Texas A&M and USC meet for the first time in nearly 50 years later this month in the Las Vegas Bowl. The teams last met in 1977 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, which USC won 47-28. It was the second of two bowl clashes between the storied programs in the 1970s. The first bowl meeting occurred in the 1975 Liberty Bowl and reflected a landscape foreign to the current setting.
Broken dreams and disappointment were prevailing themes for both USC and Texas A&M during this season. Both schools had opportunities to insert themselves into the College Football Playoff race, yet both stumbled. Texas A&M lost their rivalry game against Texas with a spot in the SEC Championship on the line, while USC gradually dropped out of the polls after a promising win over LSU on Labor Day Eve. Similarly, disappointment characterized USC and Texas A&M's 1975 seasons.
As late as December 6, Texas A&M had a 10-0 record and a chance at the national championship, standing at #2 in the AP Poll before their game against Arkansas. Unfortunately, a Texas A&M loss killed their chances at the national championship and the Southwest Conference title. The Aggies dropped to #6 after the loss without a bid to the Cotton Bowl.
The Aggies' situation could have been precarious with only 11 bowls, many without set tie-ins, or a system like the Bowl Coalition or the Bowl Championship Series. However, the Liberty Bowl looked to continue its climb to legitimacy by opening a spot to the Southwest Conference runner-up. Thus, in a move unimaginable today, the #6 team in the country played in the Liberty Bowl.
Their opponent, USC, had a unique path to Memphis as well. The Trojans entered 1975 fresh off a Rose Bowl appearance and primed to repeat as PAC-8 champions. In a decision that meant little at the time, the PAC-8 decided before the start of the season to allow their members to play in bowls other than the Rose Bowl for the first time. USC started 1975 with a 7-0 record, rising to #4 in the polls.
However, an epic decline followed when the Trojans lost its final four games. Still, the Liberty Bowl called for the 7-3 Trojans in late November. USC's brand-name prestige "earned" them a spot in the Liberty Bowl against the Southwest Conference runner-up. The Liberty Bowl had a prime Monday night ABC TV slot that made it appointment viewing. The year prior, it was the fourth-highest-rated bowl on television, trailing only the Rose, Cotton, and Orange Bowls.
The Trojans received the invitation on November 17, with a game against UCLA left on their schedule. The Liberty Bowl invited USC solely on exposure. The four teams that beat USC and finished above them in the PAC-8, California, Stanford, and Washington, were all left out of bowls. UCLA only made the Rose Bowl by winning the PAC-8.
Thus, the Liberty Bowl had one of the most anticipated matchups in its 17-year history—a one-loss national champion contender against a TV ratings juggernaut. USC won 20-0. America tuned into this blockbuster Liberty Bowl, with over 12 million homes viewing the game, or 17.4 percent of all television sets. The Liberty Bowl will never see viewership that high. For context, the last two Liberty Bowls on ABC, the 2011 and 2017 editions, earned an average rating of 2.04 and an average viewership of 3.219 million.
Of course, some themes from this selection process persist, particularly the need for "Made For TV" matchups. ESPN has practically made Bowl Season a reality TV event with its tinkering of matchups within the 17 bowls they own. However, one cannot imagine a top-ten Power conference team playing in the Liberty Bowl as a consolation. The evolution of college football's offseason has plenty of intriguing tales such as this.
