This post was updated Sept. 7 at 9:56 p.m.

UCLA is just weeks away from starting its second season of Big Ten play. After capturing seven Big Ten championships during their first year in the conference, the Bruins will look to build upon their inaugural year. Prior to the start of UCLA’s second Big Ten campaign, Daily Bruin Sports will preview football, basketball and other top programs from each school.

Women’s Basketball
2024 record: (31-4, 16-1 Big Ten), Big Ten regular season champions, Elite Eight appearance
Coach: Lindsay Gottlieb
Player to Watch: Jazzy Davidson

When JuJu Watkins went down in the Trojans’ second game of last year’s NCAA tournament, it looked like the entirety of the Galen Center was holding its breath.

All of the air got sucked out of the arena in an instant.

And as videos of the freshman phenom circulated on the internet, people began speculating the worst – the guard had torn her ACL.

The worst turned out to be exactly what had happened, and the Los Angeles local who brought the “JuJu effect” to her hometown school was sidelined for the rest of the NCAA tournament and will likely miss most of the 2025-2026 campaign.

To say the Trojans will feel the loss of Watkins, who set the all-time national freshman scoring record and is the only USC athlete with 30-plus points in 14 games, is an understatement.

But the Trojans’ ability to rally without their star players suggests coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad is not a one-trick pony.

USC still made an Elite Eight appearance, where it ultimately fell to eventual national champions UConn – and by a smaller margin than No. 1 overall seed UCLA, which bested a Watkins-included USC to secure the Big Ten tournament title.

However, multiple key starters in the Trojans’ end-of-season run will not be returning.

Forward Kiki Iriafen, who led USC in scoring after Watkins’ injury and was the 2024 Katrina McClain Award winner for the nation’s best power forward, was selected fourth overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Center/forward Rayah Marshall also joined Iriafen in the WNBA, going in the second round of the Draft to the Connecticut Sun.

And guard Avery Howell, who – as a true freshman – totaled 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals in USC’s Sweet Sixteen victory over Kansas State, transferred to Washington.

The departures leave guard Kennedy Smith as the sole returning starter from last season’s NCAA tournament roster. Smith led the team in steals as a true freshman and fell behind Watkins and Iriafen in scoring with 9.5 points per contest.

The addition of transfer guard Londynn Jones from crosstown rival UCLA could fill the holes on the perimeter left behind by Howell, who boasted a 39.9% 3-point shooting percentage last season. Jones led UCLA in 3-point shooting last season and ranks fourth in program history for 3-pointers scored.

The most valuable addition to USC’s backcourt could come in guard Jazzy Davidson, the No. 3 overall recruit from the class of 2025, who is already receiving premature comparisons to Watkins.

Watkins may be what heralded a national spotlight on the Galen Center last season, but this year, what will make the Trojans great is their ability to play without her.

Football
2024 record: (7-6, 4-5 Big Ten), SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Coach: Lincoln Riley
Player to Watch: Jayden Maiava

14 professional Hall of Famers, 11 national titles and a nation-leading eight Heisman Trophy winners.

The Trojans have built a national reputation by enshrining their name in college football record books, meaning a middle-of-the-road USC football team last year was a far cry from the prestige that the program has earned its name for.

A 10th-place finish in Big Ten standings, a loss to unranked Minnesota and a three-game losing streak capped off with a defeat at the hands of Maryland – the latter’s sole conference win – defined the Trojans’ season and looked a bit different than what the program is typically used to.

But a new year presents a fresh slate, and under the guidance of fourth-year head honcho Lincoln Riley – who has mentored three of the last eight Heisman Trophy winners and was the winningest college football coach under the age of 40 last year – USC fans have reason to be optimistic for 2025.

After the departure of 2024 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, the Trojans have yet to find their leader under center.

But Riley may have finally landed on redshirt junior Jayden Maiava. The Palolo, Hawaiʻi, local took over Miller Moss’ starting position at the end of 2024 and will return to the role this season.

Maiava was unafraid to generate action, throwing for 1,135 yards across the last four games last season.

However, this attitude garnered Maiava six interceptions, the second most in the Big Ten for any player who threw under 1,300 yards.

With a couple of starts under his belt and an offseason of training, Maiava may be primed for a competitive season in a conference full of strong quarterbacks.

In USC’s season opener against Missouri State, Maiava threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns while adding an additional score on the ground. The Trojan is currently ranked second in the Big Ten for total passing yards despite only playing in the first half.

And with the No. 1 recruit from California and the No. 3 quarterback prospect in the nation – per On3 – in true freshman Husan Longstreet standing closely behind Maiava, the Trojans have added depth in their offensive arsenal that could make for an exciting quarterback.

Men’s Basketball
2024 record: (17-18, 7-13 Big Ten)
Coach: Eric Musselman
Players to Watch: Rodney Rice and Terrance Williams II

Graduate forward Terrance Williams II is the only player who appeared in more than one game returning to the USC men’s basketball squad after an offseason of roster turnover and exhausted eligibility.

And Williams II was not even an integral part of the Trojans’ last year due to a wrist injury that sidelined him after only six starts and seven appearances.

During that time, however, he managed to lock in a 51.1% shooting percentage from the field and recorded multiple double-digit scoring outings, including 20 points against San Jose State.

Needless to say, USC will be starting from scratch when it comes to on-court chemistry. Second-year coach Eric Musselman did manage to pull in some heavy-hitting transfers, though, despite finishing third-to-last in the Big Ten and failing to make the NCAA tournament.

Headlining the list is guard Rodney Rice, who – as a sophomore member of the “Crab Five” at Maryland – started 32 games and averaged 13.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.

Rice helped bring the Terrapins to the Sweet Sixteen, where they ultimately fell to eventual national champions Florida.

Joining Rice from the transfer portal are forward Jacob Cofie and guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara. Cofie started half of the 32 games he appeared in at Virginia and posted double-digit points on 10 occasions. Baker-Mazara averaged 10 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and was named to the 2024 SEC All-Tournament Team in his first year at Auburn.

A pair of top-50 recruits, Alijah Arenas and Jerry Easter II, join the 10 transfers to round out USC’s roster.

While former five-star prospect Arenas has the talent to be a potential breakout star in his true freshman year, a knee injury will sideline him for the season.

Rice’s year playing at Virginia prior to Cofie’s arrival the next season is about as close as any potential starter on this squad gets to having past collegiate experience playing together.

If Musselman can present a coherent unit come October, USC has the talent to pull itself from the bottom of the Big Ten rankings.