USC's place as a legitimate Big Ten contender will soon become a reality

After how last season went for USC, there would not have been any room for optimism for the Trojans in the Big Ten. Granted, ending the year with a bowl win can help to make things look and feel a little better. Still, going .500 throughout the entirety of the regular season and having a losing record in conference play did not exactly generate excitement.

What the Trojans have done from that moment is truthfully nothing short of incredible. Those predicting a potential double-digit winning year are seen as being too overly optimistic due to how 2025 went overall. And to an extent, that is a perfectly legitimate viewpoint to have. Those in the building know that the onus is on them to earn respect.

Looking ahead, however, this program is set up to be successful. This includes an overall full-scale scope of things, even beyond the impressive recruiting wins. Although the trail has rightfully gained a lot of attention, all aspects throughout USC are starting to act and resemble that of the great Cardinal and Gold tradition.

While the BIG competition presents a different type of overall challenge, increasingly, there is far from a need for the Trojans to not have confidence going into every matchup. Yes, the top end are arguably the best in the nation. It also needs to be mentioned that there are multiple teams in this conference that are good at capitalizing on mistakes and turning would-be losses into wins for them.

So this isn't to claim that it will soon be easy, smooth sailing for USC, or anything of that nature. Instead, there is legitimate reason to like what the Trojans are doing so much that it is ok to project that USC will be a real-time contender in the Big Ten here shortly.

Modern goal setting for USC in today's NCAA

Expecting anyone to go on a run in today's college landscape is asking a bit much. If by that statement is meant winning a title every year. There is too much fluctuation for a dynasty to likely ever be seen again. What is a reasonable expectation is for the Trojans to truly be in the mix and among the annual Big Ten and national contenders.

While the Trojans aren't there quite yet, that reality will be here soon enough.