USC will take on Notre Dame in the 83rd edition of college football's greatest intersectional rivalry Saturday, but the two schools have also been pioneering academic partners over the years.
In particular, the two universities collaborated on the Sports Management Institute (SMI), a groundbreaking curriculum designed to train graduate students to be future athletic executives. The SMI was founded in 1989, which precedes the sports management programs that exist today.
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To date, the SMI has churned out 65 athletic directors currently leading some of the nation's top universities.Â
"There's nothing like it that I know of in college athletics," said Steve Lopes (pictured), SMI's executive director and USC's senior associate athletic director. "This preceded the sports management programs you see these days. Go back to 1989 and there wasn't anything like this happening."
The institute's home is at USC, but the program is conducted at several participating universities, including Notre Dame, North Carolina, Michigan, Texas and Georgia.
University Southern California Trojans
Sunday, September 20
Sunday, September 20
Sunday, September 20
Saturday, September 19
