While the old Pac-12 teams all feel like rivals to the UCLA Bruins, no rivalry compares to the USC Trojans for UCLA. The crosstown location makes the rivalry make sense from a geoprahical standpoint and the two schools moving to the Big Ten Conference together ensures that the two teams will see each other every season.
That’s not the case for USC’s other main rival, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Due to both programs trying to optimize their chances to make the College Football Playoffs, the two schools ended their annual tradition for the 2026 season.
The two teams have already planned to bring back the rivalry in 2030 but that gives the programs potentially four seasons apart from each other. So in the meantime, does that make UCLA become USC’s biggest rival? Trojans Wire writer Matt Zemek believes so, even if how the Trojans fare against the Oregon Ducks might be the more important game for USC’s season.
“USC fans do not consider Oregon a rival, so purely in terms of a "rivalry," yes, UCLA is number one with Notre Dame temporarily out of the picture. However, Oregon is the game USC really, really needs to win this year, and needs to start winning on a regular basis. Dan Lanning is now what Lincoln Riley was a decade ago: a hot commodity and an energetic, young coach who was riding the wave, getting his team to the playoffs on a regular basis and competing at the top of his conference,” Zemek said. “Riley hasn't been that guy for some time. He hasn't set that standard at USC since 2022, his first season. The Oklahoma version of Riley won four straight Big 12 championships and made three straight playoff semifinal appearances. Oklahoma was a legitimate national championship contender and was able to produce richly successful seasons one after the other. That's the guy USC thought it was getting. It's not the guy the Trojans actually have. Beating Oregon is the gateway to regaining that big-boy status on the West Coast. UCLA is the big rivalry, but Oregon is the biggest game and matchup for USC to solve.”
While UCLA football has struggled since joining the Big Ten Conference, USC and Oregon have immediately shown that they can compete with anyone in their new conference.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Is UCLA now USC's biggest rival with the Notre Dame game ending?