Walk onto the USC campus on a Saturday morning in the fall, and you’ll feel it immediately. The air smells like charcoal and expensive sunscreen. It’s a vibe that’s hard to replicate anywhere else in the country. The University of Southern California Trojans aren't just a college team. For many in Los Angeles, they’re the only team that actually matters.
People forget that before the Rams came back or the Dodgers became a perennial powerhouse, USC was the gold standard. They’re basically LA’s version of the Green Bay Packers, just with more palm trees and better-looking alumni.
But things are changing. Fast.
Moving to the Big Ten wasn’t just a logistical headache for the flight coordinators; it was a fundamental shift in what it means to be a Trojan. You’re trading a century of Pac-12 history for cold-weather games in November against teams like Michigan and Ohio State. It's a massive gamble.
The Lincoln Riley Era and the NIL Wild West
Honestly, the transition hasn't been as smooth as the boosters hoped when they backed up the Brink's truck for Lincoln Riley. When Riley arrived from Oklahoma, the hype was deafening. He brought Caleb Williams with him, a Heisman Trophy followed, and for a second, it felt like the Pete Carroll glory days were back.
Then the defense happened.
Watching the University of Southern California Trojans struggle to stop a basic run play over the last two seasons has been, well, painful for the faithful. It’s the central paradox of the current program: an elite, high-octane offense paired with a defensive unit that often looks like it’s playing a different sport entirely. D'Anton Lynn was brought in from across town—literally from UCLA—to fix the mess. It’s a bold move. hiring your rival's defensive coordinator is the kind of petty, high-stakes maneuvering that makes college football great.
Money is the other elephant in the room. NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has turned recruiting into a full-blown bidding war. USC, sitting in the heart of the second-largest media market in the world, should have an advantage. But it’s not just about the market; it’s about the "House of Victory" and how efficiently the school can mobilize its incredibly wealthy alumni base.
You’ve got guys like Caleb Williams making millions before they even sniff the NFL. It changes the locker room. It changes the expectations. If you’re a Trojan now, you’re basically a professional athlete who happens to have a chemistry lab on Tuesdays.
👉 See also: Meaning of Grand Slam: Why We Use It for Tennis, Baseball, and Breakfast
It’s More Than Just Football (Though Football Pays the Bills)
We talk about the gridiron because that’s where the revenue lives, but the University of Southern California Trojans brand is actually built on the backs of "Olympic sports."
Did you know USC athletes have won more than 300 Olympic medals? If USC were a country, they’d consistently rank in the top 15 in the world medal standings. That’s insane.
- Women’s Beach Volleyball: They don’t just win; they dominate. It’s a dynasty that most people outside of Southern California barely realize exists.
- Track and Field: Think of names like Andre De Grasse or Rai Benjamin. The heritage here is deep.
- Baseball: 12 National Championships. Sure, the program has been a bit quiet lately compared to the 70s and 90s, but the history is still there, etched into Dedeaux Field.
The school produces winners. It’s a culture of expectation that can be incredibly suffocating if you aren't winning. Just ask any basketball coach who has tried to fill the Galen Center during a losing season. Speaking of basketball, the move to the Big Ten is going to be a brutal wake-up call for the hoops program. Flying to Piscataway, New Jersey, for a Tuesday night game against Rutgers is a far cry from a quick bus ride to Pauley Pavilion.
The Heritage That Most People Get Wrong
People love to hate USC. They call it the "University of Special Connections" or mock the "Fight On" spirit as arrogance. But the history of the University of Southern California Trojans is actually one of grit.
The "Trojan" nickname wasn't even the original one. They used to be the Methodists. In 1912, a sportswriter named Owen Bird started calling them Trojans because they fought so hard despite being overmatched. It stuck.
The Coliseum is the temple where this history is worshipped. If you’ve never stood in the peristyle end under the Olympic torch while the Spirit of Troy marches in, you haven't experienced LA. The band is a character of its own. They’ve played on Fleetwood Mac albums. They’ve been in movies. They are arguably more famous than half the players on the roster.
And then there’s Traveler.
The white horse. The gallop down the sidelines. It’s iconic, but it’s also a logistical nightmare that requires a specialized team and a very calm animal to handle 70,000 screaming fans and pyrotechnics.
✨ Don't miss: NFL Week 5 2025 Point Spreads: What Most People Get Wrong
The Reality of the Big Ten Jump
Let's be real: the move to the Big Ten was about survival. The Pac-12 collapsed because of poor leadership and a failure to secure a TV deal that kept pace with the SEC. USC saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship.
But what does this do to the student-athlete?
Imagine being a volleyball player. You have a midterm on Monday. You’re playing a match in Maryland on Friday night. Then you’re in Bloomington on Sunday. The travel fatigue is going to be a real factor that nobody really has a solution for yet. The University of Southern California Trojans are now a national brand in a way they never were before, but the cost is the loss of local tradition. No more "After Dark" chaos in the desert against Arizona. No more annual trips to the Bay Area to play Cal and Stanford.
It feels different.
The rivalry with Notre Dame stays, thank god. That’s the one constant. The Jeweled Shillelagh is still the most underrated trophy in sports. It’s a foot-long club made of Irish blackthorn. It’s weird, it’s old, and it represents a brand of football that doesn't care about NIL or transfer portals.
Why the "Fight On" Spirit is Actually Under Pressure
USC is at a crossroads.
For decades, they could rely on the fact that every high school kid in Southern California grew up wanting to wear the cardinal and gold. Now, Oregon is a powerhouse with Nike’s infinite resources. Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC. The "local" recruiting fence has been torn down.
To stay relevant, the University of Southern California Trojans have to evolve. They have to embrace the "L.A. lifestyle" as a recruiting tool—the fashion, the music, the business opportunities—while maintaining the blue-collar toughness required to win in the trenches against a team like Iowa in a snowstorm.
🔗 Read more: Bethany Hamilton and the Shark: What Really Happened That Morning
It’s a tough needle to thread.
Practical Steps for the Modern Trojan Fan
If you're following the program today, the landscape changes every week. Here is how to actually keep up without losing your mind:
Monitor the Transfer Portal windows. In the modern era, the roster you see in December is rarely the one you see in August. Following accounts like 247Sports or specific USC beats is mandatory because "recruiting" never actually ends anymore.
Understand the Big Ten schedule geography. If you're planning to attend away games, book early. Destinations like Madison or Ann Arbor are massive departures from the usual Pac-12 haunts. The logistics of Big Ten travel for West Coast fans are a whole new beast.
Support the "Other" sports. If you want to see the University of Southern California Trojans actually win a trophy right now, go to a water polo match or a track meet. The dominance there is staggering and the tickets are a fraction of the price of a football game.
Engagement with NIL Collectives. If you’re an alum or a hardcore booster, the "House of Victory" is where the battle for talent is won. Whether people like it or not, the "pay-to-play" era is here, and USC’s success is directly tied to how well these collectives operate compared to those at schools like Ohio State or Georgia.
Keep an eye on the injury reports. The physical toll of a Big Ten schedule is higher than the Pac-12. Depth is the biggest concern for Lincoln Riley's squad. Watch the second and third strings during the spring game—that’s who will be playing in the fourth quarter in November.
The University of Southern California Trojans are in a period of radical reinvention. The cardinal and gold isn't going anywhere, but the "Southern California" part of the identity is becoming more of a global brand and less of a regional secret. Whether they can reclaim the throne of college football remains the biggest question in Los Angeles sports.
One thing is certain: people will be watching. They always do.