How USC football is pumping up volume for successful season

Nypost · Aug 24, 2026 · 567 words · By Ben Bolch

Athletic Preparation Technological Upgrade

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Athletic Preparation

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think a fighter jet had just buzzed USC’s football practice field.

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 2

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think a fighter jet had just buzzed USC’s football practice field.

Why it matters

That’s how loud the new sound system is, designed to simulate crowd noise at eardrum-shattering decibels.

Common ground

It actually might sound more deafening than what the Trojans experience on game day.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Athletic Preparation story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that replacing the old portable speakers that didn’t pack the same wallop?
How does this story connect Athletic Preparation with Technological Upgrade over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/24/sports/usc-footballs-new-practice-sound-system-is-…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 80% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 3

info Single Source 2

info

Claim 1: “replacing the old portable speakers that didn’t pack the same wallop”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that the new system replaced portable speakers is mentioned in the same single web search result as claim 0. No other independent sources corroborate this.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Summer Place is made available for your personal, non-commercial use only as you search for your new apartment home. If you are a vendor to the apartment industry you are not to use this site as a mea…
https://summerplaceal.com/privacy-policy/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Summer Place Apartments is conveniently located in Huntsville, Alabama, only minutes from shopping, dining, I- 565 and I-65. The community offers one bedroom and two bedroom apartments featuring washe…
https://summerplaceal.com/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Forgot Password? Sign In Create an account
https://summerplaceal.com/portal/

verified

Claim 2: “Riley said his players have only experienced it at 70% power”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While the evidence confirms Lincoln Riley is the head coach of USC, none of the provided search results or Wikipedia entries mention the sound system being used at '70% power'.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 USC Trojans football team represents the University of Southern California (USC) as a third-year member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_USC_Trojans_football_team

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Garrett Travis Riley (born September 11, 1989) is an American football coach who is the quarterback coach at Missouri. He was previously the offensive coordinator at Clemson, TCU, and SMU.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Riley

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head football coach at the University of Southern California. Riley previously served …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Riley

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 3: “a sound system that was part of broader upgrades with the new $200 million Bloom Football Performance Center”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant results about 'Bloom Nutrition', 'Bloom Marijuana', and general Wikipedia entries for USC and WWE. There is no mention of a '$200 million Bloom Football Performance Center'.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mark Anthony Stevens (born February 17, 1960) is an American billionaire venture capitalist, and a partner at S-Cubed Capital based in Menlo Park, California. He was previously with Intel and Sequoia …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Stevens_(venture_capitali…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The USC Trojans football team represents the University of Southern California in American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Big Ten Conference (Big Ten…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USC_Trojans_football

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Performance_Center

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “The new system uses three loudspeakers attached to light poles at each corner of the practice field”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only one web search result explicitly confirms the detail about three loudspeakers attached to light poles at each corner of the practice field. Other results are irrelevant.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The new system uses three loudspeakers attached to light poles at each corner of the practice field, replacing the old portable speakers that didn’t pack the same wallop.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/24/sports/usc-footballs-new-pract…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Man poses as building manager to enter USC student.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/16980/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — I'm tryna treat you guys fr Enjoy another combination of Don Toliver's NEW DROP, No Idea, Home, and No Pole! ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFP2E8XcLuM

verified

Claim 5: “face Penn State on Oct. 10”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence includes general information about USC and Penn State, but none of the provided sources confirm a specific game scheduled for October 10.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Michigan–Penn State football rivalry is an American college football game between the Wolverines of the University of Michigan and the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University. Michigan lead…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan–Penn_State_football_r…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 16th-year head coach Joe Paterno, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Penn_State_Nittany_Lions_…

menu_book

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.