USC · Big TenUSC opens with little margin before Big Ten’s biggest tests
The No. 14 Trojans start Saturday against San José State with an 8.5-win projection and five preseason top-20 opponents ahead. Iowa opens Sept. 5 in a sold-out, gold-out Kinnick Stadium.
AUG 28, 2026
No. 14 USC opens its 2026 season Saturday, Aug. 29, hosting San José State at 3 p.m. ET. The opener begins a schedule that will give the Trojans little room to waste the momentum from last season’s 9-4 finish, including a 7-2 Big Ten record.
USC faces five opponents ranked in the preseason top 20. The two clearest measuring-stick dates are Sept. 26, when No. 2 Oregon comes to Los Angeles, and Oct. 31, when No. 1 Ohio State visits USC. No. 6 Indiana is also on the schedule, while road trips to Penn State on Oct. 10 and Wisconsin on Oct. 24 sit between the Oregon and Ohio State games.
FanDuel set USC’s regular-season win total at 8.5 and listed the Trojans at +1300 to win the Big Ten. That is a reasonable reflection of the path: USC is good enough to enter the year ranked in both major preseason polls, but it has to survive a much tougher set of top-end games than most contenders.
The national fan poll was less bullish. USC received 3% of Big Ten title picks, fourth behind Ohio State at 42%, Oregon at 38% and Indiana at 13%.
Iowa’s opener arrives Sept. 5 against Northern Illinois at a sold-out Kinnick Stadium, with BTN carrying the game. The gold-out crowd will open a season in which Iowa drew 21% of Big Ten title picks in its community poll—more than Oregon or Indiana, each at 17%—despite being listed eighth in the conference at +5000.
For USC, San José State is the first chance to establish the floor before Oregon and Ohio State define the ceiling. For Iowa, Northern Illinois starts with a full Kinnick and unusually confident home expectations.