USC Football: Lincoln Riley Talks Big Ten Debut on Media Day

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley has big expectations.

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

All 18 Big Ten football teams gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianopolis, Indiana for Big Ten Media Day. Among the 18 teams were one of the newest additions to the conference, USC.

Led by head coach Lincoln Riley, the Trojans are maintaining a championship mindset even as they enter a new conference.

"The one thing that I've been steadfast on since the day I got to Los Angeles was our standards will never change there. Our standards at USC are to compete for championships," Riley said in a press conference at the Big Ten Media Day.

"We are certainly looking forward to competing for championships every year, and now it's just Big Ten championships.

It's a new conference, but the goal's still the same for Lincoln Riley and @uscfb.#B1GFootball x #B1GMediaDays pic.twitter.com/uSdguEljEW

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 24, 2024

After winning their first national championship in 1928 with head coach Howard Jones, the Trojans have accumulated 11 totall national championships.

While members of the Pac-12 conference, USC led all Pac-12 footall teams with 37 conference championships. That is more than double the second-place leader, Washington, who earned 17 conference championships.

USC's most recent championship came in 2017 against Stanford. The Trojans took down the Trees 31-28. Riley joined the Trojans' program in November 2021, which means he has yet to bring a championship to Los Angeles.

But, he did break an NFL draft record this year when a third player he coached was selected as the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Riley became the first college head coach to produce three No. 1 draft picks in the common-draft era.

Former Trojan quarterback Caleb Williams was the first overall pick of this year's draft and has joined the Chicago Bears. Additionally, Riley coached former Oklahoma quarterbacks and first overall draft picks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.

USC will make their Big Ten debut on September 21 against Michigan.

"[We're] really, really looking forward to the season. Looking forward to the matchups and really a historical first year for USC in the Big Ten conference," Riley said in the Big Ten Media Day press conference.

More USC: Trojans Standout May Miss Entire NFL Rookie Season