May 27, 2025

Will the November 1 trip to Nebraska be the barometer game for the Trojans?

1 hour 21 minutes

In this edition of the Peristyle Podcast hosts Ryan Abraham and Connor Morrissette (aka "Triple Double") are back in studio talking about the 2025 USC football schedule and how the early November trip to Lincoln could be the determining factor for the Trojans having a successful campaign. After finishing the regular season 6-6 in 2024 with no true Big Ten road victories, USC will try to take a huge step forward and be a real factor in the conference title race this season. To do so, the Trojans will need to grind out some tough victories on the road and we are circling that November 1 date against the Cornhuskers as the barometer game for USC.

Looking at the way too early top-25 polls USC will face a few ranked teams on the road including Notre Dame, Oregon and Illinois and face off against Michigan at home. The post-spring SP+ rankings have Notre Dame at No. 6, Oregon at No. 7, Michigan at No. 10, Illinois at No. 19 then Iowa at No. 28 and Nebraska at No. 34 (with USC at No. 30). No other program on the Trojans schedule is in the SP+ top-50.

Most sportsbooks currently have USC's over/under win total at 7.5, but barely surpassing that with an 8-4 record likely wouldn't be enough for Trojan fans to feel the season was a success. If we assume the pair of top-10 road games are losses, it doesn't leave much room for error for the Trojans to get to that 9-win mark. To have any chance of success USC will need to win its tough home games, so let's assume the Trojans go 2-1 with Michigan, Iowa and at Illinois. That leaves the November 1 game against Nebraska as the lynchpin to a successful season. The Huskers, like the Trojans, did a lot of work in the off-season to try and improve and some even feel Nebraska could make a run at the College Football Playoffs. USC got the better of Nebraska last season in the Coliseum, so Matt Rhule and company will be trying to return the favor when the Trojans come to town. In our opinion, both programs will desperately need that victory to take the next step towards conference respectability.

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