USC gets its first Big Ten home weekend at Galen Center with two familiar-looking opponents in town and a lot of work still to do in the early conference grind.
The Women of Troy, 7-5 overall and 1-1 in league play, host Michigan on Friday night, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. PT in a Big Ten Network broadcast matchup, then turn around to face Michigan State on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m.
PT on Big Ten Plus. The Wolverines enter at 9-4 and 0-2, while the Spartans arrive at 11-1 and 1-1.
USC has handled both programs before. The Trojans own a 3-0 series edge over Michigan, including a 3-1 win on Nov. 28, 2025 in Ann Arbor, and have won the last three meetings. Against Michigan State, USC leads the all-time series 8-2 after a 3-0 victory on Nov. 26, 2025 in East Lansing.
Brad Keller is the man steering the Trojans, and he brings a rare background to the job. The seventh-year head coach has worked with both men’s and women’s teams at USC and UCLA, and he enters the weekend with a 117-69 record at USC. The home court has usually treated his teams well, too: USC is 235-66 all-time at Galen Center since the building opened in 2006, and last season the Trojans won 15 matches there.
One of USC’s clearest early strengths has been its front line. The Trojans lead the Big Ten in blocks at 3.01 per set, good for sixth in the NCAA, and they’ve posted double-digit blocks in five matches this season. Junior middle blocker Mia Tvrdy sits second in the conference with 1.48 blocks per set, which ranks 15th nationally, while redshirt junior middle blocker Leah Ford is averaging 1.20 blocks per set and ranks 14th in the league.
Offensively, sophomore opposite Abigail Mullen leads USC with 3.87 points per set. Redshirt junior outside hitter London Wijay is right behind her at 3.64 points per set.
The Trojans’ last two matches showed both their upside and their current injury issues. USC opened Big Ten play with a 3-0 sweep at Northwestern, then dropped a straight-sets match to Illinois.
In those two contests, the Trojans used their fourth and fifth different lineups in as many matches. Against Northwestern, USC piled up nine aces and finished with 10.5 blocks, with Wijay and Tvrdy each putting down 11 kills.
The Michigan State matchup also counts in the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge, which runs through October and into November, with weekend conference matches included in the standings.
In Other News...
USC Quarterback's Response To Dante Moore Injury Has Oregon Fans Talking
The late sequence between USC and Oregon turned into more than just a targeting call when Dante Moore stayed down after a hit by linebacker Desman Stephens, who was ejected from the game. In the aftermath, USC quarterback Jayden Maiavas decision to remain nearby while Moore was being tended to drew attention, adding a human moment to an otherwise heated Pac-12-style collision. Moore was later diagnosed with a concussion, though scans came back clean, and Stephens was suspended for the next game.
Maiava still had to finish the job on the field, and he did so with a strong day through the air, throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Afterward, he also made clear he was sympathetic to what Moore went through, a response that has resonated beyond the box score and given Oregon fans plenty to discuss after a rivalry-type matchup that ended with both injury concern and disciplinary fallout. [Read more 🡒]
USC Is Suddenly Leaning On A Freshman More Than Expected
An injury to Trent Mosley has pushed Kayden Dixon-Wyatt into a much bigger role than USC likely envisioned for a true freshman this early in the season, but the wideout has handled it with the kind of production that changes expectations fast. Against Oregon, he turned in his second 100-yard game, catching seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown while earning an 81.0 Pro Football Focus grade for Week 4.
Through four games, Dixon-Wyatt now leads the Trojans with 25 receptions, 272 yards and three touchdowns, a striking start for a player still getting his footing at the college level. The bigger question for USC is no longer whether he can contribute, but how much of the passing game will continue to flow through him as the schedule moves forward and the Trojans adjust to life without Mosley in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Big-Budget Vision Is Facing A Credibility Test Already
USCs push to modernize the program has been one of the defining stories of the Lincoln Riley era, and it has been easy to see why the school poured so much into the effort. Early in 2023, the Trojans overhauled their personnel operation with Chad Bowden leading the new staff, added assistant coaches, and opened the Bloom Football Performance Center, all of it aimed at giving the program a more comprehensive, forward-looking foundation. The early returns were encouraging enough to justify the investment, with recruiting rankings trending upward and the win total improving in 2025.
But the selling point of a big-budget rebuild has always been credibility on the field, and that is where the conversation has started to turn. The loss to Oregon, along with persistent defensive issues, has made it harder to separate the long-term plan from the week-to-week reality, and it has put Riley under a more skeptical microscope. For a program that has been trying to show it can operate like a heavyweight again, the next stretch matters less for optics than for whether the overhaul is actually producing the kind of football USC says it is building. [Read more 🡒]