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Among the weirder penalties levied in USC’s general direction by the Committee On Infractions was the elimination of their 13th regular-season game, which was actually the season opener at Hawaii. Some background on why this is possible in the first place: The Sept. 2 game at Aloha Stadium was in doubt because sanctions levied against USC last week prevented exemptions from the current 12-game NCAA limit. A 1955 bylaw known as the “Hawaii Exemption” permits visiting teams to play one game more than the NCAA maximum if traveling to Hawaii. The rule was established to allow teams to schedule an extra home game to recoup lost revenue from traveling outside the continental 48. It’s Hawaii, however, that would have really suffered the hit to the wallet here with the loss of a home contest, and the NCAA has agreed to push the docking of a 13th game back a year : “We want to thank the committee for granting this relief,” said Todd Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration. “It recognizes the serious financial impacts game cancellation would have had to the university and state of Hawaii, as well as the fans and supporters of USC who have already made travel arrangements.” Yes, won’t someone think of the fans with the means to jet off to the islands to watch their team administer a bloodbath? Or of the certain four-letter sports network that stood to lose the nightcap of its opening-day coverage bonanza? The reality is the estimated million-dollar payday is one Hawaii’s cash-strapped athletic department could ill afford to lose. Coincidentally, “a million” is also the number of offensive yards the Trojans are expected to record in Honolulu. (Thank you!)

Originally posted here:
USC-Hawaii Still On For College Football’s Opening Weekend