Point spreads released for USC's marquee 2024 games against Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame
The 2024 football schedule for the USC Trojans continues to be seen as a grind that might not result in many wins for Lincoln Riley’s program. DraftKings set USC’s win total for its first Big Ten regular season schedule at just seven. And now the book has established spreads for six of the Trojans’ 2024 games, including most of the biggest ones.
USC vs LSU (-6)
The USC – LSU line was set months ago and remains with the Tigers favored by six points in a neutral site game in Las Vegas. Both programs will be replacing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks with signal callers who played very well in bowl game wins to finish off the 2023 season. Both programs also will be unveiling new defensive staffs following disappointing results on that side of the ball last fall.
USC at Michigan (-12)
DraftKings doesn’t exactly see the Trojans’ Big Ten opener going favorably for the Men of Troy as Michigan is installed as a 12-point favorite over USC. The Wolverines will have played against Texas two weeks prior, so everyone will know a bit more about Michigan and USC after games against the Longhorns and Tigers earlier in the season. That point spread says plenty about how the two programs are viewed right now, especially since Michigan lost its head coach, defensive coordinator and a ton of experienced players to the NFL Draft.
Wisconsin at USC (-4.5)
USC’s first Big Ten home game will see the Badgers visit the Coliseum in one of those must-win games if the Trojans want to establish themselves among the top teams in the conference. This will make the return of former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, who is the Wisconsin safeties coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator.
Penn State (-5) at USC
This is the third game within USC’s first six where the Trojans are installed as an early underdog. Penn State will bring a returning starting quarterback in Drew Allar and one of the nation’s best one-two punches at running back in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The Nittany Lions will have two new coordinators running the offense and defense and both look to be solid hires. Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen is running the defense while former Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki arrives for the offense following an exciting three-year run at Kansas.
USC (-4) at UCLA
The Trojans are an early favorite over UCLA as the Bruins will be in Year 1 under head coach Deshaun Foster. UCLA has won two out of the last three and Lincoln Riley is 1-1 against UCLA, including an extremely disappointing 38-20 loss at home this past fall.
Notre Dame (-3.5) at USC
The Fighting Irish have won five of the last six against the Trojans and more of those wins have been blowouts than not. Notre Dame made a significant upgrade at offensive coordinator in losing Gerar Parker and bringing in Mike Denbrock, who ran the explosive LSU offense last season. And the Irish retained defensive coordinator Al Golden, who helped give USC’s offense some fits in South Bend last fall.
