USC Trojans Schedule Release: Exciting Big Ten Home Games, First-Time Road Matchups

The USC Trojans have 18 Big Ten conference games for next season; nine being home at the Galen Center and the other nine on the road. USC will be playing every Big Ten team one time in the regular season, with the UCLA bruins being the only one they will be playing both at home and on the road. 

The 2025-26 meetings will feature the first-ever visits to Galen Center for Iowa, Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin. USC will be playing road games at Illinois and Minnesota for the first time.

USC Trojans Big Ten Home Opponents 

Indiana Hoosiers 

Purdue Boilermakers 

Iowa Hawkeyes 

Wisconsin Badgers

Maryland Terrapins 

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Washington Husksies 

Oregon Ducks 

UCLA Bruins

USC Trojans Big Ten Road Opponents 

Illinois Fighting Illini

Northwestern Wildcats 

Michigan Wolverines 

Michigan State Spartans 

Ohio State Buckeyes 

Penn State Nittany Lions

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Nebraska Cornhuskers

UCLA Bruins

USC Trojans 2025 Season Outlook 

In 2024-2025, USC went 31-4 and 17-1 in Big Ten conference play. They won the Big Ten regular season title after sweeping the UCLA Bruins in the regular season. USC entered the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed, but feel to No. 2 seed UCLA in the Big Ten tournament championship game.

USC still earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They were among one of the heavy favorites to win the while thing, but the JuJu Watkins injury changed everything. Watkins' injury in the second round of the tournament dramatically dimmed their title hopes. For the second straight season, USC was knocked out in the Elite Eight by the UConn Huskies. UConn, led by the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers, ended up cruising to the 2025 National Championship.

Not only was the Watkins injury a major blow to the 2025 tournament run, it also has USC in a tough position heading into the 2025 season.

The biggest story heading into 2025 for USC is the status of superstar guard JuJu Watkins. Watkins tore her ACL in the Trojans second round win in the tournament and has a grueling recovery in front of her. In just her sophomore season, Watkins won the 2025 Wooden Award for being the most outstanding player in women’s college basketball. She averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3 assists. 

USC freshman guard Avery Howell looked poised to be the one to fill in for Watkins while she was out, but Howell transferred to Washington this offseason. Once Watkins went out in the tournament, Howell scored 18, 18, and 9 points after averaging just 7.5 points throughout the season.

USC will now be relying heavy on guard Kennedy Smith to be their rock in the backcourt without Watkins.