What sports are in season this semester?

Men’s Basketball

The Trojans have a clear identity as a hard-nosed suffocating defense. Their offense is slowly catching up to the level of their strong defensive unit, but USC ranks in the middle of the Pac-12 in points per game. USC is coming off a rough two-point loss to the rival Bruins in which they erased an 18-point half-time deficit only to let the lead slip away in the final seconds. They’ll continue with their Pac-12 schedule as they host both the University of Colorado Thursday and the University of Utah Saturday to round out the week.

Women’s Basketball

After starting the season 10-0, the Trojans have lost four of their past six games and have only one conference win. Their most recent loss came by a singular point against UCLA after blowing a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Pac-12 conference is strong this season, boasting four teams ranked in the top 15. The Trojans will have their work cut out for them if they hope to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

The men’s swimming and diving team has had three meets this season and one already this calendar year. In their last competition, they took down UNLV with a collective win of 143-111. They get right back to the action this weekend as they go head-to-head with UC San Diego and Denver at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

The Trojans have an important diving competition coming up this weekend against the cross-town rival Bruins. USC will take part in the Bruin Diving Invitational from Friday until Sunday. The team has started with a 4-0 record on the season, including three wins against conference opponents. Postseason play is not far away, as the Pac-12 championships take place in late February, where the Trojans hope to win their first Pac-12 title since 2016.

Track & Field

USC has its first indoor meet of the season this weekend as the team heads to Spokane to take part in the Cougar Classic. The Trojans took a step back last year, placing 12th for men and 30th for women after finishing first in the entire NCAA for women and fifth for men in 2021 the season before. The indoor season will last until mid-March, and by the end of March USC will kick off its outdoor season with the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

Men’s Volleyball

The six-time national champions are coming off a year in which they failed to make the NCAA tournament after losing to Pepperdine in the MPSF conference tournament finals. They’ll aim to bounce back this season, which is already underway for the Trojans. The Trojans are currently 2-1 after dropping their opening match to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara. The next action they’ll see will be in Long Beach, where USC will take on Lindenwood University on Friday and King College on Saturday. 

Beach Volleyball

Last year, the Trojans won their second straight NCAA championship and lost just one game the entire season. Competition doesn’t start until the end of February, but the defending champs will be ready for the start of the season with six returning seniors or graduate students. They face Grand Canyon and Long Beach State to kick off their season before going up against Cal, Stanford, Washington and UCLA over the course of just two days.

Women’s Water Polo

The Trojans are coming off yet another NCAA tournament final appearance, where they lost 7-10 to Stanford. The team was able to retain many of their leading players from last season, including redshirt junior two-meter All-MPSF First Team member Tilly Kearns. Kearns, along with the other upperclassmen on the team, will have the chance to lead USC to their third title in the last six seasons.

Men’s Tennis 

After an up-and-down individual season, the team season is about to get underway for men’s tennis. The Trojans have reached 23 wins in back-to-back years and will try to build on that this season. USC boasts the preseason No. 1 senior in the country, Stefan Dostanic, and has their first tournament of the spring season this weekend at the Sherwood Cup.

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team has already gotten started with their play for the new year, as they just wrapped up play at the Hawaii Invitational. The Trojans won 16 total matches across the span of the tournament and will use this as a springboard for their season. They next hit the court against Loyola Marymount, CSUN, University of San Diego and San Diego State in a span of two days later this month.

Men’s Golf

Men’s golf was last in action at the Cal Poly Invitational, where they captured eighth-place at the tournament. The Trojans will look to improve on their play from the fall season and start off strong when they head to Westlake Village, where they’ll take part in the Southwestern Invitational. The golf team will have a chance to jump up from their current place of 67 in the rankings.

Women’s Golf

The Trojans’ first action in women’s golf this semester won’t happen until next month, but it will be for the Battle of the Bell against UCLA when they finally tee off. They’ll head to Thousand Oaks to take on the Bruins in back-to-back days and then head to Bakersfield four days later to face CSU Bakersfield. The Trojans will look to repeat as NCAA regional champions this season.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse’s season doesn’t start for a month, but they’ll need to come out of the gates sprinting. They kick off the season against Boston College, the No. 2 team in the entire country. Then, just a little more than a week later, they will host No. 23 Ohio State. The Trojans, who exited the NCAA tournament in the first round last year, begin their season Feb. 11 against the Eagles.

Rowing

The last time the Trojans hit the water for rowing, they faced off against LMU in a scrimmage in preparation for the spring. They look to be ready for their first competition of the spring season when they head to the Port of Los Angeles to take on UCLA in the notorious UCLA Dual. The Trojans will look to secure their 13th all-time appearance at the NCAA championships this season after getting there last year for the first time in four years.

Baseball

The Trojans haven’t had much success in the past few years but look to get their first winning season in a full year since 2015. A year ago, USC won only eight games out of 30 against conference opponents. Winning those conference games will set them up for success in possible postseason play.