philly1121 said:
I see. USC isn't from a conservative part of the country, though. I do see what you're saying tho. I would hope we would have a rivalry that we could better matchup with. Perhaps a school more towards our academic inclination.
While the USC campus is in South-Central Los Angeles, USC's fanbase is traditionally from Orange County, especially Newport Beach. They very nearly moved there in the 60s (when nearby Pepperdine moved to Malibu). When the deal fell through, the land was developed into UC Irvine instead.
I acknowledge that USC's demographics and academic prestige have changed, making them much more like Cal than they were 30 years ago. And of course now they will not even be in the same conference. Which is why we need a new football power in our new conference to hate.
So, yeah, the statement "FSU is the new USC" isn't so much about the facts about FSU and USC, it is about Cal fans' feelings about USC and now FSU.