"Be more like a Republican" - Colin Cowherd blasts Lincoln Riley's "incredibly distracted" USC after latest valuation report

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have struggled with consistency in recent years. After a stellar first season with Riley leading the team in 2022, the Trojans have struggled to compete with the best in their conference for the past two seasons. In their first year in the Big Ten last year, they finished the season with a 7-6 record.

On Tuesday, analyst Colin Cowherd blasted Lincoln Riley and the Trojans for how they have handled their football program. The remarks came after The Athletic released its college football program valuations on Monday. While USC ranked high in overall value at No. 8, it was much lower than other comparable teams in average football revenue.

"There’s an old saying in politics: Democrats fall in love. Conservatives fall in line, they don’t get distracted," Cowherd said. "They find their candidate, and they defend them. I’ve said this with college football; gotta be more like a Republican, fall in line… Don’t worry about the rowing team. Don’t worry about who else is doing well. If you want to be a college football power, it’s all football.

"USC is highly political and highly distracted and is very concerned about all of the programs getting theirs. That doesn’t drive revenue. Utah, Iowa and Minnesota drive more football revenue than USC."

USC is falling behind in average football revenue despite a high overall valuation

Anyone who took a glance at The Athletic's college football rankings would not think anything was amiss with USC. After all, the Trojans came in as the No. 8-ranked team in the nation in terms of program valuation. They even ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten, only behind Ohio State and Michigan.

However, on taking a closer look, the Trojans are doing poorly when it comes to average football revenue. USC's average football revenue is $71.3 million. That is by far the lowest of the schools ranked in the top 10 of franchise valuations. The next lowest program in the top 10 is LSU at 102.9 million.

That is a significant drop among the top teams in college football. Of the teams in the top 30, USC ranks behind all but one, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Colin Cowherd believes that part of the reason USC ranks so low in football-related revenue is that it gives too much attention to other programs at its university. He wants the school to be completely focused on football when it comes to sports.