Ohio State football Buck'Eyeing' the Big Ten: USC Trojans

With the expansion of four new teams into The Big Ten, the conference developed a new scheduling strategy of rotating opponents, beginning with the 2024 season. Also new to the Big Ten is the elimination of divisions, with the end result that the top two teams within the conference at the end of the regular season will play in The Big Ten Championship Game.

It is with that thought in mind that prompted me to start this series to look at the other teams within The Big Ten that Ohio State will not be facing in the 2024 regular season. I am going to be reviewing these teams within The Big Ten in alphabetical order, giving my thoughts on their possible season outlook, as well as the odds that the team could wind up in The Big Ten Championship Game.

1. Illinois Fighting Illini

2. Maryland Terrapins

3. Minnesota Golden Gophers

4. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

5. UCLA Bruins

6. USC Trojans (2023 Record: 8-5)

I wrote this last week about UCLA, and I will repeat it this week ~ This is going to be an adjustment for me, I will not lie.

One of the four West Coast teams making the big move to The Big Ten, the USC Trojans come into the 2024 season, in search of new identities on both sides of the ball, in addition to their new conference affiliation. USC head coach Lincoln Riley has long been considered one of the brightest minds in college football for his productive offenses, but Riley will have his hands full this coming season.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Against Ohio State: Here's kind of a shocker, as this will not happen until 2026, when Ohio State will travel to the LA Memorial Coliseum. The date and time of the game has not yet been established.

Key Personnel Losses From 2023: Here is what I was referring to up above with Riley having his hands full this season. The Trojans had 7 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, with QB Caleb Williams being the top selection overall by the Chicago Bears. Among the other player selections were:

- S Casey Bullock (3rd round, Carolina Panthers)

- RB MarShawn Lloyd (3rd round, Green Bay Packers)

- G Jarrett Kingston (6th round, San Francisco 49ers)

- WR Brenden Rice (7th round, Los Angeles Chargers)

- EDGE Solomon Byrd (7th round, Houston Texans)

- WR Tahj Washington (7th round, Miami Dolphins)

Congratulations to those players, and best wishes as they try to make their way in the NFL, but the loss of talent has to be concerning, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Two wide receivers, a running back, an offensive lineman, and a quarterback the caliber of Caleb Williams will not be easy to replace.

At the risk of sounding like a cheap shot, USC also will be replacing Alex Grinch as their defensive coordinator with former UCLA defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. The firing of Grinch by Lincoln Riley near the end of the 2023 season was met with a "What took you so long?!?" response by most college football fans. Nonetheless, D'Anton Lynn will need to replace Casey Bullock and Solomon Byrd on the defense, while also trying to get his new defensive philosophy implemented.

2024 Schedule Outlook: USC starts out with a tough one, facing LSU in Las Vegas on September 1st at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. Rumors persist that USC was trying to get out of that game.

A home non-conference game versus Utah State on September 7th at 11 pm ET on The Big Ten Network is next, then USC has two weeks before they kick off Big Ten conference play in Ann Arbor, Michigan, against the Wolverines. This is scheduled for a 3:30 pm ET kickoff on CBS and will mark the first time USC and Michigan have faced each other in a regular-season game since September 27th, 1958.

Let me put that into a different context for you ~ Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes had recently won the national championship in 1957, and hired a new assistant on his staff for the 1958 season. His name? Bo Schembechler.

USC's remaining Big Ten schedule has its share of challenges, with hosting Wisconsin (September 28th), Penn State (October 12th), Rutgers (October 25th on FOX for another 11 pm ET (!) kickoff), and Nebraska (November 16th), while going on the road to Minnesota (October 5th), to Maryland (October 19th), to Washington (November 2nd), and then the crosstown game at The Rose Bowl versus UCLA (November 23rd). USC will finish up its 2024 schedule with their traditional non-conference battle, hosting Notre Dame, on November 30th. That is a tough schedule, from start to finish.

Prediction for 2024: USC has College Football Playoff aspirations for this upcoming season, but that seems unlikely. USC misses games versus Ohio State and Oregon, who are the prohibitive favorites to win The Big Ten in 2024, but the conference games that they do have on their schedule are going to be taxing enough for me to predict USC will not be going to Indianapolis in December for The Big Ten Championship Game. They are a definite bowl team, but a College Football Playoff team can only have 2, maybe 3, losses. I don't know if USC can come out of the regular season without at least 3 losses.

A player on USC's roster to keep an eye and ear out for in 2024 is sophomore WR/KR/PR Zachariah Branch. Branch was heavily recruited by Ohio State, and has the type of talent that will make him a priority for opposing Big Ten defenses to account for when he is on the field.

Look for the seventh part of the series next week, as we look at how the 2024 season may shape up for the Washington Huskies, another new Big Ten member. As always, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.