USC was down to two walk-ons in its battered backfield, when Trojans coach Lincoln Riley decided to dress injured sophomore running back Bryan Jackson for the second half of Saturday’s win over Michigan, despite the fact Jackson was listed by the team as out on the Big Ten’s pregame availability report.
Riley explained the decision to play Jackson after the game, describing it as “a unique situation” and “a wellness issue.” But on Monday, the Big Ten chose to slap USC with a fine of $5,000 for violating conference rules regarding its availability reports.
“Although these circumstances were unfortunate, it is critical for availability reports to be accurate,” a Big Ten spokesperson said. “Consequently, the conference is imposing a $5,000 fine and admonishes all institutions to use the “out” designation only if there are no circumstances under which a student-athlete could participate in a game. The conference considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”
Jackson hadn’t suited up since Week 1 while dealing with a lingering turf toe issue. Coming into the game, Riley said that Jackson was unlikely to play “outside of a near catastrophe.” But when one back, Eli Sanders, suffered a potential season-ending injury in the first quarter, and another, Waymond Jordan, seriously injured his ankle in the second, plans changed quickly.
Riley said on Saturday night that USC was in communication with the league office at the time and explained the situation to conference officials beforehand.
Jackson was medically cleared by USC and entered the game in the fourth quarter. He rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown in five carries.
“The kid was ready to go and stepped up,” Riley said. “That’s what you gotta have, man. You gotta have tough guys to play through stuff if you want to win at this level.”
ROSEMONT, Ill. — At first, landing Lauren Betts was not a plus when it came to getting her little sister to follow her to UCLA.
When Bruins women’s basketball coach Cori Close called Sienna Betts about Lauren transferring from Stanford at her parents’ request, the younger sibling didn’t hide her displeasure.
“UCLA was my school,” Sienna told Close. “I don’t want to go where my sister’s going.”
It took some massaging of the situation to get Sienna back on board with becoming a Bruin. Big sister helped convince Sienna by delivering a PowerPoint presentation about why she should come to Westwood for Lauren’s final college season.
“By the end, there were tears everywhere,” Close said Wednesday at Big Ten media day inside the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. “It was very heartfelt, it was very genuine. It was just why she wanted to share this experience with her sister and why they needed to share it together.”
It could be a seasonlong joy ride for the sisters after Sienna agreed to join a team that’s been picked to win the Big Ten and contend for the national championship. Lauren and point guard Kiki Rice were selected to the preseason all-conference team and could be joined on the postseason version by teammates Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA center Lauren Betts goes to the basket against Maryland forward Amari DeBerry, left, during the first half of a game last season.
(Nick Wass / Associated Press)
Sienna is an early candidate for Big Ten freshman of the year based on her dynamic skill set. The 6-foot-4 forward has been playing a lot alongside her 6-7 sister in practice, leading to some unusual exchanges.
“Every once in a while on the court, you’ll hear, like, the bickering from a sister standpoint, you know what I mean?” Rice said. “Like, it’s a special tone, you know, it only happens between siblings and they’ll be like, ‘Lauren, shut up’ or something like that and they get on each other and it happens quick and they move on pretty fast, but it’s always funny.”
Having her sister around could free Lauren to operate more on the perimeter, where she’s been working on her outside shot. Plus, it has the added benefit of reducing a little wear on the elder sibling.
“I told her, I was, like, ‘Listen, it’s exhausting running baseline to baseline all the time,’” Lauren cracked. “She can do it once.”
Lauren said she’s helped her sister with learning plays and persevering through tough practices while letting Sienna mostly hang out with fellow freshmen off the court. She’s always wanted what’s best for her sister, as demonstrated by that PowerPoint presentation.
“It was just to show her that, like, this recruiting process isn’t about me, and it’s not to get the Betts sisters to play with each other,” Lauren said. “It’s, I want her here because she’s Sienna Betts and she’s a really important part of our team and she would bring so much to us and she would help us win a national championship.”
Might Lauren put together another UCLA presentation for brother Dylan, a 7-2 center who is another top high school prospect?
“Yeah, his recruiting process is a little different,” Lauren said with a laugh, “so we’ll see.”
Fighting on
Don’t ever expect a concession speech from USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
After losing the reigning national player of the year to injury and a starting frontcourt who is now in the WNBA, Gottlieb said her team’s goals don’t change.
“That’s a lot of talent to replace,” Gottlieb said, referring to sidelined star JuJu Watkins and departed post players Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall, “but we look at it in the collective and we say USC women’s basketball is not going anywhere. All the goals that we still have are in front of us. … I think we’ll have the ability to compete at a really high level.”
How do the Trojans replace Watkins, who is out for the season because of a torn knee ligament? It will be a collective effort led by returning guard Kennedy Smith, freshman phenom Jazzy Davidson and five transfers.
“No one’s gonna be JuJu, no one’s trying to be JuJu,” Gottlieb said, “but I think we can put a team on the floor that’s incredibly versatile, that plays an exciting brand of basketball and we’re going to take our shot at achieving our goals.”
Davidson, a 6-1 guard who was the nation’s top high school prospect, is already creating a buzz for a team that was picked by the media to finish third in the Big Ten.
“I don’t compare her to anybody else,” Gottlieb said, “but in terms of the way I felt when JuJu walked in the door as a freshman about her readiness for college basketball, I think Jazzy’s a pretty unique talent and will make an incredible affect not only on us but I think on the national scene.”
Finally united
Six years later, the voicemail that Gottlieb saved from a 14-year-old has additional meaning.
That teenager is now on her team.
Gottlieb was recruiting Londynn Jones when she coached at California and accepted a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the first head women’s college coach to be hired by an NBA team. Jones left a congratulatory message tinged with sorrow.
“ ‘Coach,’” Jones said, “‘I’m happy for you, but I’m sad for me, don’t forget about me.’ ”
Now they’re together after Jones transferred from UCLA after helping the Bruins reach the Final Four.
“Here we are,” Gottlieb said, “all these years later.”
After averaging 8.5 points and making 35.1% of her three-pointers last season, Jones could play a new role across town.
“She’s a ballhandler, a distributor, she shoots the three really well,” Gottlieb said, “so I think she was looking for that just sort of ability to be dynamic and show what she’s capable of, but we just need her to be a really kind of solid, all-around contributor.”
Twice as nice
Dreams really do come true. As a freshman, UCLA softball slugger Megan Grant told roommate Amanda Muse, a forward on the basketball team, that it was her dream to play college basketball. Now Grant is on the verge of her debut in a second sport. Close described Grant as a “bully ball kind of player” who would add screening, rebounding and hustle.
After years of weathering the #AfterDark absurdity of the Pac-12 Conference, USC hoped moving to the Big Ten might help kick most of those bizarre midnight romps from its calendar.
Of course, geographic sense only matters so much in college football when there’s millions to be made from broadcast rights. Fox had the third choice this week among the networks and chose the best available game. That’s why USC and Michigan State will kick off at 8 p.m. Saturday. Which means, in East Lansing, Mich., the game should wrap somewhere around 2:30-3 a.m.
There were two such kickoffs in the Big Ten last season, and only one that included a team hopping three time zones to the west. USC won that 8 p.m. game against Rutgers in quarterback Jayden Maiava’s debut.
The Spartans arrived in L.A. on Thursday to give them plenty of time to acclimate. Jonathan Smith, who previously coached at Oregon State, understands what such a late kickoff requires. Still, you could understand why Michigan State might not be thrilled at the prospect of playing so late.
USC will have its own time-zone trouble to deal with next week, when it kicks off at 9 a.m. PDT in a road matchup with Illinois. This weekend, the bigger question for USC will be if the fans arrive well-rested — or at all.
“Both teams gotta deal with it,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “We gotta handle it well, our crowd needs to handle it well. At the end of the day, it’s a game, it’s being played, it’s being played in the Coliseum, and we expect to win and we expect to have a really good crowd behind us. We’re not going to make excuses about it.”
Here are four things to watch as USC takes on Michigan State:
Trojans take to the air
Few quarterbacks in college football have started the season at the breakneck pace that Jayden Maiava has managed through three weeks. Maiava is averaging more than 14 yards per attempt — the most of any quarterback in the nation by three full yards — while completing 68% of his passes, almost a 10% improvement from last season.
There’s no reason to think that trend won’t continue against Michigan State.
The Spartans rank 118th in the nation — and worst in the Big Ten — in pass defense, and that’s after playing teams like Youngstown State and Western Michigan. They haven’t seen anything yet like USC’s passing offense, and especially receiver Makai Lemon, who ranks behind only Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith in receiving yards (315-311) this season in the Big Ten.
Michigan State has been stingy this season against the run, so it could be tough to find much of a rhythm on the ground. That means a potential big game for Maiava.
Will USC’s pass rush keep rolling?
Through three games, USC’s rejuvenated pass rush actually leads the nation in sacks with 14. Michigan State, meanwhile, has allowed the second-most sacks of any Big Ten team this season.
That formula could mean a long afternoon for Spartan quarterback Aidan Chiles, who Riley said this week poses “the biggest challenge we’ve faced up to this point” at the position. The Long Beach native appears to be putting it all together as a passer, but it’s Chiles’ dual threat ability that could be especially dangerous against a front four that’s been aggressive early in the season..
He’s tied for the conference lead in rush attempts among quarterbacks at 10 per game.
“When you add in Chiles’ athleticism, that definitely adds an entirely new element,” Riley said. “So it’ll be a big focus point for us to be able to keep him in the pocket, to contain him in there.”
When under heavy pressure, Chiles has been much less effective. His completion percentage drops from 79% in a clean pocket to 48% in a pressured one.
Stud receiver status
Both teams could be without their most dynamic pass catcher on Saturday.
USC wideout Ja’Kobi Lane, last year’s Big Ten leader in touchdown receptions, is questionable after he sat out practice on Wednesday. Riley wouldn’t comment on whether he’d be available for the game.
Similarly, the status of Spartan receiver Nick Marsh was up in the air as of Friday. Marsh made the trip to L.A., in spite of dealing with a lower leg injury. He’s by far Michigan State’s most dynamic weapon on offense and his absence would be significant, if he’s unable to go.
Tanook Hines breakout game incoming?
With Lane hobbled, keep a close eye on freshman Tanook Hines, who pulled down a stunning acrobatic catch last Saturday at Purdue.
Riley raved about the freshman earlier this week.
“He goes after the ball with a unique mindset for a freshman,” Riley said. “You talk about a guy who really attacks the ball. He’s played physical. He’s a really good blocker. He’s done a good job of picking up our system. … He’s an all-ball guy. There’s no fluff to this guy. He’s an edgy, tough competitor.”
Three years after USC and UCLA triggered a mass exodus by bolting for the Big Ten, the Pac-12 has extended an invitation to Texas State to give the conference eight football-playing members.
Texas State, currently part of the Sun Belt Conference, is expected to accept the offer Monday, according to several media outlets. The school would join the Pac-12 in July 2026.
USC and UCLA transformed the college sports landscape by leaving the Pac-12 on June 30, 2022, citing the Big Ten’s $8-billion media-rights deal as the primary motivation. Ten Pac-12 teams eventually departed, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State as members.
The Pac-12 contemplated folding, but instead added five state schools from the Mountain West Conference and Gonzaga, a private, non-football playing school from the West Coast Conference.
When it accepts the invitation, Texas State will be the next addition. The school made its first bowl appearance in the program’s 121-year history in 2023, defeating Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The Bobcats won the same bowl in 2024, this time against North Texas.
Texas State will give the Pac-12 eight football-playing teams, the minimum number of members to continue as an NCAA conference. Although long in the shadow of Texas, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech, Texas State is a growing university located in San Marcos, a booming suburb located on Interstate 35 about halfway between Austin and San Antonio.
The Bobcats also bring a reasonably strong portfolio of non-revenue sports, having won an award as the top-performing school in the Sun Belt across all sports in three of the last four years.
The Pac-12 had courted Memphis as the eighth football-playing school, but Memphis athletic director Ed Scott told the Memphis Commercial Appeal a week ago that the school was working to join a Power 4 conference — a nonofficial term for the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, four conferences that operate with relative autonomy.
“I know [Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould is] worried about finding her eighth full member,” Scott said. “I’m worried about trying to get us into a Power 4 conference. That is our first goal, unequivocally. That’s always been our goal.”
The Pac-12 has long lagged in media exposure, especially on television, but on Monday announced a multimedia deal with CBS as the anchor partner from 2026 to 2031. Texas State was encouraged by the TV deal, and the Pac-12 was under pressure to add the Bobcats before July 1, when their exit fee from the Sun Belt would double from $5 million to $10 million.
Under the deal, CBS will broadcast a minimum of four football and men’s basketball games per season on its main network and provide a cable and streaming presence. All Washington State and Oregon State games will be broadcast on The CW, CBS or ESPN this fall. The new deal with CBS and other media partners would begin in 2026 when Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and Gonzaga join the Pac-12 along with Texas State.
Texas State’s move would trigger a domino effect, with the Sun Belt looking toward Conference USA for a replacement. Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee have been mentioned as possibilities.
The new Pac-12 is expected to be strongest in men’s basketball because of the inclusion of Gonzaga and San Diego State, but the conference could be solid in football as well. Boise State made the College Football Playoff last season, one of five schools joining the Pac-12 that played in a bowl.
College sports leaders and athletes were in limbo for months while waiting for a House settlement to be approved. An agreement would create clarity, better supporting college conferences and their respective universities that had been blindly preparing for the next academic year — unsure which name, image and likeness (NIL) rules they’d be playing by.
Late Friday, structure and stability arrived as the House settlement became approved and official.
“The decision on Friday is a significant step forward toward building long-term stability for college sports while protecting the system from bad actors seeking to exploit confusion and uncertainty,” Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said during a news conference Monday morning that included commissioners of the Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast and the Pac 12 conferences.
The House settlement has set the stage for revenue-sharing between universities and their athletes. Claudia Wilken, the presiding judge of California’s Northern District, accepted the final proposal Friday between the NCAA and the plaintiffs, current and former athletes seeking financial compensation for NIL-related backpay.
The NCAA will pay close to $2.8 billion to former athletes — as many as 389,700 athletes who played between June 15, 2016, to Sept. 15, 2024 — across a 10-year period and will also implement a 10-year revenue sharing model that will allow universities to pay current athletes up to $20.5 million per year.
According to the settlement, the total is “22% of the Power Five schools’ average athletic revenues each year” and the revenue-sharing cap will incrementally increase every year.
With the contract between USC and Notre Dame set to expire and one of college football’s most storied rivalries in serious danger of ending, officials at USC extended an offer to Notre Dame earlier this month in hopes of continuing the historic series for at least one more season — through the fall of 2026 — a person familiar with the negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times.
The future of the rivalry beyond that, in the eyes of USC’s leaders, hinges in large part on what happens with the format of the College Football Playoff — namely, the number of automatic qualifiers guaranteed to the Big Ten in future playoff fields. And until those questions are answered, USC leaders agree the best course forward for its century-old rivalry with Notre Dame would be to continue their arrangement one season at a time.
Anything else would be “a strategically bad decision,” a USC source said.
That timeline is where the two rivals find themselves at an impasse. Notre Dame is seeking a long-term extension of the series, and in an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this week, Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua not so subtly suggested that it was USC putting the rivalry at risk.
“I think Southern Cal and Notre Dame should play every year for as long as college football is played,” he told SI’s Pat Forde, “and SC knows that’s how we feel.”
The two blueblood programs have played 95 times since 1924, when the story goes that the wife of legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne convinced her husband to schedule the series so she could visit Southern California every other year. In the century since, only World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic have stood in the way of USC and Notre Dame meeting on the football field. Between them, the two rivals boast 16 national titles, more than any other teams that play an annual college football series.
They’re scheduled to meet again in October in South Bend. What happens to the historic series after that matchup may come down to who blinks in a high-stakes game of chicken between the two schools.
USC has no plans to budge on its position without clarity over whether the Big Ten will have four automatic qualifiers in any future playoff format, a source told The Times. With nine conference games already built into the schedule and the possibility of an annual crossover matchup with the Southeastern Conference still on their radar, USC officials see no reason to commit long term to the Notre Dame matchup without assurances they wouldn’t be punished for scheduling such a marquee nonconference matchup.
The demands of Big Ten travel have also been a part of the conversation at USC, to the point officials broached the potential with Notre Dame of moving the game to the first month of the season. The hope was to better balance its future slate of travel to the Midwest and East Coast. Last season, in their Big Ten debut, the Trojans lost all four of their Big Ten road trips.
But Notre Dame was not receptive to the idea of moving the game, which traditionally has been played in the latter half of the football season.
The Irish agreed earlier this month to a 12-year home-and-home scheduling agreement with Clemson. But while that deal seemed like a precursor to moving on from the USC series, Sports Illustrated reported this week that it was not expected to stand in the way of continuing with the Trojans.
Uncertainty has loomed over the rivalry since last summer when USC coach Lincoln Riley was first asked about its future at Big Ten media days.
“I know it means a lot to a lot of people,” Riley said. “The purist in you [says] no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship vs. keep that [game], shoot, then you got to look at it.
“And listen, we’re not the first example of that. Look all the way across the country. There have been a lot of other teams sacrificing rivalry games. And I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen. But as we get into this playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we’re in this new conference, we’re going to learn something about this as we go and what the right and the best track is to winning a national championship, that’s going to evolve.”
Those comments led many to point fingers at Riley for laying the groundwork for the rivalry’s possible demise. But as the two sides now stand at an impasse, a person familiar with the discussion at USC insisted that any decision on the series and its future would come from athletic director Jennifer Cohen.
She’ll have plenty to weigh on that front in the coming months, with both schools likely to dig in their heels for the long haul, slinging mud at one another in the meantime.
