USC joined the Big Ten this season, becoming a part of the oldest Division I collegiate football conference. With 128 years of history and tradition to pull from, gameday in the Big Ten is nothing short of a lifestyle.

The conference sports the three largest stadiums in the United States: Michigan Stadium (107,601 capacity), Beaver Stadium (106,572) and Ohio Stadium (102,780). Besides being the three largest stadiums in the U.S., they are also among the five largest stadiums in the world. Only Narendra Modi Stadium (132,000) in Ahmedabad, India and Rungrado 1st of May Stadium (150,000) in Pyongyang, North Korea, have higher capacities.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s 77,500-person capacity is tiny compared to the Big House. In 2023, USC had an average gameday attendance of 66,071, while Michigan had an average of 109,971 fans.

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But it may not be fair to compare the Coliseum to the biggest stadium in the country. Instead, let’s look at Michigan State (75,005) and Wisconsin (80,321), as both have stadium capacities similar to USC. During the 2023 season, Michigan State had an average attendance of 70,211 and Wisconsin had one of 75,391. This means the Spartans and Badgers had 4,140 and 9,320 more fans at games than the Trojans on average, respectively.

However, numbers don’t tell the whole story. To get a better grasp of the differences between USC and traditional Big Ten gameday culture — the Daily Trojan spoke with a native of Big Ten country.

David Welte-Hart, a junior studying political science at Illinois, has attended every home football game since his freshman year. He has also attended an away game against Purdue, and has a reference point for West Coast football, having experienced the famous USC versus UCLA rivalry.

The first big difference between USC and Illinois gameday culture is the pregame tailgates. At USC, tailgates are almost exclusively held within the confines of the campus. The Illini tailgates, however, are centered around Memorial Stadium, with very few people tailgating on campus or at frat houses. The culture around the tailgates is also remarkably different from USC tailgates, particularly the activities that students regularly partake in.

“Everybody’s just hanging out, drinking beer, playing football, doing either cup pong or taking keg stands or grilling or [cornhole],” Welte-Hart said in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

In contrast, USC tailgates often have a noticeable lack of keg stands and cornhole.

Another big difference between USC football culture and traditional Big Ten culture is the lack of jigs, dances and chants that USC students perform in comparison to their rival counterparts.

“Right before kickoff, everybody jingles their keys [at Illinois games],” Welte-Hart said.

This is very different from Trojans fans, who have a lack of kickoff traditions, involved cheers and superstitions. Instead, the USC faithful simply watch the opening kickoff with little mind given to that event in particular.

USC fans also have a shocking lack of diversity in their chants, with Welte-Hart mockingly miming the constant repetition of the Trojan “Fight On” sign. He said Illinois has a multitude of cheers, such as the “Three-in-One,” which includes “Pride of the Illini,” “March of the Illini” and “Hail to the Orange.”

“Since the early 1900s [they’ve played] three different fight songs, and so they start with one, and it’s everybody’s gotta, like, clap on beat,” Welte-Hart said. “Then they get to the next song, which is our alma mater song. [The third song is] a slower song, and everybody puts their arms around each other and sways side to side.”

One of the gameday traditions that USC does have, that rivals other great football traditions, is the fourth quarter lighting of the torch with the mascot Traveler and a Trojan warrior. For many fans, this is a moment that has always been a highlight of Trojan football games.

It is a truly magical moment when the game is stopped so that the warrior can brandish their sword and light the torch at the top of the L.A. Coliseum.

The biggest thing that USC football culture does not understand is corn.

“You guys will never understand corn beef. I think we were playing Iowa or Purdue, and somebody put up a sign on the train or something saying ‘we have better corn,’” Welte-Hart said. “And it’s just like things like that. It’s just Midwestern beef about who has better corn. It’s just like, that only would infuriate a Midwesterner.”

While USC doesn’t have the rich tradition of corn and dances that other Big Ten schools have, USC does bring its own unique culture to the conference. From the Row and campus-centered tailgates to the Trojan family “Fight On,” USC has a rich tradition of gameday rituals that may be expanded as chant culture in the Big Ten starts to influence our own.

But, for now, in USC’s first season in the Big Ten, it is becoming evident that our gameday culture could use some work.