Top 5 USC, UCLA vs. Big Ten matchups we can't wait to see

With news breaking on Thursday that USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten in 2024, the college football landscape has once again shifted dramatically. The two West coast powers will provide some instant pop to future schedules in the Big Ten.

Moreover, there’s already plenty of history between the two West coast programs and the Big Ten, courtesy of the Pac-12’s long history with the Big Ten.

In fact, USC has played each of the current Big Ten members at least four times, while UCLA has played 11 of the 12 teams at least three times. Of note: UCLA has never faced Indiana, the lone team in the Big Ten it has yet to meet.

But which matchups should fans most be looking forward to? Sure, the move won’t actually happen until 2024, but that shouldn’t keep us from examining some of the juiciest storylines. Here are the five matchups involving the two newest Big Ten members that we can’t wait to see.

1. Ohio State – USC

USC leads the all-time series 13-10-1

This one doesn’t take a whole lot of explanation. Simply put, this is two of college football’s most storied programs squaring off. A meeting between Ohio State and USC will also pit two of the game’s hottest young coaches, with both also known as terrific recruiters. That’s a setup for a fantastic college football game with star talent all over the field.

Then you layer on the history? Wow. These two behemoths have met in the Rose Bowl seven times previously, with USC holding a slim 4-3 edge in those prestigious games. The last three of those games were all decided by a field goal or less. The last meeting between the two programs came in the 2017 Cotton Bowl, with Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes topping Clay Helton’s Trojans 24-7. That was the Buckeyes’ first win in the series in 44 years.

2. Michigan – USC

USC leads the all-time series 6-4

All but two of the programs’ meetings previously have come in the Rose Bowl, with USC winning six of the eight meetings there. These meetings have been spread over several decades, with one game in the ’40s, two in the ’50s, one in the ’60s, two in the ’70s, two in the ’80s and two in the ’00s.

There are a handful of interesting storylines in the past, with the programs likely to start producing many more almost instantly. A few of the more prominent ones? USC managed to knock off Michigan in the 1990 Rose Bowl, winning 17-10 in legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler’s final game coaching. The Trojans also topped Michigan convincingly in 2004, paving the way for USC to lay claim to a national title after finishing No. 1 in the AP Poll, despite not appearing in the BCS Championship Game.

3. Nebraska – UCLA

Nebraska leads the all-time series 7-6

Though USC is the program that carries more weight between the two, UCLA has been no stranger to its own history with the Big Ten. And the program the Bruins have faced more than any other is Nebraska. Both teams sport 4-2 records against each other when playing at home, so the series has been really even so far.

But what makes this game so intriguing is the potential for two coaches who were hired in 2018 to square off. Nebraska brought home former player Scott Frost, hoping he could revitalize the program. After compiling a 15-29 record (10-25 Big Ten) in four seasons, Frost’s seat is scorching. UCLA, meanwhile, is only in a marginally more comfortable position after bringing Chip Kelly back to the Pac-12 coaching rankings four years ago. Kelly is 18-25 overall (16-18 Pac-12), though the Bruins are coming off their best year yet under him in 2021.

This meeting will be a fun one either way; if both coaches manage to survive until 2024, the first Nebraska-UCLA matchup since 2015 could end up meaningfully altering one’s job security going forward.

4. Penn State – USC

USC leads the all-time series 6-4

This series is a little bit different than most of the USC/UCLA vs. Big Ten ones in that the majority of the series history took place in the last 40 years or so. After USC won the first meeting in 1922, the programs went 59 years before squaring off again. There have been nine games since the ’80s, including three from 2000 on.

The most recent meeting should be more than enough to get everyone excited about the next time these powerhouses meet. That was an instant classic in the 2017 Rose Bowl, a game in which USC overcame a 14-point second half deficit to win 52-49 following a stunning turn of events. Leon McQuay III picked off a pass from Trace McSorley and ran it back to the Penn State 33-yard line with 27 seconds left, giving kicker Matt Boermeester the stage to win it with a 46-yard boot as time expired.

The late-game fireworks came following a day when Saquon Barkley racked up 194 yards and two touchdowns and Chris Godwin chipped in nine catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns for the Nittany Lions, battling against freshman quarterback Sam Darnold‘s 453 yards passing and 100-plus-yard days for receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Deontay Burnett.

5. Michigan – UCLA

Michigan leads the all-time series 8-3

These two programs have never met without at least one of them ranked. There was a five-game stretch from 1972-1989 where both teams were ranked, with a handful of very competitive contests. Though the Wolverines have dominated the series, the Bruins have the most recent win, knocking off No. 3 Michigan in Los Angeles in 2000 by a 23-20 score.

There’s also some coaching history between the two current leaders. Jim Harbaugh and Chip Kelly squared off twice as head coaches while in the Pac-12, producing a couple very compelling games between Stanford and Oregon. Harbaugh’s Stanford program took down Oregon 51-42 in a shootout in 2009 before Kelly’s Ducks upended the Cardinal 52-31 in 2010. With more than a decade gone since those meetings, it’ll be interesting to see how both have evolved with college football in the years since.