Lincoln Riley is not pleased with USC's 2025 football schedule as a member of the Big Ten. After beating Michigan State at home in Week 4, the Trojans travel back to the Midwest to face Illinois in Week 5, a challenge that the fourth-year coach is not looking forward to dealing with.
For the fourth consecutive game, USC will have to travel across the country from where it played the previous week. As upset as Riley is with that setup, he is more concerned with the team's contrasting start times.
“Going from the absolute latest kick in the country to the absolute earliest kick in the country has its challenges,” Riley said, via Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. “But the challenges, like, it is what it is. We don't make the schedule, clearly. We've had to adapt in the way that we've prepared and how much we've done. Even when you go back to Purdue being a factor, and that being so late and having to get back so late, it can compound if you're not careful. So we've tried to be mindful of getting our work done, but at the same time, knowing we need to put a fresh football team on an airplane.”
Lincoln Riley isn’t thrilled about USC’s early kickoff this week in Champaign.
“Going from the absolute latest kick in the country to the absolute earliest kick in the country has its challenges. But the challenges — like, it is what it is. We don’t make the schedule. Clearly.” pic.twitter.com/BZxA2udfZR
— Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) September 25, 2025
After facing Michigan State at 11 p.m. EST, USC's kickoff time for its Week 5 matchup with Illinois is set for noon EST. Although the games are one week apart, that is nearly a 12-hour difference.
However, Riley got one aspect of his complaint wrong. USC was not the “absolute latest kick in the country” — Hawaii faced Fresno State one hour later, kicking off at midnight EST.
Lincoln Riley dreads USC's brutal 2025 football travel schedule
Riley's complaint epitomizes the challenges faced by West Coast teams in the Big Ten. Whenever they play at home, they tend to be featured on local prime time. However, the majority of Big Ten games are typically scheduled for the noon window, forcing such teams to play at 9 a.m. locally whenever on the road.
In total, USC plays five games away from home in 2025, one fewer than it did in 2024. The Trojans only had five road games in 2024, but began the season with a neutral-site game against LSU.
Whether it was the travel or the start time, USC struggled on the road in 2024, posting a 1-4 record. Their lone victory came against UCLA, the team's only away game remaining in California.
After facing Illinois, USC still has to play Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Oregon on the road in 2025. They figure to enter each game as the underdogs.
