arkansas
1–⁠2 Arkansas’s record at home
At USC
2–⁠0 USC’s record at home
Shutouts
1

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Arkansas’s biggest win1974: Arkansas 22, USC 7by 15 points
  2. USC’s biggest win2005: USC 70, Arkansas 17by 53 points
  3. Upset1974: Arkansas 22, USC 7Arkansas had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Ranked showdown1972: USC 31, Arkansas 10No. 8 USC at No. 4 Arkansas
  5. Ranked showdown1974: Arkansas 22, USC 7No. 5 USC at No. 20 Arkansas

Coach against coach

YearsArkansasSeriesUSC
1972–⁠1974Frank Broyles1–⁠2John McKay

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Arkansas’s side (Broyles 1–⁠2 against McKay). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Arkansas and USC, 1972 on130015001700190019801990200020102020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Matt Leinart USC18 of 24, 381 yards, 4 TD2005 Passing

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

Every game

Sep 2, 20066USC 50, Arkansas 14at Arkansas
Sep 17, 20051USC 70, Arkansas 17vacatedat USC
Sep 14, 197420Arkansas 22, 5USC 7at Arkansas
Sep 15, 19731USC 17, Arkansas 0at USC
Sep 9, 19728USC 31, 4Arkansas 10at Arkansas

Every game is listed as played on the field; a win the NCAA later vacated is marked “vacated”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.