USC’s Empty Stadium Exposes College Football’s California Problem

Liberty Check

• USC’s home opener drew embarrassingly sparse crowd despite top-15 ranking
• Scene highlights California’s declining sports culture and lack of traditional values
• Programs in conservative heartland states dominate while coastal elites ignore their own teams

College football returned Saturday with Week Zero kickoffs across the nation. For millions of Americans in the heartland, it meant packed stadiums, roaring crowds, and communities united behind their teams.

Unless you’re in Los Angeles.

The No. 14 USC Trojans opened their 2026 season at home against San Jose State in what should have been a celebration of football’s return. Instead, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum told a different story — vast sections of empty seats, sparse crowds, and a scene that screamed indifference.

The optics were devastating for a program that once dominated college football.

USC crushed San Jose State 35-3, leading 28-0 at halftime. The outcome was never in doubt. But the real story wasn’t on the field — it was in the stands, or rather, the lack of fans filling them.

This is a program that produced legends: Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Caleb Williams, Junior Seau, Troy Polamalu, Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen. For nearly a decade in the 2000s, USC was must-see television and a national powerhouse.

Now? Empty seats at the home opener.

The excuses rolled in immediately: “It’s Los Angeles, not SEC country.” “It was San Jose State, not a marquee opponent.” “It was 92 degrees.”

Let that sink in — 92 degrees was too hot for fans to show up.

Meanwhile, across the country in states that value tradition and community, stadiums in similar heat are packed to capacity. The difference isn’t the weather — it’s the culture.

This is what happens when a region prioritizes everything except the values that built American sports: loyalty, tradition, community pride. California has become so disconnected from mainstream America that even a top-15 team can’t draw a crowd for its season opener.

The contrast with college football’s heartland couldn’t be starker. In the South and Midwest, football isn’t just a game — it’s a communal celebration of shared values and regional pride. Stadiums from Alabama to Ohio State to Texas are cathedrals where communities gather regardless of opponent or weather.

USC’s empty Coliseum is a microcosm of California’s broader cultural decline. A state once synonymous with American excellence now struggles to fill a stadium for a ranked team’s home opener. The images circulating on social media showed entire sections barren, a ghost town atmosphere for what should have been a electric environment.

The official attendance figures — which USC will likely be reluctant to publicize — don’t matter as much as the visual. Those empty seats tell the story of a fan base that’s checked out, a community that doesn’t prioritize the traditions that once made USC football essential viewing.

This is the 14th-ranked team in the country. This was the home opener after eight months without football. This should have been packed.

Instead, it was a reminder that not all of America shares the same values anymore. While coastal elites in Los Angeles can’t be bothered to support their own team, heartland Americans continue to show up, fill stadiums, and celebrate the traditions that make college football great.

Americans deserve better than coastal indifference to the traditions that built this country.