Michigan is foe for Big Ten debut

LOS ANGELES >> Perhaps, if the reign of Connor Stalions would have continued unchecked, the USC football team would have to be checking its sidelines for a man wearing suspicious sunglasses and generic Trojans gear right about now.

On Tuesday, the Big Tenturned-Big-Eighteen officially released its gameby-game schedule for 2024, and USC's first matchup is titanic: traveling to The Big House for a matchup with Michigan, currently 8-0 and embroiled in one of the strangest collegiate football scandals in recent memory.

“I know it's getting a lot of attention right now,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said last week of Michigan's internetdubbed Spygate. “That kind of stuff has been going on forever.”

Even in the event Michigan's program collapses over the next year under the weight of NCAA investigation, USC's 2024 schedule won't get any easier. Not a single opponent on the Trojans' conference slate currently has a losing record. In fact, every team is at least 5-3 in 2023, and in total USC will face five teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.

“I don't have any serious complaints,” Riley said earlier in October, when USC's conference opponents for the next five seasons were released.

USC'S 2024 SCHEDULE

Sept. 1: vs. LSU, neutral site Sept. 7: vs. Utah State Sept. 14: BYE Sept. 21: at Michigan Sept. 28: vs. Wisconsin Oct. 5: at Minnesota Oct. 12: vs. Penn State Oct. 19: at Maryland Oct. 26: vs. Rutgers Nov. 2: at Washington Nov. 9: BYE Nov. 16: vs. Nebraska Nov. 23: at UCLA Nov. 30: vs. Notre Dame