USC has so many great football moments against Big Ten schools for an obvious reason: The Rose Bowl, the game which is supremely important to USC fans and has been a centerpiece of the lives of Trojan fans for generations, has normally been played against Big Ten opponents.
The Trojans’ move to the Big Ten is something USC fans want, but there is a bittersweet element to this change, as we noted days ago:
“With the Trojans moving into the Big Ten, we’re not going to see Rose Bowls between USC and Ohio State or Michigan anymore, barring an unlikely plot twist in which two conference teams somehow meet in the quarterfinals of the 12-team College Football Playoff. That seems next to impossible, but maybe the SEC will have an unexpectedly awful year and the Big Ten will put five teams in. Who knows?”
While we reflect on those points, we can at least turn our attention to the history books and consider USC football’s greatest on-field moments against each of the Big Ten schools it has played: