Following USC footballit’s a loss for Oregon ducksa lot of people including Paul Finebaum of ESPN expressed the opinion that the Trojan horses I should probably regret moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, as they haven’t achieved national relevance since the conference change.
That’s clearly not true if you’ve watched USC football in 2025, at least not as Finebaum and others argue.
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THE The Trojans have (largely) managed their Big Ten schedule in 2025including some big home wins against Michigan and Iowa.
Their season was short because they can’t beat opponents they would have faced anyway as a member of the Pac-12. Let’s talk about it.
USC stunk in the Big Ten in 2024, sure
USC had a rough first season in the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans were 7-6 last season, including 4-5 in conference play.
The big storyline for this result: USC was 0-4 in true conference road games outside of Los Angeles (USC’s only true road win was against UCLA in the Rose Bowl). This also included losses to 2 teams that finished with losing records: Washington (6-7) and Maryland (4-8). USC was a mediocre Big Ten team at home in 2024 and one of the worst teams in the conference on the road. The conference was a difficult one for the Trojans to overcome.
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USC’s Big Ten success in 2025
But the Trojans advanced in several departments in the Big Ten Conference in 2025. They won the aforementioned home games against two proud ranked programs at the time of the game (Michigan, Iowa).
USC also won two Big Ten road games against Purdue and Nebraska. Neither team is great, but it’s still an improvement from last season. Remember, USC lost to Maryland in 2024, a team that went 1-8 in Big Ten play. Yes, Maryland’s only conference win in 2024 was against USC.
USC’s biggest losses against very familiar opponents
But despite these advances, USC still finds itself falling short of the playoffs in 2025. Why? Three losses: against Illinois, Notre Dame and Oregon.
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USC’s loss to Illinois was a laborious Big Ten misstep. But Oregon and Notre Dame are familiar opponents for USC. Oregon was of course in the Pac-12 conference with USC before both teams left for the Big Ten, and Notre Dame is an independent conference that USC has played a rivalry game against for decades and decades.
Even if USC (and Oregon) had Pac-12 logos on their chests in 2025, USC still would have lost both of those games and would have had to be perfect if not for a chance to make the College Football Playoff.
The Illinois/Washington/Utah problem
It’s not just Notre Dame and Oregon in 2025. In their first two seasons in the Big Ten, USC is 1-4 against opponents they likely would have faced even if they were still members of the Pac-12.
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This includes 2 losses to Notre Dame, a loss to Oregon, and a loss to Washington in 2024. USC’s only win so far is against UCLA in 2024. They could improve to 2-4 in this category with a win against UCLA. Bruins this weekend.
USC would have had an easier conference slate if it had been in the Pac-12 in 2025. But, remember, if the Trojans were playing Notre Dame and Oregon, they would have had to be perfect if not to qualify for the CFP with two losses (which, who knows if the committee would even let a 2-loss Pac-12 team into the playoffs).
Are we so sure USC would have been undefeated against everyone except Oregon and Notre Dame? What if USC had to face Washington again? The Huskies aren’t elite, but they give everyone a game. What about Utah? Arizona? Arizona State? These are all strong teams in 2025.
Yes, USC is better than all of these teams on paper, but the Trojans are also better than Illinois on paper. I think the game against the Illini tells us everything we need to know. I’m not sure they would have beaten all of those teams, especially on the road.
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Oregon, on the other hand, would almost certainly go undefeated in Pac-12 play and I would also pick them to beat USC in a conference championship rematch.
So maybe USC wouldn’t even need to lose to anyone other than Oregon and Notre Dame. Oregon could do it twice — and USC would miss the CFP as a 3-loss Pac-12 team no matter what.
USC’s real problem
USC’s real problem lies not in its conference, but in its ability to beat top competition, regardless of conference.
USC is now 6-13 against ranked opponents in the Lincoln Riley era. They are 0-5 against teams ranked in the Top 10. They are 1-7 against ranked opponents on the road, with their only victory coming against UCLA in the Rose Bowl in 2022.
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Changing conferences didn’t change USC’s results. They are always good at home. They did well against inferior teams in 2025. If anything, they improved in both of those categories.
But they lose to the best of the best. It doesn’t matter if they’re old Pac-12 opponents, new Big Ten opponents, or out-of-conference opponents.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. In the Pac-12 and Big Ten, Lincoln Riley and USC failed to beat the best. This is the real problem – a problem that has made it clear that 2025 has been neither made better nor worse by the move to B1G.
So here is the challenge for 2026: beating the best. Whether it’s a Big Ten Conference opponent like Ohio State or an out-of-conference opponent like Notre Dame.
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Moving to the Big Ten was never going to solve USC’s problems. The Trojans have to do it themselves.
This article was originally published on Trojans Wire: USC beats Big Ten teams, loses to familiar opponents in 2025
