USC women’s basketball to play at Iowa next season
Here is the Trojans’ home-and-away schedule for their first season in the “new, expanded” Big Ten
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Through their captivating run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the lasting high point from the USC women’s basketball team’s 2023-24 season might have been the net that fell in Las Vegas in the spring, winners of the final Pac-12 Tournament in a conference that had rarely been better.
An hour after beating Stanford in the title game on March 10, McKenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla and Rayah Marshall sat with head coach Lindsay Gottlieb in a haze of emotion at the postgame podium, Gottlieb pointing out this was a group that would be remembered forever.
“These guys will be off running the world, and whatever they’re doing next,” Gottlieb pointed to graduating seniors Forbes and Padilla, “but Rayah will try and take the next thing to the Big Ten and say, ‘Let’s be the first ones to win the new Big Ten.’”
After an offseason landing Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen and Oregon State transfer Talia von Oelhoffen, USC has a better sense of what that “new Big Ten” looks like, as the Big Ten released its home-and-away opponents for all teams in the conference on Tuesday. The Trojans will play an 18-game schedule in conference play, facing each Big Ten team only once with a single exception: UCLA, who they will play both home and away in 2024-25.
A major highlight for USC will be a trip to Iowa, after the Trojans came a game away last year from a JuJu Watkins vs. Caitlin Clark matchup in the Final Four.
Clark is gone to the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, but the Hawkeyes are coming off a run to the national championship game and imported star Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen (23.3 ppg last year). USC will also host Ohio State at home, which it played in Las Vegas to kick off the 2023-24 slate.
Here’s the full breakdown of USC’s Big Ten home-and-away opponents for 2024-25, with exact scheduling to be released later.
HOME (last year’s record)
Illinois (19-15, 8-10 conference)
Northwestern (9-21, 4-14)
Michigan (20-14, 9-9)
Michigan State (22-9, 12-6)
Ohio State (26-6, 16-2)
Penn State (22-13, 9-9)
Minnesota (20-16, 5-13)
Nebraska (23-12, 11-7)
AWAY
Indiana (26-6, 15-3)
Purdue (15-19, 5-13)
Iowa (34-5, 15-3)
Wisconsin (15-17, 6-12)
Maryland (19-14, 9-9)
Rutgers (8-24, 2-16)
Washington (16-15, 6-12 Pac-12)
Oregon (11-21, 2-16 Pac-12)
ocregister.com
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The updated composite (USA TODAY Sports, CBS, ESPN, and The Athletic) Top 25 post-spring rankings have a Big Ten, SEC flavor
USC comes in at #27.
collegesportswire.com
SC should have enough people to mount a great rushing defense. They have players that might be a little light in the interior defensive line but are really good players and are close to 300 pounds. They have others that are freshmen but have talent. Last year UCLA was 2nd in the nation against the run. What great players did they have on the interior D-Line? They had Grayson Murphy. He was 6’3″ and 260. They had Jay Toia who had 28 tackles and 1 sack. They had Gary Smith. He had 21 tackles and 2 sacks.They had Keanu Williams… Read more »
Parcelman, I am with you. I am tired of the sky is falling because we are not getting all the portal DL players. I think we have some good ones, and what excites me is the possibility what 2025 could bring in. This season could go in a lot of ways, but one thing is for sure, it will be exciting.
Amen. We have everything we need to create a strong run defense and as far as our pass defense, we have so many stars in our secondary it is unreal. I would try and get a few more big bodies in our interior defensive line even if they are not superstars. That’s all UCLA had last year and they didn’t have the big time stars in their secondary that we have.
I saw an article which reported that USC is ranked #2 behind South Carolina (the other USC) for next season in women’s basketball. It would be interesting if both teams could make it to the NCAA final. I’ll always remember when South Carolina and Heisman winner George Rodgers came to the LA Coliseum to play USC in 1980. Our Defense totally shut down Rodgers and we won the game 23-13. The Trojan tailback Marcus Allen would win the Heisman the following year.
Could a new college compensation model be the end for football walk-ons? Ross Dellenger (Yahoo Sports) — Can you imagine a world without college football walk-ons? Well, it’s at least under consideration. As part of a proposed new athlete compensation model, power conference leaders are considering significantly reducing football rosters, potentially moving from a roster of more than 115 to as few as 85-95 players. That figure (85) aligns with the maximum scholarship number permitted under NCAA rules. The concept, circulated across administrative meetings over the last week, is part of what could be a sweeping and historic transformation of… Read more »
If the schools pay athletes more than a scholarship, they are employees. They wouldn’t they need a federal exemption from labor laws?
USC football depth chart projection: Offense has talent — but lacks proven production per Antonio Morales (The Athletic) Quarterback — Though there’s technically a quarterback competition, Miller Moss is the heavy favorite based on his extended time at USC. Jayden Maiava is an intriguing option, and he possesses the mobility Lincoln Riley’s QBs tend to have. Starter: Miller Moss (R-Jr.) Backup: Jayden Maiava (R-So.) Depth: Jake Jensen (R-Jr.) Running Back — With USC starting an inexperienced QB, having a security blanket like Woody Marks in the backfield could be valuable in the passing game. Starter: Woody Marks (R-Sr.) Backups: Quinten Joyner (So.), A’Marion Peterson (R-Fr.), Bryan Jackson (Fr.) Receiver — This group… Read more »
Aloha & Howzit Allen, Of all da USC free discussion boards, I chose yours. Registered the other day, Knew your good work from da ole days. Mahalo for accepting me. I was a long time (1999) free board member at WeAreSC, Garry P Huddle. Wipeout, on 5-01-24 EM and SS pulled da plug on da free board. Very disappointed and shocked, neva received any advance notification (PM) from them. It just went black. Gonna miss all my long time friends ova there, wipeout! Hope to make new friends ova here. Anyway looking forward to hanging out and discuss USC sports.… Read more »
All sports are welcome! The more, the merrier.
The three-day Pac-12 T/F championships started today at Potts Field in Boulder, CO. Our men’s team is pretty strong.
The old days of SuperPrep were pretty fun thanks to supporters such as yourself, Canyon. Thank you!
And a big Aloha to you too Canyon. Such a meaningful word in Hawaii.
I just returned from Waimea Bay and the Banzai Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu. What a magical, amazing place.
Howzit Bruddah Allen W and Bruddah John W, Please excuse me Bruddah John W for not addressing you in my 1st post. Just learned you’re co-owner of TDB. Thanxs Bruddah for accepting me at your board. Eh not local boy, I’m Haole. I lived and worked in Hawaii from 1963 to 1975. I was raised in da Mid West. Within one month getting my Master’s in Aerospace Engineering, moved to Hawaii and got a job at Hickam Air Force Base. It was my dream to live there. Met my wife, local Hapa Haole gal (Portuguese, Hawaiian, Chinese). 1975 we and daughter moved to California for da higher paying… Read more »
All sports are welcome but you’ll get mostly crickets on anything but football, unless they win a Natty. Allen and I tried to talk up women’s basketball, hope you’ll help us out. Welcome aboard! 🌴🍹🏄
Welcome to TDB (Trojan Daily Blog)!
Hopefully you will join our friendly football ‘pick em’ tournament in the fall and the bowl tournament if the fall.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the way the blog works be sure to sure to let Allen and I know.
GVS DT Portal Target Jay’viar Suggs (6-3, 295) Drops USC From Consideration
Suggs visited USC this past weekend and now says his final four have been reduced to UK, LSU (just offered yesterday), MICH and WIS. ARK, FSU and USC got chopped off.
on3.com
I am convinced these players are following advice from agents to go on the Portal and are playing the field as to the most money their agent can grab. LR & Jen are seeing this and being up front what they will & won’t do which includes not getting into a bidding war. The result is the same in each case. Gavin Meyer may. be playing the same game as is the Portal player from BYU?
S so n
MICH ST DT decommit Brandon Lane (6-3, 300) now getting interest from USC Lane decommitted from the Spartans just a week ago. He’s slated to graduate this weekend. The list of schools now involved with Lane has shifted, he tells On3. The latest USC DT target in the red-hot DT market told On3 on Thursday afternoon he’s been in contact with ARIZ, CU, LSU, MINN, NCS and USC since reopening his transfer recruitment last week. LSU has missed on multiple well-regarded DTs during the spring portal. The Tigers also failed to land their two top targets in Damonic Williams and Simeon Barrow Jr. With… Read more »
Lane has the size to play NT being 300 lbs. Reading about him he would appear to be a project candidate in his development over the past two years. Seems his growth over the past two years has been slow going and if he is looking to make a sizable leap in making plays, coach Henny would be a good source to learn from. I wonder if he knows coach Entz playing at So Dakota St. two years ago?
Top 100 LB Noah Mikhail Sets Commitment Date
2025 La Verne (Calif.) Bonita Top 100 LB Noah Mikhail apparently doesn’t know where he’s headed yet, but the 6-3, 205-pounder does know when he wants to commit.
Mikhail will announce his commitment on June 30.
Currently, three schools are in a strong spot: ORE, A&M and USC, but the Trojans aren’t viewed as the leader.
247sports.com
Women’s NCAA Basketball’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2024-25 from ESPN 1 SO CAR 2 USC Getting JuJu Watkins to stay home in Los Angeles and then allowing her to shine as a freshman was Lindsay Gottlieb’s first big win at USC. It has hardly been her last. The Trojans won the final Pac-12 tournament and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. This was all while toppling the recruiting world by securing the No. 1 class in the country, one that includes three players ranked in the top 20 by HoopGurlz. Then to cap it all off, Gottlieb won the transfer… Read more »
USC Women’s B-Ball is ranked #2 behind the other USC (South Carolina) in the early pre-season poll. With two excellent players transferring in from Stanford and Oregon State to join Juju, I expect the Trojans to win the new BIG next season. Iowa shouldn’t be a problem as Clark is gone to the WNBA. I expect the Men’s team to do fairly well, but new HC Eric Musselman needs a couple of years to build the team. I expect the football team to compete with Michigan for the BIG title, but we have to play them in the “Big House”… Read more »
LSU’s Brian Kelly: ‘We’re Not Going to Go Out and Buy Players’ in CFB Transfer Portal Timothy Rapp (B/R) — Brian Kelly made LSU’s approach to the transfer portal abundantly clear on Tuesday. The Tigers’ HC told WAFB-TV Sports that LSU wouldn’t be buying players while asked for an update on the team’s search for more defensive lineman: “We were in the market, in the transfer portal, looking for defensive lineman. It hasn’t fared very well, quite frankly, because we are selling something a little bit differently. And that is, we want to recruit. We want to engage, build relationships. We want to develop, retain, and have… Read more »
And this morning Boise St’s HC Spencer Danielson stated if you don’t care to work hard and you just want the easy money, don’t come here. Seems this is what a lot of coaches want to say but are afraid to. But when you are making millions yourself as a HC and you move from one program to another for a better deal, it’s hard to open your mouth about this. So far I have yet to read about any Portal or HS recruit saying he isn’t interested in the money aspect and wants to go to college to be… Read more »
Jamaica, I do not think your point is well taken. A new coach does not present the same issue as only one player. If you overpay one mediocre player, you run the risk of destroying your team chemistry. Not so for coaches. Right now, there are no elite DL on the market. So, while SC (and LSU and ton of other schools) have the need, they are probably better off simply playing with what they have.
The remark, RJJ, about coaching salaries vs. players was what I read from another website, Bleacher Report. Although I also do not necessarily agree with its logic, there are press/podcasters who do question the possible hypocracy it brings up. Coaches are in the profession to teach and players are supposedly in college sports to learn.
Allen, Thanks for the post. I agree with the take on what Kelly said. Right now there is a shortage of quality interior DL. So, in a free market, high demand and low supply means price goes up. When a run of the mill DL from Grand View State is getting offers, you know the market is simply out of whack. I think Kelly is correct that in a market like this, you MUST choose not to play, because if you “buy into” in a inflated market, it hurts your entire team, unless you have a Phil Knight willing to… Read more »
RJJ,
we are going to get multiple guys this round, LR said so and we have no choice. We can’t roll into fall with low numbers at that spot. Right now we have Kobe Pepe as the only true NT. When Raikes and Lafitte transferred out, it gave us no options. We need 2 more bodies. We will see who we get and how they fit. Another guy on campus today, from Wyoming.