USC chooses not to have bowling opportunities this season due to concerns about COVID-19 and other reasons, the team announced Saturday.
The 13th-ranked Trojans lost to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night in Los Angeles. USC would have gotten a six-year New Year’s bowling tie if it had won Oregon to stay undefeated. The Trojans finished the season 5-1.
The school said the USC medical team, players, coach Clay Helton and athletic director Mike Bohn made the decision not to participate in the bowling games. USC said in a press release that COVID-19 cases have increased within the program and, along with injuries, the Trojans are approaching the threshold of 53 players needed to play a match.
The team played three games between December 6 and Friday. USC also noted the increase in COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles area and that its off-season athletic teams have stopped activities until Jan. 4.
The Trojans are the fifth known Pac-12 team to withdraw from the bowling season due to COVID-19 and other reasons, joining Stanford, Washington, UCLA and Utah.
“We are an athletics program focused on student athletics; therefore, we fully support the decision not to participate in a bowling game this year,” Bohn said in a prepared statement. “The physical and mental health and safety of our student-athletes is paramount, and this season has been unimaginably imposing on our players in particular. This will allow them to be with their families whom they have not seen for a long time. to prepare the spring semester academics.
“We are sincerely grateful for how our student-athletes, coaches and staff managed this unprecedented season and worked through so many adversities.”
USC will not appear in a bowling match for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010 and 2011, when it received a two-year post-season ban from the NCAA.
“We all share the desire to stay healthy and be with loved ones over the holidays and I totally agree with that collective decision,” Helton said in a prepared statement. “I thank our players for their remarkable efforts.
“We are all disappointed with how our season ended, but I am extremely proud of our players and it is an honor to be their coach.”