USC plans to continue rivalry with Notre Dame

The USC Trojans made a huge splash on Thursday night, when the news became official that they’d be moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024, along with the UCLA Bruins. Following the news, conference realignment once again became the hottest topic across college sports. There were still plenty of questions following the Trojans’ big announcement. One of the biggest questions many fans likely had was whether or not USC would continue their rivalry with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. That question was quickly answered by Arash Markazi on Twitter, a former columnist for the LA Times.

Per Arash Markazi, “USC plans to continue its storied annual tradition of playing Notre Dame. The storied football rivalry began in 1926 and will continue with USC in the Big Ten. A lot will obviously change with USC leaving the Pac-12 but the Trojans will still play UCLA and Notre Dame every season,” Markazi tweeted on Thursday night.

He also mentioned that other rivalries for USC would continue. “Other rivalries will likely continue as well. Stanford may join the Big Ten too or both schools could look to continue a football rivalry that dates back to 1905. Today is just the tip of the iceberg. USC and UCLA won’t be the only teams west of Nebraska in the Big Ten,” Markazi wrote.

More background on USC and UCLA moving to the Big Ten

USC and UCLA are not only two of the Pac-12’s most successful schools across athletics, but are two of the largest brands in the country which offer a new market opportunity for the Big Ten. While they fall far outside the current geographic landscape of the conference, the move promises to provide great financial benefit for all parties.

The move could serve as the next major domino to fall in conference realignment after Texas and Oklahoma announced their intention to join the SEC by 2025. As conference commissioners failed to come to a resolution on a College Football Playoff format last year, the race to stockpile blue-blood programs together seems to be heating up, with some believing super conferences are on the horizon.

Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger added that “teams are jockeying” to gain membership in the Big Ten and SEC. The move promises to set off more talks and more negotiations across college football as the moves of Texas and Oklahoma did last summer.

More about USC, UCLA and the Big Ten

USC and UCLA have been members of the same conference, while under many different names throughout the years, since the late 1920s. Over the years in what became the Pac-12, the city rivals have established themselves as two of the biggest brands in sports while dominating the Los Angeles – and by extension the West Coast – market.

A move to the Big Ten will unite the two programs with football powerhouse programs like Ohio State and Michigan, in addition to multiple perennial Top 25 programs across multiple sports which make up the remainder of the conference’s 14-team membership.

More reporting by Jon Wilner has indicated that the Big Ten may not be done adding the fold as other Pac-12 teams scramble to find their next move.

On3’s James Fletcher III also contributed to this article.