It’s obvious Lincoln Riley didn’t leave Oklahoma for ‘Mecca of college football’

Back in 2021, when Lincoln Riley ran scared in the middle of the night from Oklahoma to USC, he swore he was leaving The Palace on the Prairie for what he would build into the “Mecca of college football.” Nearly five years later, that statement is clearly an even bigger lie than Riley’s annual claim that the Trojans are close to being a College Football Playoff contender.

USC kicked off its fifth season under Riley on Saturday with a 42-26 Week 0 win over San Jose State. There weren’t many games to watch during the preview of the 2026 college football season, so the nationally televised game on NBC stole the spotlight in Hollywood fashion, but not for USC dominating a terrible team, but because of the laughable attendance that witnessed the season opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

It was an afternoon kick at noon local time in L.A. that fittingly had the same crowd as a matinee movie, and the price for a ticket was about the same too.

“We plan on building the best roster in the country, and inside that locker room, the best culture in the country," Riley said during his introductory press conference in 2021. "(The Coliseum) is gonna be full. This will be the Mecca of college football."

The Coliseum is not the Mecca of college football. The Coliseum is the joke of college football.

The empty stadium went viral on social media, as college football fans mocked USC’s attendance and folks in L.A. hurled desperate excuses that would be inexcusable in SEC country, the real Mecca of college football. It was too hot. The opponent wasn’t good enough. The Trojans still need to prove themselves and the city doesn’t support mediocre. Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman is full no matter the weather, opponent or record.

College football fans roast USC for attendance in season opener vs. San Jose State

Just listen to the dozens of fans screaming:

The announced attendance for the game was 51,144. We know those numbers are always inflated. Last year, USC’s average attendance for home games was 67,782 as the Trojans went 9-4 with a Big Ten schedule. The Coliseum has a capacity of 77,500, which has been reached only eight times in the Riley era.

In Norman, OU drew an average attendance of 83,532 in 2025 as the Sooners went 10-3 and returned to the College Football Playoff under Brent Venables, who replaced Riley. In four seasons leading the Sooners, Venables has only ever coached in front a sold-out home crowd. OU has had a sellout for every regular-season home game since the start of the 1999 season.

That streak will continue on Friday night, when the Sooners open their season against UTEP, a lackluster opponent, with a high temperature of 97 degrees. There are no excuses and empty seats when a place actually cares about its football team. The Sooners are the main event, while the Trojans are a sideshow.

Lincoln Riley left The Palace for a hollow relic.

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