USC's Lincoln Riley explains what 'excites you most' about move to Big Ten

The college football scene will look different in 2024. Much different.

Specific to the Big Ten, several former Pac-12 programs are going to find themselves in uncharted territory. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington will be newcomers to the Big Ten, but Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley doesn't sound timid regarding his program's new adventures.

In fact, he's looking forward to what new chapters USC can write as a Big Ten program.

“I think the thing that excites you most… it’s the matchups,” Riley told On3. “It’s the new rivalries that are gonna come out of this. You know, forever and ever, the Rose Bowl has always been such a historic game within college football. And then you think of it as a great traditional Pac-12 and Big Ten matchup; all the great games that were part of that. Now, you’re gonna have those matchups every single year.”

Riley is right that the Pac-12 and Big Ten have had some great Rose Bowl matchups. Oregon and Wisconsin, Ohio State and Washington, USC and Penn State, and Michigan State and Stanford have all had big-time matchups in the Rose Bowl in recent years.

The kicker with those is that they all happened at the end of the season, once a season. Now, the Big Ten schedule will be full of these once-upon-a-time "crossover" events.

“You’re gonna have them at multiple times throughout the year, have them at different people’s locations; you’re gonna have exciting teams that you’re bringing into your home spot, and gonna be going into new really cool road environments,” Riley explained. “So I think just the competition week in and week out, [and] a chance to be a part of certainly one of the top two college football conferences right now. I mean, I’m most excited about that: the challenge of the new coaches, new schemes that you’ll go against. All of it, man."

USC's first opportunity in the Big Ten is a big one — a road matchup at "The Big House" against the defending champion Michigan Wolverines. It may be a different team with Jim Harbaugh now in the NFL, but that's the type of matchup that both fans and competitors clamor for.

The competitor just loves the opportunity that’s coming up," Riley said.