Predicting how USC will fare in the Big Ten

The USC Trojans are one of numerous teams that will be debuting in a new conference this upcoming college football season. Joining the Big Ten alongside former Pac-12, West Coast programs UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.

On and off the field USC will have to make several adjustments to their new conference, which now come with mixed expectations on how they will fare in the Big Ten both short term and long term. But despite what some may think, We Are SC‘s Scott Schrader believes that the Trojans will be just fine in the future with their new league.

“Well they’re entering a conference where they’re going to have to be more physical,” Schrader said on the On3 Roundtable. “So there was a concerted effort to get bigger the last couple of years with the guys that USC recruited, and with their strength conditioning program.”

“The last defensive coordinator really kind of liked guys lean and athletic and that’s just not really going to work quite well in the Big Ten.”

Defense has been an area of weakness for USC in their final seasons as a member of the Pac-12. A weakness that has the potential to be magnified in a new conference where a certain level of physicality has been mandatory to achieve success.

But the Trojans have completely revamped their defense with this offense with a new staff and scheme. And while the Big Ten’s new members may have to adapt to a new conference, long-time members of the Big Ten will also have to adjust to what their new league opponents bring to the table.

“So I would imagine that the Big Ten defenses are always ranked really high collectively. But I think that there’s going to be a few offenses that are going to be added to the to the conference with USC, Oregon, Washington, and UCLA. So I don’t anticipate USC really having a big issue with the transition other than there’s gonna be a little bit more travel and changing time zones and stuff like that,” Schrader explained.

The latest round of conference realignment has put geographic borders and regionality to the wayside, with USC now expected to travel 13,965 miles for games this season (ranking third-most among Big Ten teams). But if the Trojans can combat an unprecedented level of travel and adapt to the physicality of the league, the sky’s the limit for one of college football’s most coveted programs.

“But I think that USC is probably gonna have a little bit tougher time with maybe running the ball and so on with the Big Ten. But I would expect them to do quite well to be honest,” Schrader concluded.