USC to play loaded 2024 schedule in Big Ten debut
USC doesn’t yet have dates, but it now knows which Big Ten teams will be on its 2024 football schedule.
The Big Ten conference revealed a “Flex Protect Plus” schedule model and 2024 matchups on Thursday during a special edition of B1G Live on the Big Ten Network. The 2024 season will mark the debuts of both USC and UCLA in the Big Ten.
With the league expanding to 16 teams, each school will face nine other B1G opponents in conference play. The league is also ditching divisions as a way to decide its title game participants.
Here’s who the Trojans will face in 2024:
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- at Maryland
- at Northwestern
- at Penn State
- at Purdue
- at UCLA
USC won’t face Ohio State in its first season in the Big Ten, but the two teams will meet in Columbus in 2025. The conference also released matchups for the 2025 season.
Here’s who will be on the USC schedule in 2025:
- Indiana
- Michigan State
- Nebraska
- Penn State
- UCLA
- at Minnesota
- at Ohio State
- at Rutgers
- at Wisconsin
Game dates will be revealed at a later time for both years.
The 2024 schedule shaping up to be a loaded slate for coach Lincoln Riley and his Trojans, who will presumably be opening the post-Caleb Williams era as well. Williams is the presumptive No. 1 choice in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the reins are expected to be handed over to 5-star 2023 signee Malachi Nelson.
Nelson and the Trojans will also have to navigate LSU in the non-conference — a Sept. 1 matchup at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas — as well as their annual matchup with Notre Dame.
Ironically, the first football game USC will play once it formally leaves the Pac-12 will be inside the stadium where the Pac-12 hosts its championship game. USC is hoping to close the book on its Pac-12 chapter with a win on that exact field, too.
The Trojans were denied a league title by Utah last season. Williams and Co. are gunning for a different outcome in 2023.