The USC Trojans are still looking for a successful first season in the Big Ten. They enter October with a 3-1 record, including 1-1 in Big Ten play.
While the focus is currently on the 2024 season, 2025 will be here before we know it. USC is aware of this, and on Wednesday, the school announced its season opener for the 2025 campaign
Our 2025 season opener is set!
We’ll welcome Missouri State to the Coliseum in their inaugural game in the FBS on 8/30/2025!
🏟️✌️ pic.twitter.com/wytkK4KGW0
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) October 2, 2024
.
It doesn’t have the prestige or glitz and glamour of USC’s 2024 season opener when they faced the LSU Tigers in Las Vegas, but USC’s 2025 opener against the Missouri State Bears will still be very significant.
As the post notes, it’s Missouri State’s FBS debut. The significance beyond that is that USC has never faced an FCS team in the program’s history, and that will remain intact as Missouri State joins Conference USA.
Per 247Sports, the Trojans were originally scheduled to start a home-and-home with the Ole Miss Rebels in the 2025 season opener, but that was canceled over the offseason, leaving USC scrambling to find a replacement. They will also need to find a nonconference season opener in 2026.
While Missouri State isn’t the caliber of program a team like USC should open the season with, the weak non-conference schedules that elite teams like Ohio State and Alabama have played in the past few seasons make it tough for other top programs to want to challenge themselves.
