As the world tunes in to watch the best athletes compete at the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games every four years, USC pays a little more attention than most universities. After all, whatever flag they might be competing under at the Games, Olympians who’ve worn cardinal and gold are always well-represented: If USC were its own country, it would rank 14th in all-time medals among today’s recognized countries.

When the Games return to Los Angeles in 2028, the university will not only be center-stage — it will help provide the stage itself, as USC and the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will house major events, including part of the Olympic opening ceremony.

“I am absolutely thrilled that the Olympic Games are returning to Los Angeles for the third time and that we’ll be hosting the Paralympics for the first time in 2028,” said Janet Evans, two-time Olympian and USC alumna. Evans is the chief athlete officer of LA28, the group overseeing the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“As a proud Trojan and Southern California native, it’s truly special to be a part of USC’s Olympic legacy and witness our athletes continue to carry the torch with their representation and success at the Games,” Evans said.

Preparing for LA28

According to LA28, both the L.A. Memorial Coliseum — managed and operated by USC Auxiliary Services — and USC’s Galen Center will host various competitions, the former for track and field and the latter for badminton. Parts of USC’s University Park Campus will also serve as the Olympic Media Village, where all accredited media covering the Games will stay.

“We’ve worked closely with LA28 since the first LA24 Olympics bid, and they’ve always been supportive partners,” said Dan Stimmler, vice president for USC Auxiliary Services, which also oversaw the Coliseum’s recent renovation. “Now that all the preliminary behind-the-scenes details for 2028 are nearly wrapped up, we’re excited and energized about the next critical phase in our amazing partnership with LA28.”

The 2028 Games will mark the first time in Olympics history that no new permanent venues will be built to host the Games. L.A. will use existing venues across the region, with two sports — softball and canoe slalom — being hosted in Oklahoma City.

On the closing day of the Paris Olympic Games, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass also announced plans for the 2028 Games to be “car-free” to help keep traffic manageable — a task that LA28 has collaborated on with USC.

An L.A. touch

USC’s partnership with LA28 extends beyond facilities and transportation. Earlier this summer, LA28 announced a collaboration with the USC Race and Equity Center to design a series of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging workshops ahead of the Games.

“It’s no secret that massive amounts of people are going to come here to experience the Games,” said Justin Morrow, head of sports programs and partnerships with the USC Race and Equity Center. “We’ve helped LA28 think through their transportation policy and how they can partner with local and city and state government to grow public transportation.”

The center has also designed the LA28 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Leadership Acceleration Academy, a program created to facilitate meaningful dialogue among the Games’ organizers, planners, employees and athletes. Through the program, Morrow hopes LA28 team members will understand what it means to deliver an Olympic Games that reflects a truly multicultural city and country.

“We’ve helped the people at LA28 think through a lot of different ways that the 2028 Olympic Games can have a positive impact for all the people living in Los Angeles,” Morrow said.

Part of that work involves community outreach before the Games to ensure that the many communities in L.A. have input on the Games and how the world sees their city.

“It’s about getting out into the community with people that live in different areas of the city, different ethnic groups, different sporting groups, and talking to them,” Morrow said. “We want to know what would make this feel like a really authentic Los Angeles experience.”

Evans said she’s looking forward to working closely with her alma mater to help create a Games unique to L.A.

“Equipped with the lessons and feedback we’re collecting from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we’re more excited than ever to create an extraordinary experience for our athletes, community, partners and fans in 2028,” she said.

There’s a lot that’s new with USC football this year, including a new quarterback, a new conference and new rivalries in the making — but the traditions that make game day at USC special remain. Here’s a wrap-up of everything you need to know to enjoy what many Trojans consider to be the most wonderful time of the year.

Getting there

• If you’re driving, leave early and allow lots of time to find parking.

• Drivers are urged to purchase a parking permit in advance online, as a limited number of permits are available for the USC Downey Way, Shrine and Grand Avenue parking structures. Additionally, passes at the USC Downey Way, Royal Avenue and Flower Street parking structures will not be available for sale on game days. More parking information is available online.
• Follow USC Transportation on X (formerly Twitter) for live updates during football season.
• Fans are encouraged to take the Metro E (Expo) Line directly to one of the three stations serving USC: Expo/Vermont, Expo Park/USC or Jefferson/USC.

Game day on campus

Campus access:

• To ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience, all visitors entering the University Park Campus will pass through security access points when driving or walking in. Please be ready to show a government-issued photo ID if asked for scanning. No guest registration is needed.

Reservations and regulations:

• A tailgate permit is required for all groups tailgating on campus. No walk-up tailgating is permitted.
• Tailgate reservations must be made three weeks prior to the game to avoid late fees.
• Reservations are for the campus grounds only and do not include parking or a space for a vehicle.

• Setups start six hours before game time, and tailgates must end by kickoff.

• Fans are encouraged to exercise moderation in consuming alcoholic beverages. Those found to be in violation of USC policies will have their future tailgating privileges revoked.
• Additional tailgating rules are online.

Trojan Family Game Day Experience:

• Offered on-campus for every Saturday home game and a great place to be if you want to have the tailgate atmosphere, but don’t want to bring all the equipment.
• Includes games for kids and fans, big-screen TVs tuned to college games, plenty of tables and chairs, and a wide variety of food and beverages including soft drinks, beer and wine available for purchase.
• Open to the public.
• Located in Alumni Memorial Park, across from Tommy Trojan in front of Doheny Memorial Library.

Other options:

• University-owned venues — including the USC Hotel lobby bar, McKay’s and The Lab on Figueroa Street; and Moreton Fig and the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club at King Stoops Hall — will feature game day specials.

No tailgating before Friday game:

• On-campus tailgating is prohibited before the Friday, Oct. 25, game against Rutgers, since classes will be in session that day.

Other information to consider:

• 

  Glass containers are prohibited on campus. Use multiuse containers or cans.

• There will be a “Waste End Zone” tent for all trash and a mobile recycling station cart in McCarthy Quad (there will be large signs with the university’s Assignment: Earth logo).
• Tailgating and game day parking at USC Village is prohibited. Restaurants and shops are open for dining on all game days, but parking is reserved for shoppers and dining patrons only.
• USC is a smoke-free environment. The policy applies to lighted cigarettes, cigars, pipes, electronic cigarettes, hookah or other lit products, and includes the use of any substance including tobacco, cloves or marijuana.
• Tailgate policies apply to on-campus gatherings. Similar procedures will apply within the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum fences but not at Exposition Park, which is not overseen by the university.

At the Coliseum

Parking:

• Most traffic into Exposition Park is right turn only. Left turn pockets will be closed.
• Exposition Park lots are permit only. There are no cash lots at Exposition Park during USC football games.

Inside:

• Be prepared for a metal detector screening and have items clearly displayed in a clear bag.
• Arrive at the gates no later than 30 minutes before kickoff.
• The Coliseum is cashless — only credit/debit cards and mobile pay are accepted.
• The Coliseum is a no smoking venue — smoking, smokeless tobacco and smoking implements are prohibited in all areas of the Coliseum.
• Download mobile tickets to your wallet on your mobile device before arriving — screenshots are not accepted.
• Additional Coliseum information is available online.

This summer, 67 past, current and incoming Trojans competed in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, representing 26 different nations and spanning nine different sports. Of those athletes, 13 medaled, with Trojans bringing home 15 medals in total (Rai Benjamin won two golds and Nicole Yeargin won two bronze medals). Meet the Olympians who made USC proud, and read five things you should know about USC’s history with the Olympics.

1. USC has produced more Olympic athletes, more gold medal winners and more overall medalists than any other U.S. university.
2. USC is one of a handful of U.S. schools to have hosted actual Olympic events on its grounds. The swim stadium on the University Park Campus — now the Uytengsu Aquatics Center — hosted swimming events during the 1984 Games (though without sponsor McDonald’s name, in keeping with Olympic policy).
3. USC’s participation in the Olympics dates to 1904, when Emil Breitkreutz, class of 1906, traveled to St. Louis and brought home a bronze medal in the 800-m run.
4. USC is the only school with an Olympic torch in its football stadium. That comes in handy for one of USC’s most popular home-field traditions at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: the fourth-quarter lighting of the torch.
5. A Trojan has won at least one gold medal in every Summer Olympics since 1912. That includes the U.S.-boycotted 1980 Moscow Games, where swimmer Michelle Ford ’84, competing for her native Australia, captured gold in the 800-m freestyle.

Two years after USC stunned the collegiate athletics world by announcing it would join the Big Ten Conference, the university on Friday formally became part of that venerable sports league. The new-look Big Ten has been more than 100 years in the making, with a reach that now extends from coast-to-coast and into much more than just athletics, including academics, research and more.

“This is the dawn of a new era for USC Athletics,” USC President Carol Folt said. “At this critical moment when there are seismic changes coming across the athletics landscape, it was fortuitous that we made this commitment two years ago. We are prepared and we are ready. We are well positioned to compete with the best student-athletes far into the future.”

The move was spearheaded by Folt to bring more opportunities for the entire university and a dramatically increased profile on the national stage. USC’s student-athletes will see additional resources and nationwide exposure, often during choice times on the east coast. Faculty and staff will benefit from participation in the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which facilities the sharing of resources, infrastructure and expertise among members. USC students will have the opportunity to access library holdings, take certain classes and even study or work in laboratories of member universities.

The conference change also dovetails with Folt’s athletics “moonshot,” that seeks to create a world-class athletics department and provides USC’s student-athletes with every resource for success on and off the field. Components include construction of Rawlinson Stadium, a new home for USC women’s soccer and lacrosse; rebuilding and reimagining Dedeaux Field, USC’s baseball home; and development of expanded and improved football training facilities including a new conditioning center and additional practice field.

Folt — an environmental scientist whose priorities for USC also include sustainability, affordability and access, transforming health affairs and a university-wide focus on the future of computing and technology— has been a strong supporter of athletics throughout her career. She came to USC five years ago after serving as chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the traditional basketball powerhouse.

The 2002 announcement of USC’s move to the Big Ten, along with UCLA, is widely credited as having prompted a sea change in the college sports landscape. While Texas and Oklahoma had previously announced they would join the Southeastern Conference and leave their Big 12 home, those moves were regional in scope. The Los Angeles schools’ announcement created the first truly national conference — a storied organization whose members have prioritized academic excellence along with athletic competition from the beginning.

History of the Big Ten

The Big Ten — the oldest and arguably one of the two most successful athletic conferences in the country — traces its history to a 1895 meeting of representatives from the University of Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin to organize and develop principles for regulating intercollegiate athletics.

A year later, the schools finalized their plans and established the conference’s fundamentals — a collection of top institutions where the pursuit of academic excellence prevailed as the definitive goal. In 1905 it incorporated as the Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association. By 1917, the conference had grown to its namesake 10 members and was first referred to as the “Big Ten” (though it wouldn’t be incorporated as such until 1978).

The roster was largely unchanged for decades. With the addition of Penn State in 1990, the conference outgrew — but retained — its “Big Ten” name; the conference nudged its way west in 2011 with the addition of Nebraska, and expanded eastward in 2014 with Maryland and Rutgers.

The biggest change, though, was yet to come.

Meanwhile, out west

As the Big Ten was being conceived, USC was an ambitious but young institution — barely 15 years old at the time, a fledgling anchor of a dusty western boom town. As Los Angeles grew, so did the university and, from its Pacific outpost, it soon was a force to be reckoned with.

In 1915, the university signed on as a founding member of the Pacific Coast Conference — ultimately the Pac-12. By 1926, an annual football game against Notre Dame was established — now one of college sports’ fiercest rivalries. Just two years later, the Trojans claimed their first national football championship.

Over the years, USC men’s and women’s teams would win more than their share of national championships(136 so far) and Pac-12 titles. But as the collegiate athletics landscape evolved and conferences — and potential audiences — grew beyond their own backyards, change was inevitable.

A Big future

In some ways, it may seem destined that USC and the Big Ten would come together. Like USC, the Big Ten schools — including new members UCLA, Oregon and Washington — are recognized research leaders as well as fierce competitors, forward-thinking institutions with deep roots. They’ll prove worthy competitors on the athletic field — and talented partners in the classroom and research lab.

Many of USC’s new conference opponents in the Big Ten aren’t new to the Trojans. Crosstown rival UCLA, Oregon and Washington are especially familiar faces. And in Rose Bowl games, which traditionally hosted the Pac-12 and Big Ten champs, USC has faced nine different Big Ten teams — 10 if you include new Big Ten member Washington, which USC played in the 1944 Rose Bowl amid World War II travel restrictions.

“Being a member of the Big Ten,” athletic director Jennifer Cohen said, “will enable us to further invest in the student-athlete experience by providing us with additional resources; to create exciting new rivalries with like-minded institutions; to celebrate and share our storied traditions with Trojans across the country and with new generations of fans; and to provide our student-athletes and university with unprecedented national exposure and opportunities.”

The Big Ten Network is recognizing the conference’s new members with a full day of programming.

Beyond athletics, the conference provides myriad opportunities for collaboration at all levels. Most prominent among them is the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which facilities the sharing of academic courses, resources, infrastructure and expertise among members. Reciprocal borrowing privileges will allow USC students to access the library holdings of any Big Ten university as well as the University of Chicago, a Big Ten Academic Alliance affiliate.

As Folt said: “The Big Ten Academic Alliance opens doors for our faculty to find new ways to collaborate and for our university to share information, leverage best practices and solve even bigger global challenges.”

The alliance also sponsors peer groups at all levels, providing academic leaders and support staff across institutions a forum to swap knowledge, work on shared initiatives and gather both virtually and in person. Those peer groups often give rise to join ventures such as the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium and the Big Ten Neurosurgery Consortium.

“It’s important to note that the Big Ten is not just an athletic conference,” said Ishwar K. Puri, USC’s senior vice president of research and innovation. “It’s also a meeting of like-minded educational institutions with the objective of furthering academics and research.”

The schools also have something else in common with USC: a dedication to their neighbors.

“The universities are good members of their communities,” Puri said. “They contribute to the economic strength of their communities; they contribute to innovation in their communities.”

Big opportunities, big challenges

The Trojans’ first competitions in the Big Ten come next month: women’s soccer matches at Washington on Sept. 17 and at Purdue on Sept. 19, and then the big game in “the Big House” — USC football’s Big Ten opener against reigning national champ Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Our move to the Big Ten positions USC for long-term success and stability amidst the rapidly changing sports media and collegiate athletic landscapes,” Folt wrote in her letter sharing the Big Ten news with the Trojan Family in June 2022. “Equally important, we are joining a conference that shares our values of academic excellence, athletic competitiveness and diversity and inclusion across all sports. …

“We hope you are as excited as we are about what’s to come.”

USC’s Rachel B. Levin contributed to this report, which was supplemented with material from the Big Ten.

Trojans from across Europe gathered in Paris on Wednesday to celebrate the 2024 Paris Olympics, the USC alumni community and the university’s unmatched Olympic heritage.

The event, hosted by USC Athletics, the USC Alumni Association’s Alumni Relations unit  and the USC Alumni Club of Paris, was held at the historic Lagardère Paris Racing, one of the city’s most prestigious sports clubs and one of the sites of the first Olympic Games in France in 1900.

“We have more than 60 USC champions competing for more than 25 nations at the Olympics,” USC President Carol Folt said in a message to Trojans in Paris. “It is going to be so much fun. I wish I could be with you. It is a wonderful time!”

Four Olympians from USC — Yemi John (4x400m, Great Britain), Radka Novotnikova (rowing, Czech Republic), Tade Ojora (110m hurdle, Great Britain) and Nicole Yeargin (4x400m, Great Britain) — joined alumni and friends at the event and were warmly welcomed by the Trojan Family.

Incoming students and their parents also attended, marking their first USC experience before stepping on campus. A three-course buffet was served, followed by fun games including Trojan Trivia, with winners receiving USC merchandise and USC football tickets as the grand prize.

“The evening was a huge success, and everyone enjoyed engaging with our new students and Trojan Olympians,” said Leslie Nelson Cressy, president of the USC Alumni Club of Paris, who worked diligently to make the event happen. “This event is a testament to the strength of the global Trojan Family.”

Trojans from across Europe gathered in Paris on Wednesday to celebrate the 2024 Paris Olympics, the USC alumni community and the university’s unmatched Olympic heritage.

The event, hosted by USC Athletics, the USC Alumni Association’s Alumni Relations unit  and the USC Alumni Club of Paris, was held at the historic Lagardère Paris Racing, one of the city’s most prestigious sports clubs and one of the sites of the first Olympic Games in France in 1900.

“We have more than 60 USC champions competing for more than 25 nations at the Olympics,” USC President Carol Folt said in a message to Trojans in Paris. “It is going to be so much fun. I wish I could be with you. It is a wonderful time!”

Four Olympians from USC — Yemi John (4x400m, Great Britain), Radka Novotnikova (rowing, Czech Republic), Tade Ojora (110m hurdle, Great Britain) and Nicole Yeargin (4x400m, Great Britain) — joined alumni and friends at the event and were warmly welcomed by the Trojan Family.

Incoming students and their parents also attended, marking their first USC experience before stepping on campus. A three-course buffet was served, followed by fun games including Trojan Trivia, with winners receiving USC merchandise and USC football tickets as the grand prize.

“The evening was a huge success, and everyone enjoyed engaging with our new students and Trojan Olympians,” said Leslie Nelson Cressy, president of the USC Alumni Club of Paris, who worked diligently to make the event happen. “This event is a testament to the strength of the global Trojan Family.”