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The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
(USC) in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or ''Women of Troy'' (the university officially approves both terms). The program participates in the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
and has won 137 team national championships, 113 of which are
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) national championships. USC's official colors are cardinal and gold. The Trojans have a cross-town
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
in several sports with
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. However, USC's football rivalry with Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.The Greatest Intersectional Rivalry: Top 10 Moments from Notre Dame-USC
SI.com, October 12, 2005, Accessed March 24, 2009.
The Trojans also enjoy a rivalry with the
Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...
. The USC Trojans are considered one of the most successful college athletic programs of all time.


Overview

* The Trojans have won 137 team national championships, 113 of which are
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
National Championships. This is the third highest count of all universities behind UCLA and Stanford. * The Trojan men have won 98 national championships (85 NCAA titles), more than any other university. * The Women of Troy have earned 39 national championships (28 NCAA titles), third in the nation. * The Trojans won at least 1 national team title in 26 consecutive years (1959–60 to 1984–85). * USC won the National College All-Sports Championship an annual ranking by
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
of the country's top athletic programs â€“ 6 times since its inception in 1971. * Trojan men athletes have won more individual NCAA titles (302) than those from any other school in the nation and the Women of Troy have brought home another 55 individual NCAA crowns for a combined 357 individual NCAA championships. * Four Trojans have won the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America: diver Sammy Lee (1953), shot putter Parry O’Brien (1959), swimmer John Naber (1977) and swimmer
Janet Evans Janet Beth Evans (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer who swam from 1989 to 1992 for Stanford University and specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a to ...
(1989). * Two Trojans have won the
Honda-Broderick Cup The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by Tom Broderick, an American owner of a women's sports ...
as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year:
Cheryl Miller Cheryl Deann Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA on TNT, NBA games on Turner Sports, TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked ...
(1983–84) and Angela Williams (2001–02). And Trojan women have won 8 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport. In March 2019 USC fired senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel (charged with receiving more than $1.3 million in bribes to fabricate athletic credentials of over two dozen students seeking admission to USC) and water polo coach
Jovan Vavic Jovan Vavic (born ) is the former head coach of both the University of Southern California (USC) men's and women's water polo teams. In 2012, he was interim head coach of the United States men's national water polo team. While coaching USC he won ...
(charged with receiving $250,000 in bribes) after they were indicted by federal prosecutors in the
2019 college admissions bribery scandal Operation Varsity Blues was the code name for the investigation into the 2019 criminal conspiracy scandal to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. United States federal prosecutors made the invest ...
. Former women's soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin and former assistant women's soccer coach Laura Janke were also indicted, and charged with
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
.


Sports teams

USC sponsors teams in ten men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports.


Football

The
USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents the University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...
program started in 1888 and has amassed an all-time win–loss record of 793–313–54, giving the program a winning percentage. A December 1998 ''SPORT'' magazine ranking listed USC as the No. 4 all-time
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
program of the 20th century. In 2009 ESPN ranked USC the second best program in college football history. The USC football team has been voted National Champions 11 times.The NCAA does not conduct a championship for Division I-A football. Instead, teams are awarded championships by various private organizations, currently the recognized championships are awarded by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Forms of voting and counting * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling pla ...
and the
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...
--however not always in unison.
USC is also known for its
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...
winners. USC has the most Heisman winners at 8. Three of the four Heisman winners from 2002 to 2005 were Trojans -
Carson Palmer Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy as ...
in 2002,
Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, where he won the Heisman Tro ...
in 2004 and
Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush II (born March 2, 1985) is an American former professional football running back. He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning consensus All-American honors twice and winning the 2005 Heisman Trophy. Bush is wide ...
in 2005. Four other Trojans tailbacks have won the coveted Heisman Trophy as college football's outstanding player:
Mike Garrett Michael Lockett Garrett (born April 12, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) with the Kansas City Chiefs and S ...
in 1965,
O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...
in 1968, Charles White in 1979 and
Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal li ...
in 1981. Also notable, USC has 12 players in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
, more than any other university. USC's record against opponents from the old
Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...
is 367–153–29 (.695), and the Trojans have winning records against all nine other members. As of 2017, 501 Trojans have been taken in the
NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
, more than any other university. Since 1959, the Trojans have won the conference championship 18 times and tied for the title on 6 other occasions. USC has the nation's best bowl winning percentage (.660) among the 65 schools which have made at least 10 bowl appearances and its 34
Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...
appearances is an all-time best. USC players have been named first team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
17 times, with 8 consensus selections and 2 unanimous choices. Football record does "not including 9 overall wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, including 2 vs. UCLA and 1 each vs. WSU, ARIZ, STAN, ORE, CAL, ASU, WASH".


Baseball

The USC Trojans baseball program has a notable history in baseball: With 12 baseball national championships, the Trojans are far and away the leader in that category (no other school has more than 6). Since starting baseball in 1924, the Trojans have compiled a record of 2,221-1,093-15 (.669) against college opponents, and have captured outright or tied for 38 conference championships. USC's most notable baseball coach was
Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is widely recognized as among the greatest records of any coach in the sport's amateur history. Dedeaux was the head ba ...
, coaching from 1942 to 1986, who led the school to 11 of its NCAA crowns, including 5 straight from 1970 to 1974. USC boasts many successful major leaguers such as
Ron Fairly Ronald Ray Fairly (July 12, 1938 – October 30, 2019) was an American professional baseball player and television sports presenter. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and right fielder from 1958 to 1978, most prominently as a ...
,
Don Buford Donald Alvin Buford (born February 2, 1937) is an American former professional baseball player scout, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as the leadoff hitter for the Baltimore Orio ...
,
Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cin ...
,
Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong", "King Kong", and "Sky King", is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 ...
,
Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), mostly with the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels. He was the first player to wi ...
, Roy Smalley,
Steve Kemp Steven F. Kemp (born August 7, 1954) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers. Professio ...
,
Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...
,
Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...
,
Bret Boone Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is an American former professional baseball second baseman who is a hitting coach for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). During his career, Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glo ...
,
Jeff Cirillo Jeffrey Howard Cirillo (born September 23, 1969) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. In a 14-season career, Cirillo was a .296 hitter with 112 home runs and 727 RBI in 1617 games. He was named an All-Star in and . He ...
,
Barry Zito Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. His pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball ...
,
Geoff Jenkins Geoffrey Scott Jenkins (born July 21, 1974) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers (1998–2007) and Philadelphia Phillies (2008). He is fourth on the Brewers ...
,
Kent Hadley Kent William Hadley (December 17, 1934 – March 10, 2005) was an American professional baseball player. A free-swinging first baseman, he played three years in Major League Baseball (1958–60) and six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (19 ...
,
Aaron Boone Aaron John Boone (born March 9, 1973) is an American professional baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2009. As ...
,
Jacque Jones Jacque Dewayne Jones (born April 25, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins. He also coached for the Washington Nationals. Early life He graduated from San Di ...
and
Mark Prior Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. A onetime top prospect of the Chicago Cubs, he pitched for the team from 2002 to 2006 in a career that was marred by injuries. I ...
. 100 Trojans have gone on to play in the major leagues and scores more in the minors.


Basketball


Men's basketball

The USC Trojans men's basketball program has a long tradition. The men's program is only one of about 48 schools which have more than 1,000 victories in college basketball. Since starting basketball in 1907, the Trojans have compiled a record of 1,357–984 (.580), winning 14 league championships. Recently, the 2007 team set a school record for most wins in a season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. The university recently announced major sanctions over player
O. J. Mayo Ovinton J'Anthony "O.J." Mayo (born November 5, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Zamalek SC of the Egyptian Basketball Super League and Egyptian Basketball Federation. He played a single season of colleg ...
's receipt of improper benefits during the 2007–2008 season. Notably, USC has vacated all regular season wins during that season, dropping their record for the 2007–2008 season to 1-32. In 2021, the Men of Troy made the Elite Eight


Women's basketball

The USC Trojans women's basketball program, after improving steadily, first reached the pinnacle of success in women's basketball in 1983 and the Trojans have been near the top almost ever since, winning national championships in
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
and
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and playing in four Final Fours. The Women of Troy have made the NCAA tourney 6 of the past 14 years, including advancing to the regionals 3 times.
Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is formerly the head coach for Triplets (basketball), Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando ...
, who became an Olympic and pro star, won the Naismith Award in 1994 (she was the MVP of the first WNBA All-Star Game).
Tina Thompson Tina Marie Thompson (born February 10, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Most recently, she served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018 to 2022; she was subsequently hi ...
was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 WNBA draft. Cynthia Cooper was twice an Olympian and
WNBA MVP The Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season in 1997. MVP voting takes place immediately following the regular ...
. In 2009, USC hired Mary Wooley as their assistant coach for women's basketball.


Women's beach volleyball

The USC Trojans women's beach volleyball team, a women-only sport at the collegiate level, first became a varsity sport in the 2012 season (2011–12 school year). At the time, the NCAA considered it an "emerging sport" for women, recognizing it as an official sport but not conducting an official championship. Through the 2015 season, national championship play was conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Trojans won an AVCA national team title in 2015, with a USC team claiming the AVCA pairs championship in each of the 2013–2015 seasons. The NCAA began sponsoring an official national championship in 2016 (only a team competition; no pairs); USC won the inaugural NCAA title and defended the championship in 2017. The beach volleyball program's only head coach has been Anna Collier, a former three-sport USC athlete (including indoor volleyball) who has posted a career record of 142–15 () through the 2017 season.


Golf


Men's golf

Coach Stan Wood (1955–79) compiled a career record of 462–37 (.926) and won 14 conference championships. He also guided the Trojans to an NCAA record 51 consecutive dual match wins from 1956 to 1959. His teams finished third in the NCAA tourney six times. Ron Rhoads, a former USC all-American golfer, coached from 1980 to 1983. Under coach Randy Lein (1984–92), USC continued its success, winning the conference championship in 1986. The 1991 Trojans finished seventh at the NCAAs. Former team captain Jim Empey took over as coach in 1993. Kurt Schuette became coach in 1995 and guided USC to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA tourney that season, Troy's best placing in 18 years, and then ninth in 1996, 14th in both 1997 and 2003 and sixth in 2005. His 2001 squad won the Pac-10 title, USC's first since 1986, and Troy repeated in 2002. Three USC golfers have won four NCAA individual championships: Scott Simpson in 1976 and 1977, Ron Commans in 1981, and
Jamie Lovemark Jamie Lovemark (born January 23, 1988) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. Amateur career Lovemark was born in Rancho Santa Fe, California and attended Torrey Pines High School. He won the 2005 West ...
in 2007. Their best team finish is third place in 1958, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1975, and 2008. The team has won 20 Pac-12 championships: 1962, 1964–1967, 1969, 1971–1973, 1975, 1976 (south division), 1978, 1980, 1984, 1986, 2001–2002, 2007, 2011, and 2018. 1985
U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
champion
Sam Randolph Samuel William Randolph (born May 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Early life Born in Santa Barbara, California, Randolph learned the game of golf from his father, Sam Randolp ...
, who finished as low amateur at the
Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...
in 1985 and 1986, was a first-team All-American for the third straight year in 1986 and was named college golf's Player of the Year.
Kevin Stadler Kevin Stadler (born February 5, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly on the European Tour. Early life Stadler, the son of former Masters champion and 13-time PGA Tour winner Craig Stadler and Susan B ...
was the 2002 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year (USC's first honoree since 1986). Trojan golfers who have found success at the professional level include
Al Geiberger Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 1937) is an American former professional golfer. Professional career Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first being the 1962 ...
(11
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
wins including
1966 PGA Championship The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th PGA Championship, played July 21–24 at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Al Geiberger won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Dudley Wysong. Sam Snea ...
), Brian Henninger (2 PGA Tour wins), John Jacobs (1
Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...
win), Bob McCallister (2 PGA Tour wins),
Mark Pfeil Mark Pfeil (born July 18, 1951) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Early life and amateur career Pfeil was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He attended the University of Southern California, ...
(1 PGA Tour win),
Sam Randolph Samuel William Randolph (born May 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Early life Born in Santa Barbara, California, Randolph learned the game of golf from his father, Sam Randolp ...
(1 PGA Tour win),
Tony Sills Anthony Irvin Sills (born December 5, 1955) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and later became a golf teaching professional. Early life and amateur career Sills, who is Jewish, was born and raised in Los Angeles, Ca ...
(1 PGA Tour win), Scott Simpson (7 PGA Tour wins including 1987 U.S. Open),
Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...
(13 PGA Tour wins including 1982 Masters Tournament),
Kevin Stadler Kevin Stadler (born February 5, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly on the European Tour. Early life Stadler, the son of former Masters champion and 13-time PGA Tour winner Craig Stadler and Susan B ...
(1 PGA Tour win and 1
European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...
win), and
Dave Stockton David Knapp Stockton (born November 2, 1941) is an American retired professional golfer who has won tournaments on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Stockton was born in San Bernardino, California. He attended the University of Souther ...
(10 PGA Tour wins including
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
and
1976 PGA Championship The 1976 PGA Championship was the 58th PGA Championship, played August 12–16 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. Held six weeks following the United States Bicentennial, it wa ...
s).


Women's golf

The USC women's golf team is one of college's finest, as witnessed by the program's first-ever NCAA team title in 2003, their second in 2008, and their third in 2013. USC also has had second (twice), third, fourth (twice), fifth, seventh (3 times), ninth, 11th, 12th and 14th-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in the past 21 years. The Women of Troy won the Pac-10 tourney in 1989 and the NCAA Regional in 1999 and 2006. Cathy Bright led USC to 5 Top 10 NCAA finishes in her 12 years as head coach (1982–93). Former Trojan player Renee (Mack) Baumgartner returned as head coach in 1994 and led USC to second place at the NCAAs in her first year. Andrea Gaston took over in 1997 (with men's coach Kurt Schuette serving as Director of Golf) and guided USC to 6 NCAA Top 10 finishes, including the 2003 NCAA title. The team has won 8 Pac-12 championships: 1989, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 & 2023.
Jennifer Rosales Jennifer Rosales (born September 17, 1978) is a professional golfer from the Philippines, currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Amateur career Born in Manila, Rosales won the Philippine Ladies Amateur Golf Championship five times in a ...
won the 1998 NCAA individual title as a freshman, Mikaela Parmlid won as a senior in 2003,
Dewi Claire Schreefel Dewi Claire Schreefel (born 12 November 1985) is a Dutch professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and formerly on the Futures Tour. Personal Schreefel was born in Alkmaar, Netherlands on 12 November 1985. She resides in the village ...
as a sophomore in 2006, Annie Park as a freshman in 2013, and Doris Chen as a junior in 2014. Other top individuals have included
Marta Figueras-Dotti Marta Figueras-Dotti (born 12 November 1957) is a retired Spanish professional golfer. Early life Figueras-Dotti was born in Madrid and her father was the president of the Spanish Golf Association. She started playing golf at 8 years of age. Am ...
, Denise Strebig, Kim Saiki, Tracy Nakamura,
Jill McGill Jill McGill (born January 30, 1972) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. McGill was born in Denver, Colorado. She played college golf at the University of Southern California and won the U.S. Women's Amateur title in ...
(the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion), Heidi Voorhees (the 1993 U.S. Amateur medalist), Jennifer Biehn (the 1994 Pac-10 champ),
Candie Kung Candie Kung (; born 8 August 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Amateur career Kung was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She was a three-time American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) All-American and was n ...
(the 2000 Pac-10 champ), Becky Lucidi (the 2002 U.S. Amateur and 2003 Mexican Amateur champion) and Irene Cho. USC captured the 2008 NCAA Women's Golf Championship at the par 72, University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. The Trojans won the event by six strokes over
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
and claimed their first women's golf national championship since 2003. In 2013, they won by 21 strokes over
Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
at the University of Georgia Golf Course (par 72, ).


Women's rowing

The women's rowing team, based at the USC Boathouse, has been active since the early 1970s, but scholarships were first awarded in 1998 and USC has emerged as one of the nation's top programs. The varsity, junior varsity and novice eight teams train all year long for regattas from coast to coast. George Jenkins guided USC to national prominence during his 9 years as head coach (1994–2002). Kelly Babraj took over as head coach for the 2003 season, with husband Zenon Babraj serving as director of rowing. At the 1998 NCAA meet, the Women of Troy rowers isa Bartoli (c), Evalina Boteva, Annelisa Gross, Kasey Ryan, Rebecca Moneymakercaptured their first-ever national championship race in the varsity four+. In 2005, USC made its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance as a team, placing 11th.


Women's soccer

The women's soccer team began competing in 1993 and calls McAlister Field home. Karen Stanley coached the team for the first three seasons.
Jim Millinder Jim Millnder is a retired American soccer player and coach who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League. He coached collegiate soccer for twenty-n ...
took over in 1996 and guided seven of his squads (1998–2003) into the NCAA tourney (USC won the 1998 Pac-10 title). Isabelle Harvey, the 1998 Pac-10 Player of the Year, was USC's first All-American first teamer (in 2000). On December 7, 2007, 2-seed USC defeated 1-seed UCLA by a score of 2–1 to reach the College Cup final for the first time in its history. USC had never previously passed the second round in the NCAA tournament before the 2007–2008 season. The Trojans won the national title on December 9, 2007, with a 2–0 win over
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
. Since 2014 the head coach has been Keidane McAlpine. On December 4, 2016, USC defeated
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
3–1 to win their second NCAA Championship. USC forward Katie Johnson was named the outstanding offensive player of the tournament.


Swimming and diving


Men's swimming and diving

The type of dominance USC has had in this sport was best exemplified by Troy's performance in the 1976 Olympic Games, when Trojan swimmers won more golds and more total medals than any country in swimming except the United States. Over the years, USC men's swimmers have made Olympic teams 122 times, winning 38 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze medals.USC Olympians â€“ 38 Gold Medals
USC Athletic Department.
Gold medal winners have included
Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born Leonid Olehovych Krayzelburg, September 28, 1975) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning a total of four Olympic g ...
,
John Naber John Phillips Naber (born January 20, 1956) is an American former competitive swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in multiple events. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Naber studied in England and Italy where his father ...
,
Bruce Furniss Bruce MacFarlane Furniss (born May 27, 1957) is a former American amateur competition swimmer, Olympic double gold medalist, and ten-time world record-holder in four events. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, he won the Swimming ...
,
Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, who swam for the University of Southern California, and worked as an actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four g ...
,
Wally Wolf Wallace "Wally" Perry Wolf Jr. (October 2, 1930 – March 12, 1997) was an American attorney, bank director, competition swimming (sport), swimmer, water polo player, and Olympic champion. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, 1948, 1952 Su ...
, and
Oussama Mellouli Oussama "Ous" Mellouli (; born 16 February 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the Univer ...
. Since beginning swimming in 1929, the Trojans have captured 9 NCAA championships, all under coach
Peter Daland Peter Daland (April 12, 1921 – October 20, 2014) was an International Swimming Hall of Fame U.S. Olympic and collegiate swim coach from the United States, best-known for coaching the University of Southern California Trojans swim team to nine N ...
, who retired in 1992 after 35 years at Troy. USC swimmers and divers have won 110 NCAA meet individual and relay titles (including
Erik Vendt Erik K. Vendt (born January 9, 1981) is an American former competition swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Vendt won a gold meda ...
, who won 5 individual titles in the 2000, 2002 and 2003 meets) and have earned All-American honors an amazing 562 times. Under Daland, USC won 17 Pac-10 championships and amassed an impressive dual meet record of 318-31-1 (.917). Three of his last 6 squads had runner-up finishes at the NCAA meet. Four-time U.S. Olympic coach Mark Schubert, winner of 2 NCAA titles with the
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
women, succeeded Daland (he also served as the head coach of the Women of Troy). His men's teams placed in the Top-10 at the NCAAs 12 times in his 14 years at USC.
Dave Salo David Clark Salo is a swimming coach based in Southern California, United States. He was the head coach of the men's and women's swimming team at University of Southern California, as well as USC's club team, Trojan Swim Club. Prior to his becoming ...
was named head coach following for Schubert in both roles in 2007.


Women's swimming and diving

USC has likewise built a successful swimming program on the women's side. In fact, the Women of Troy have finished in the top 10 nationally 25 of the last 30 years â€“ including winning the NCAA title in 1997 â€“ and have produced 233 All-Americans in that span. They have won conference championships in 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1985. Among USC's more famous women's swimmers are Kristine Quance (who won 9 NCAA titles),
Lindsay Benko Lindsay Dianne Benko (born November 29, 1976), known by her married name Lindsay Mintenko since 2005, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympian, former world record-holder, and a managing director of USA Swimming. She represe ...
(who won 5 NCAA titles),
Katinka Hosszú Katinka Hosszú (; born 3 May 1989) is a Hungarian former competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is the owner of a Budap ...
(who won 3 NCAA titles),
Kaitlin Sandeno Kaitlin Shea Sandeno (born March 13, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist, world champion and former world record-holder. Sandeno was a member of the American team that set a new world record in the 4Ã ...
(she won 2 races at the 2003 NCAAs),
Michelle Ford Michelle Jan Ford (born 15 July 1962) is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres ...
, Sue Habernigg,
Cynthia Woodhead Cynthia Lee Woodhead (born February 7, 1964), commonly known by her family nickname "Sippy", is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. She won three gold medals at the 1978 Worl ...
, Sue Hinderaker, Debbie Rudd,
Kalyn Keller Kalyn Keller (born April 3, 1985) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She competed in the women's 800-meter freestyle, and finished fourth with a time of 8: ...
and diver
Blythe Hartley Blythe Hartley (born May 2, 1982) is a Canadian Olympic diver. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta and began diving at age 12. Personal life She went to the National Sport School in Calgary, Alberta with many other top Canadian athletes. Hartl ...
(who won 5 NCAA titles).


Tennis


Men's tennis

George Toley (1954–80) guided the Trojans for 26 years before resigning during the 1980 season. His career record was 430-92-4 (.821) with 10 NCAA titles.
Dick Leach Richard N. Leach Sr. (March 6, 1940 – October 10, 2023) was an American professional tennis player and coach. He was the father of tennis players Jon Leach and Rick Leach. Lindsay Davenport, who married Jon, is his daughter-in-law. Leach coa ...
succeeded Toley and posted a 535-133 (.801) mark in 23 years. His 1991, 1993, 1994 and 2002 teams won the NCAA tourney (his 2002 No. 11-seeded Cinderella team was the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA title and did so a month after Leach announced his retirement) and 8 of his other teams finished fourth or better. He was succeeded by ex-Pepperdine, Fresno State and Long Beach State coach Peter Smith for the 2003 season. His 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 teams have won the National Championship. Overall, USC players have been named to All-American teams 137 times, with many also enjoying successful pro careers, including International Tennis Hall of Famers
Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles champion (at the 1971 US Open and 1972 Wimbledon Championships), Smith also paired with Bob Lutz t ...
,
Rafael Osuna Rafael Osuna Herrera (15 September 1938 – 4 June 1969), nicknamed "El Pelón" (The Bald), was a former world No. 1 tennis player, and an Olympian. He was born in Mexico City, and is best remembered for his singles victory at the U.S. Open C ...
,
Alex Olmedo Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo Rodríguez (March 24, 1936December 9, 2020) was a tennis player from Peru with American citizenship. He was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player for 1958, but as a U.S. player for 1959. He helped win the Davis Cup f ...
and
Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s. As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University ...
, as well as Bob Lutz, Raul Ramirez, Butch Walts and Joaquin Loyo Mayo. In 2012, Steve Johnson, Senior, completed his USC career having won 72 consecutive singles matches. Johnson was a back-to-back NCAA Singles Champion from 2011 to 2012 and has a career-high ATP ranking of 21.
Daniel Cukierman Daniel Cukierman (; born 9 July 1995) is an Israeli tennis player. During his junior year at the University of Southern California from November 13, 2019, until the close of competition in 2020, Cukierman was ranked No. 1 in the US in singles am ...
, from November 13, 2019, until the close of competition in 2020, was ranked No. 1 in the US in singles among men's college tennis players in the 2019-20
Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...
(ITA) Division I Men's Individual National Rankings.


Women's tennis

Those national crowns all came under Dave Borelli, who coached USC from 1974 to 1988. In duals, Borelli's record was phenomenal: his teams went 300-43 (.875). Five times Trojans have won national singles titles, along with a doubles champ and 74 All-Americans. Prominent USC stars have included
Barbara Hallquist Barbara Hallquist DeGroot (born May 1, 1957) is a retired professional tennis player from the U.S. She was the first female student to receive an athletic scholarship from the University of Southern California (USC) as a result of Title IX legis ...
,
Lea Antonoplis Lea Antonoplis (born January 20, 1959) is a former professional tennis player from the U.S. who won the Wimbledon Girls' Singles in 1977 and four WTA doubles titles. Early life Antonoplis attended Glendora High School from 1974 to 1977 and gr ...
,
Sheila McInerney Sheila McInerney (born February 22, 1958) is an American former professional tennis player. Biography McInerney is originally from Rome, New York and began playing tennis at the age of eight. A former student at the Rome Free Academy, she later ...
,
Stacy Margolin Stacy Margolin (born April 5, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player in the WTA tour and the ITF world tour from 1979 to 1987 whose career-high world singles ranking is No. 18 (career-high end of season ranking of No. 25 in 197 ...
,
Anna-Maria Fernandez Anna-Maria Fernandez (born October 22, 1960) is an American former professional tennis player active during the 1980s. She won five WTA titles during her career, all in doubles. Her career high ranking in singles was number 19, in approximately ...
, Cecilia Fernandez-Parker,
Kelly Henry Kelly Henry (born April 18, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player. Biography Henry had a noted school career, winning three consecutive CIF Southern Section singles titles from 1977 to 1979, while attending Glendale High School ...
,
Beth Herr Beth Herr (born 28 May 1964) is an American tennis player from Centerville, Ohio, who won four Junior Grand Slam titles, the NCAA singles and team titles and one professional tennis tournament. In her home state of Ohio, she was a two-time hig ...
,
Jewel Peterson Jewel Renee Peterson (born September 10, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. Peterson, born and raised in College Park, Georgia, played collegiate tennis at the University of Southern California (USC). While at USC she was a ...
,
Lindsey Nelson Lindsey Nelson (May 25, 1919 – June 10, 1995) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play of college football and New York Mets baseball. Nelson spent 17 years with the Mets and three years with the San Fr ...
, Maria Sanchez, and
Sabrina Santamaria Sabrina Ashley Vida Santamaria (born February 24, 1993) is an American tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 384, achieved in June 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 53, set on 12 August 2019. College career ...
. Cheryl Woods, a former Trojan player, took over for Borelli in 1989. Richard Gallien, a player and coach at Pepperdine, became head coach in 1996. His 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 teams advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and he got to the NCAA semi-finals in 2006.


Track and field


Men's track and field

The Trojans have won an unprecedented 27 NCAA titles (including 9 straight, 1935–43) in the 85-year history of NCAA outdoor track, plus 3 indoor NCAA titles and 35 Pacific Coast or Pac-10 crowns, including a string of 15 straight (1936–55). They have had 39 unbeaten and untied seasons, including a string of 16 in a row (1946–61). Since starting track and field in 1900, USC has compiled a dual-meet record of 410-116-4 (.777). Outstanding coaches include
Dean Cromwell Dean Bartlett Cromwell (September 20, 1879 – August 3, 1962), nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at the University of Southern California (USC). He was the head coach of the USC track ...
(1909–48), who won a record 12 NCAA titles and had a dual meet mark of 109–48–1;
Jess Mortensen Jesse Philo Mortensen (April 16, 1907 — February 19, 1962) was an NCAA champion track athlete and coach. Mortensen is one of only three men to win Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship team titles as both an athlete and coach. ...
, who never lost a dual meet (64–0) in 11 years and won 7 NCAA titles; and Vern Wolfe, who retired after the 1984 season with 7 national titles and a dual meet record of 106-17-1 (.859).
Jim Bush James Stanley Bush (September 15, 1926 – July 10, 2017) was a National Track and Field Hall of Fame track and field coach. He was known primarily for his coaching tenure at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1964 to 1984. Durin ...
, who won 5 NCAA titles while at crosstown rival UCLA, became USC's head coach in 1991. His 1992 Trojans finished third at the NCAAs with only a 6-man team. Ron Allice, who won 11 state titles at Long Beach City College, took over the combined men's and women's programs in 1995 (the men were fourth at the 1995 NCAA meet, 10th in 1996, third in 1997 while winning the Pac-10 title, seventh in 1998, fifth in 1999 while winning the Pac-10 crown, tied for seventh in 2000 while winning the Pac-10 title, tied for 12th in 2001, tied for 11th in 2002, third in 2003 while winning the Pac-10 title, sixth in 2005 while winning the NCAA West Regional crown and tied for ninth in 2006 while winning the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional meets). Sixty USC tracksters have won 88 places on U.S. Olympic teams over the years, including World War II hero
Louis Zamperini Louis Silvie Zamperini (January 26, 1917 â€“ July 2, 2014) was an American World War II veteran, an Olympic distance runner and a Christian Evangelism, evangelist. He took up running in high school and qualified for the United States in t ...
. Trojans have won 26 individual Olympic titles and shared in 8 relay wins. Gold medal winners include long jumper
Randy Williams Randy Lavelle Williams (born August 23, 1953) is an American former track and field athlete. Education In high school, Williams attended Edison High School in Fresno, California. He then attended the University of Southern California.
, pole vaulter
Bob Seagren Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion. A native of Pomona, California, Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU ...
, sprinter
Charles Paddock Charles William Paddock (August 11, 1900 – July 21, 1943) was an American athlete and two-time Olympic champion. Biography Paddock was born in Gainesville, Texas, to Charles H. and Lulu (Robinson) Paddock. His family moved to Pasadena, Califo ...
, sprinter
Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two-time gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled a ...
and hurdler Félix Sánchez. Since 1912, 61 USC track men have equaled or bettered world records, and there have been 110 NCAA outdoor individual or relay winners from Troy—including 2005 and 2006 NCAA high jump champ Jesse Williams (he also won indoors both years). The Trojans also have a long history of successful distance running, including 9 Olympians and NCAA champions Julio Marin and Ole Oleson. In 2018, Michael Norman became the first from USC to win
The Bowerman The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American college athletics, collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon Ducks track and field, Oregon track and field ...
, an award that honors collegiate track & field's most outstanding athlete of the year.


Women's track and field, cross country

Lillian Copeland Lillian Copeland (née Drossin; November 24, 1904 – July 7, 1964) was an American track and field Olympic champion athlete, who excelled in discus, javelin throwing, and shot put, setting multiple world records. She has been called "the most s ...
, who received a B.A. in 1928, competed for the Trojans in track and field. She became an Olympic champion in discus throw, and set world records in discus, javelin, and shot put. She was also the first Trojan woman in Olympics. She joined the USC track & field team in 1924. While at USC, she won every track event she entered. The women's track program at USC has developed into one of the nation's finest. The Trojans have placed in the Top 10 of the NCAA Championships 12 times, including winning the program's first-ever NCAA team title in 2001. The Women of Troy also finished third in 1987, seventh in 1996 (while winning the Pac-10 title), fifth in 1998, third in 1999 (just 4 points from first place), second in 2000 (again just 4 points out of first place), third in 2002, seventh in 2005 and second in 2006 (while winning the NCAA West Regional title). The USC women's track team captured the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...
Indoor Track & Field title in 2014.
Sherry Calvert Sherry Lynn Calvert (born June 6, 1951, in Los Angeles, California) is a retired female javelin thrower from the United States, who represented her native country twice at the Summer Olympics: 1972 and 1976. She set her personal best (63.38 metres) ...
was a former head coach. Calvert, a 4-time All-American javelin thrower at USC who participated in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, started the program as an undergraduate and coached through 1983. Fred LaPlante succeeded her from 1984 through 1988. Barbara Edmonson was coach in 1992 through 1994. In 1995, Ron Allice took over as the combined men's and women's coach. Troy has had many other successful track and field athletes.
Patty Van Wolvelaere Patricia Jean "Patty" Van Wolvelaere (divorced Johnson; born April 15, 1950) is a retired hurdler from the United States who competed at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics Olympics. Her best finish was the fourth place in the 80 m event in 1968. ...
won a pair of national titles in the 100-meter hurdles. Kerry Bell was an All-American heptathlete for 3 years. 1988 NCAA heptathlon champion Wendy Brown and Yvette Bates set world bests in the triple jump during their USC careers. Ashley Selman won the 1990 NCAA javelin title. Angela Williams became the first athlete, male or female, at any level to win 4 consecutive NCAA 100-meter dashes when she did so in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Natasha Danvers won the 2000 NCAA 400-meter intermediate hurdles. The Women of Troy won the NCAA 1600-meter relay in 1987 and the 400-meter relay in 2000.
Brigita Langerholc Brigita Langerholc (born 23 July 1976 in Kranj, Slovenia) is a Slovenian middle distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics in a then personal best time of 1:58.51 minutes. In 2001, she won the si ...
took the 800 meters and Inga Stasiulionyte captured the javelin, both in the 2001 NCAAs. Natasha Mayers won the NCAA 200 meters in 2002. Virginia Powell won the 2005 and 2006 NCAA indoor and outdoor high hurdles (she also set the collegiate record in the outdoor race). The Women of Troy also compete in cross country in the fall under coach Tom Walsh.


Volleyball


Men's volleyball

The men's volleyball team has made 11 NCAA Final Four appearances since scholarships were first awarded by Troy in the sport in 1977. The Trojans have won 4 NCAA titles (1977, 1980, 1988 and 1990) and have finished second on 7 other occasions (1979, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 2009). Ernie Hix, who retired as head coach after the 1981 season, turned USC into one of the top volleyball powers in the nation. Hix's 8-year record was an impressive 146-47 (.756) with 2 national crowns. Twenty-four Trojans have played on the U.S. National team and USC volleyballers have been named first team All-Americans 27 times. In the 1984 Olympics, Steve Timmons, Dusty Dvorak and Pat Powers all helped lead the United States to its first gold medal ever in the sport, while Timmons repeated with the 1988 U.S. squad. Timmons, Bryan Ivie, Nick Becker and Dan Greenbaum won bronze medals with the U.S. in 1992. Tim Hovland, Celso Kalache, Adam Johnson, former coach Bob Yoder (a 3-time All-American who coached Troy to an NCAA title in 1988), Donald Suxho and Brook Billings also are key figures in USC's volleyball heritage. Jim McLaughlin took over for Yoder in 1990 and led Troy to an NCAA title in his initial year. Powers became head coach in 1997, Turhan Douglas succeeded him in 2003 and Bill Ferguson took over in 2007.


Women's volleyball

USC Volleyball has won 6 national championships, 3 in NCAA (1981, 2002, 2003) and 3 before the NCAA sponsored women's Volleyball Championships the first 4 under coach Chuck Erbe. Erbe, who dominated the sport during his 12-year USC coaching tenure which began in 1976, posted a career record of 310-121-3 (). He coached the 1976, 1977 and 1980 AIAW champions and the 1981 NCAA titlists. His 1976 team registered the first perfect season (38–0) in women's volleyball history. Lisa Love, who coached at
Texas-Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A&M ...
for 7 years, took over for Erbe in 1989 and guided USC into the NCAAs in 9 of her 10 seasons before retiring after the 1998 season. Jerritt Elliott served as interim head coach in 1999 and 2000, guiding the 2000 club to the NCAA Final Four. Mick Haley, head coach of the 2000 U.S. women's Olympic team who won 2 national crowns in the 1980s while at Texas, took over in 2001 and advanced to that season's NCAA regional final. Then, in 2002 and 2003, his teams won the NCAA crown, with the 2003 club going 35–0. USC also made the NCAA Final Four in 2004, 2007, and 2010. In 1978, Debbie Green-Vargas won the
Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...
for volleyball. Trojans have been named All-American 55 times and 13 have been members of the U.S. Olympic team (including Green,
Sue Woodstra Susan Jean "Sue" Woodstra (born May 21, 1957) is an American retired volleyball coach and player. As a player, she won a silver medal with the United States women's national volleyball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Playing da ...
,
Paula Weishoff Paula Jo Weishoff (born May 1, 1962) is a retired female volleyball player from the United States and three-time Olympian who played with the United States women's national volleyball team. As a middle blocker, Weishoff won a silver medal at the ...
, Carolyn Becker, Kim Ruddins, and
Nicole Davis Nicole Marie Davis (born April 24, 1982) is a retired American indoor volleyball player and mindset coach at Compete To Create, founded by Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and high performance psychologist, Michael Gervais. Nicole last p ...
). 2008 graduate
Asia Kaczor Joanna Kaczor (born 16 September 1984) is a Polish volleyball player, a member of Poland women's national volleyball team and Polish club Impel Wrocław, a participant of the Olympic Games 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing 2008, bronze medalist of 2 ...
played for the Poland indoor national team at the
2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...
, while 2006 alum
Bibiana Candelas Bibiana Candelas Ramírez (born December 2, 1983, in Torreon, Coahuila) is a female beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player who represented her native country, Mexico, at the 2008 Olympics with her beach partner, Mayra García. Prep and ...
represented her native country,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in beach volleyball.


Water polo


Men's water polo

Since starting
water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
in 1922, the Trojans have compiled a 1191-511-8 (.699) record, winning 15 conference championships along the way. Longtime coach John Williams led the Trojans to national prominence during his tenure from 1973 to 1998. Nineteen of his last 22 teams finished the season in the top 7 nationally, including the 1998
NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
team and the 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997 squads which placed second in the NCAA tourney.
Jovan Vavic Jovan Vavic (born ) is the former head coach of both the University of Southern California (USC) men's and women's water polo teams. In 2012, he was interim head coach of the United States men's national water polo team. While coaching USC he won ...
joined as co-head coach in 1995 and took over as head coach in 1999. His 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2018 teams won the
NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
. With their 2011 victory, the Trojans became the first men's water polo team to win four consecutive championships. Subsequently, the 2012 team became the first to win five in a row, culminating its perfect season by defeating ucla in the NCAA final, held in its home pool, the McDonald' Swim Stadium. The 2008 team also had a perfect 29–0 season. The 2013 team also won the NCAA tournament, becoming the first collegiate water polo team, men's or women's, to win 6 NCAA championships in a row. Seventeen USC poloists have participated in the Olympics and Trojans have made various All-American teams 140 times. Some of the more prominent names in USC water polo history are Ron Severa, Wally Wolf, Charles Bittick, Greg Fink, Greg Fults, Zach Stimson, Craig Furniss, Charles Harris, Robert Lynn, Drew Netherton, Hrvoje Cizmic, Marko Zagar, Simun Cimerman, Marko Pintaric, George Csaszar, Pedraj Damjanov, Bozidar Damjanovic and Juraj Zatovic (who in 2005 was USC's first-ever male winner of the
Peter J. Cutino Award The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo. It is given annually to the top male and female pl ...
as the National Player of the Year). Since that time USC Has had 4 other Cutino Award winners in J.W. Krumpholz, Joel Dennerley, Kostas Genidounias, and Baron McQuin. Coach Jovan Vavic was arrested and
indict An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
ed in March 2019 in the
2019 college admissions bribery scandal Operation Varsity Blues was the code name for the investigation into the 2019 criminal conspiracy scandal to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. United States federal prosecutors made the invest ...
. He was accused of signing two "recruits" who had never actually played competitive water polo, to help the students gain admission to USC, in exchange for $250,000 in bribes from the students' parents."Scandal Engulfs USC: Jovan Vavic, Head Men's & Women's Polo Coach Arrested Over Fake Admissions Scheme,"
''Swimming World Magazine''.
He was charged with
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
to commit
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
. The charge carries penalties of a prison term of up to 20 years, and up to $250,000 in fines. Vavic was fired by USC in the immediate wake of his indictment.


Women's water polo

USC's women's water polo team began play in 1995 under head coach Jovan Vavic. In 1999, in their fifth year of existence, the Women of Troy—led by National Player of the Year and 2000 U.S. Olympic goalie Bernice Orwig—won the national championship in an exciting 5-overtime sudden-death victory over Stanford. USC then was second in the national tourney in 2000. Then in 2004, USC—behind National Player of the Year
Moriah van Norman Moriah van Norman (born May 30, 1984) is an American water polo player who has played for the University of Southern California and the National team, who won the Peter J. Cutino Award in 2004, recognized as the best female collegiate player in ...
—turned in the sport's first undefeated season (29–0) in winning the NCAA title. USC was third in the 2005 NCAAs, and second in 2006, 2008, and 2009 (losing to UCLA, 5–4). Besides Orwig and Van Norman, other top players have included
Anikó Pelle Anikó Pelle (born 28 September 1978) is a Hungarian and Italian water polo player who played for the University of Southern California from 1999 to 2002, and the Hungary women's national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In ...
(the 2000 National Player of the Year), Nina Wengst, Olympian
Sofia Konukh Sofia Evgenevna Konukh (, born 9 March 1980) is a Russian water polo player, who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic women's tournament in history. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at f ...
, Katrin Dierolf, Kelly Graff,
Lauren Wenger Lauren Ashley Wenger (born March 11, 1984) is an American water polo player for the University of Southern California, who received the 2006 Peter J. Cutino Award as the best collegiate water polo player among Division I NCAA teams. Her position ...
(the 2006 National Player of the Year) and Brittany Hayes. Current Women of Troy Hayes, Erika Figge,
Patty Cardenas Patricia Cardenas (born August 19, 1984) is an American water polo player. She played for Bell Gardens High School, Golden West College, University of Southern California, and the United States women's national water polo team, United States nati ...
, and Kami Craig, along with Van Norman and Wenger, are all on the U.S. National Team, while alumnae Anna Pardo and Eszter Gyori play for Spain and Czech Republic, respectively. On May 16, 2010, the Women of Troy became the 2010 NCAA National Champions after a 10–9 defeat of No. 1 Stanford at the Aztec Aquaplex on the campus of
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
. This was the school's third women's water polo national title. On May 12, 2013, the team won its fourth national championship (third NCAA), beating Stanford, 10–9, with Anni Espar scoring the winning goal in the third sudden-death overtime period. On May 15, 2016, the Women of Troy completed their second undefeated season, winning 8–7 over Stanford in the NCAA championship game, with
Stephania Haralabidis Stephania Haralabidis (; born May 19, 1995) is a Greek American water polo player who played at USC and currently playing for Ethnikos and the U.S. national team. Haralabidis also has two sisters, her twin Ioanna and older sister Anastaia. Io ...
scoring from near mid-pool with only six seconds left. Coach Jovan Vavic was arrested and
indict An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
ed in March 2019 in the
2019 college admissions bribery scandal Operation Varsity Blues was the code name for the investigation into the 2019 criminal conspiracy scandal to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. United States federal prosecutors made the invest ...
, and was fired by USC in the immediate wake of his indictment (see above section).


Notable non-varsity teams


Men's rugby

Founded in 1886, USC Trojan Rugby Football Club plays Division 1-A
college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of ...
in the
PAC Rugby Conference The PAC Rugby Conference was a college rugby conference composed of four schools from the Pac-12 Conference that competed against each other in Division 1-A Rugby. It was formed in 2012 with six teams, with conference play beginning in February 2 ...
against its PAC-12 rivals, under head coach Loa Milford. USC rugby is the oldest sport at USC, and the only USC club team that awards varsity letters to its players.


Championships


NCAA team championships

USC has won 115 NCAA team national championships. *Men's (87) **
Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
(12): 1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1998 **
Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
(1): 1962 ** Indoor Track & Field (3): 1967, 1972, 2025 **
Outdoor Track & Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
(27): 1926 (unofficial), 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1976, 2025 **
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
(9): 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 **
Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
(21): 1946, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1976, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 **
Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
(4): 1977, 1980, 1988, 1990 **
Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
(10): 1998, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018 *Women's (28) **
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
(2): 1983, 1984 **
Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
(6): 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 **
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
(3): 2003, 2008, 2013 **
Outdoor Track and Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
(3): 2001, 2018, 2021 **
Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
(2): 2007, 2016 **
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
(1): 1997 **
Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
(2): 1983, 1985 **
Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
(3): 1981, 2002, 2003 **
Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
(6): 2004, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021 *See also: ** Pac-12 Conference NCAA championships **
List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships Listed below are the colleges or universities with the most NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I-sanctioned team championships, individual championships, and combined team and individual championships, as documented by information published on offi ...


Other national team championships

Below are the 24 national team titles that were not bestowed by the NCAA: * Men's (13): **Football (11): 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939,† 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004 **Volleyball (2): 1949, 1950 * Women's (11): **Beach Volleyball (2): 2009, 2015 **Tennis (5): 1977 (2)‡, 1978‡, 1979, 1980 **Volleyball (3): 1976, 1977, 1980 **Water Polo (1): 1999 † 1939 title is not recognized by
College Football Data Warehouse College Football Data Warehouse was an American college football statistics website that was established in 2000. The site compiled the yearly team records, game-by-game results, championships, and statistics of college football teams, conference ...

‡ USC won
AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...
national tennis championships in 1977, 1979 and 1980. USC won USLTA team titles in 1977 and 1978. *See also: **
List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships This is a list of U.S. universities and colleges that have won the most team sport national championships (more than 15) that have been bestowed for the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, be that at either the varsity or club level, ...


Trophies


Victory Bell

The Victory Bell is the rivalry trophy in the UCLA–USC crosstown rivalry. The winner of the annual football contest keeps the bell for the next year, and paints it the school's color: cardinal red for USC, True Blue for UCLA. The 295-pound bell was taken from the top of a
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...
locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
. The bell was given to the UCLA student body in 1939 as a gift from the school's
alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, school A school is the educati ...
. Initially, the UCLA cheerleaders rang the bell after each Bruin point. However, during the opening game of UCLA's 1941 season (at the time, both schools used the LA Coliseum for home games), six members of USC's
Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...
fraternity (who were also members of the
Trojan Knights The Trojan Knights are a student service and spirit organization at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is officially dedicated to "Brotherhood, Service, & Spirit" and its members have been recognized by USC as th ...
) infiltrated the Bruin rooting section, assisted in loading the bell aboard a truck headed back to Westwood, took the key to the truck, and escaped with the bell while UCLA's actual rooters went to find a replacement key. The bell remained hidden from UCLA students for more than a year, first in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house's basement, then in the
Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...
, Santa Ana and other locations. At one point, it was even concealed beneath a haystack. Bruin students tried to locate the bell, but to no avail. Tension between UCLA and USC students rose as each started to play even more elaborate and disruptive pranks on the other. When the conflict caused the USC President to threaten to cancel the rivalry, a compromise was met: on November 12, 1942, the student body presidents of both schools, in front of Tommy Trojan, signed the agreement that before home games, when the bell is in USC's possession, it sits along Trousdale Parkway for fans to ring as they participate in the "Trojan Walk" to the L.A. Coliseum. During home games, and whenever USC faces UCLA at the Rose Bowl, the Victory Bell is displayed at the edge of the field for the first three quarters of the game. Members of the
Trojan Knights The Trojan Knights are a student service and spirit organization at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is officially dedicated to "Brotherhood, Service, & Spirit" and its members have been recognized by USC as th ...
emphatically ring the bell every time the Trojans score. USC has an overall record of 46-28-7 in the
crosstown rivalry A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and the ...
.


The Jeweled Shillelagh

The
shillelagh A shillelagh ( ; or , "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore. Other spelling varian ...
, a
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
war club made of
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
or
blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...
saplings from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, is the rivalry trophy for USC- Notre Dame football games. Like the Victory Bell, the winner of the annual game gets to keep possession of The Shillelagh until the following year. For every USC victory, a
ruby Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
-adorned Trojan head with the year and game score is added; for every Notre Dame win, an
emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
-studded
shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...
with similar year and score information is added. The club was presented as a rivalry trophy in 1952 by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles (with all the previous games already represented with medallions), and is engraved with "From the Emerald Isle." There have been two shillelaghs. The original ran out of room in 1989 and was retired; it is now on permanent display at Notre Dame. The second shillelaghs is slightly longer and contains medallions from the 1990 game onwards. There are now 45 shamrocks, 36 Trojan heads and 5 combined medallions on the shillelaghs.


Gauntlet Trophy

Since 2001, USC athletics have participated in a direct competition with cross-town rival UCLA called the
SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup The Southern California Crosstown Cup is a year-long all-sports college competition between the UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans. While UCLA and USC have had a sports rivalry since the 1920s, the official yearly head-to-head all-sports competitio ...
. Originally known as the Lexus Gauntlet, the corporate naming rights shifted to
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
after
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...
did not continue sponsorship of the competition after its contract expired in 2009, however, the two schools do continue to keep track of the competition scores. A victory in NCAA-sanctioned sports competition between the schools earns the winning school a predetermined number of points towards a final count. (For example, a single football victory is worth 10 points whereas all head-to-head men's water polo victories count as a series and the series is worth 5 points, with 2.5 points awarded to each university in the case of a split.) USC won the trophy's inaugural 2001–02 season, and again in 2003–04 and 2005–06, and then seven straight years from 2007–08 to most recently 2013–14.


Athletic facilities


Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
is one of the largest stadiums in America. USC has played football in the Coliseum ever since the grand stadium was built in 1923. In fact, the Trojans played in the first varsity football game ever held there (beating
Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...
, 23–7, on October 6, 1923). The Coliseum was the site of the
1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...
and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track events of the
1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...
. Over the years, the Coliseum has been home to many sports teams besides the Trojans, including UCLA football,
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...
,
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...
,
Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...
football, and
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
baseball. The Coliseum, which is managed and operated by USC, has hosted various other events, from concerts and speeches to track meets and motorcycle races. The Coliseum is located on in Exposition Park, which also houses museums, gardens and
BMO Stadium BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC ...
, the home of
Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...
. The Coliseum is jointly owned by the State of California, Los Angeles County, and the City of Los Angeles. In July 2013 under a new 98-year master lease agreement USC assumed sole financial responsibility for the day-to-day management, operation, and maintenance of both the Coliseum and the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...
which was later demolished. The Coliseum has a present full-capacity of 77,500 seats after USC completed a major $315 million renovation of the stadium in 2019 that added a new seven-story Tower on the stadium's south side housing luxury suites, loge boxes, club seats, a new concourse with concession stands, a new press box, and rooftop club lounge.


John McKay Center at USC

Opened in 2012, the John McKay Center at USC is a $70 million, 110,000-square-foot athletic and academic center named after football coach John McKay and is home to the USC Trojan Football Department. The building houses meeting rooms, coaches' offices and a locker room for the football program, as well as the Stevens Academic Center (including space for tutoring, counseling, study and computer rooms for student-athletes), a weight room, an athletic training room and a state-of-the-art digital media production facility for all of USC's 21 sports. The centerpiece of the McKay Center is the two-story video board in the Parker Hughes atrium, which can display six big-screen televisions at once as well as promotional videos and graphics. The building has a 60,000-square-foot basement that includes weight room, athletic training room, locker rooms and players' lounge, a 25,000-square-foot ground floor with Student-Athlete Academic Services center, reception area and outdoor courtyard, and a 25,000-square-foot second floor with football coaches' offices, football team meeting rooms, outdoor patio and a state-of-the-art video production facility. The John McKay Center is adjacent to Heritage Hall, the Galen Dining Center, Brittingham Field, and the Howard Jones Field/Brian Kennedy Field practice facility.


Howard Jones Field/Brian Kennedy Field

Howard Jones Field/Brian Kennedy Field are the practice fields for the
USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents the University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...
team located across from the John McKay Center at USC.


Cromwell Field and Loker Stadium

The 3,000-seat Katherine B. Loker Stadium houses Cromwell Track and Field and is named Cromwell Field and Loker Stadium. It opened in 2001 and was dedicated on May 5 of that year during the USC-UCLA dual meet which USC won handily. The facility includes the track offices, locker rooms, an athlete lounge, family lounges, media facilities, state-of-the-art medical treatment capabilities, and general-purpose meeting rooms. The track and field portion of the venue is still named after USC coach
Dean Cromwell Dean Bartlett Cromwell (September 20, 1879 – August 3, 1962), nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at the University of Southern California (USC). He was the head coach of the USC track ...
, winner of 12 NCAA titles. The entrance to the facility is called "
Louis Zamperini Louis Silvie Zamperini (January 26, 1917 â€“ July 2, 2014) was an American World War II veteran, an Olympic distance runner and a Christian Evangelism, evangelist. He took up running in high school and qualified for the United States in t ...
Plaza" and includes tributes to USC's NCAA and Olympic champions. Cromwell Track & Field was used as a training and warm-up facility during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It underwent a complete refurbishing in fall 1983. Not only was the track resurfaced, but the high jump area was expanded, two new sand pits for the horizontal jumps were installed and a new drainage system was also added. The stadium hosted the 2003 Pac-10 Championships, the first conference meet hosted by USC since 1986.


David X. Marks Tennis Stadium

The David X. Marks Tennis Stadium on the USC campus is one of the most modern collegiate tennis facilities in the country. A new and much-anticipated addition was recently made to the tennis stadium. In May 2004, USC installed a new $300,000 LED Daktronic interactive scoreboard so fans can now follow each match point-for-point from their seat. The new scoreboard will also enables fans at home to log on and follow the match live over the internet. The stadium also underwent renovations in the summer of 2002. Seven hundred chair-back seats were added to replace the bleachers on the baselines and all five courts were repainted and lined. The 1,000-seat stadium features five oversized hard courts. Two of the courts are named after famous USC alumni and Wimbledon singles champions, Alex Olmedo and Stan Smith. The center court is named for USC's 13 Grand Slam doubles champions Byron Black, Bob Falkenburg, Luke Jensen, Murphy Jensen, Rick Leach, Bob Lutz, Gene Mako, Olmedo, Rafael Osuna, Dennis Ralston, Raul Ramirez, Ted Schroeder and Smith. Underneath the stadium is the Leonard Andrews Varsity Lounge and Team Room, along with two locker rooms. The locker rooms were recently renovated through a gift made by John and Michelle Katnik of Diversified Development. Each locker room features the program's recent conference championship trophies, Hall of Fame walls with past NCAA singles and doubles champions, as well as the men's and women's national championship trophies. At the entrance to the stadium is a list of all 16 of the USC men's national champion years and seven women's tennis national championships, including a newly added 2002 for last year's men's tennis title squad. The stadium was dedicated in 1973 when former Trojan stars Alex Olmedo, Stan Smith, Dennis Ralston and Bob Lutz held a tennis exhibition. The 1974 men's NCAA Tournament was held at Marks Stadium (USC finished second).


Dedeaux Field

Opened on March 30, 1974,
Dedeaux Field Dedeaux Field is a college baseball stadium in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on the west end of the campus of the University of Southern California. The home field of the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference, it has a seating capacity of 2,500 ...
, named after head baseball coach
Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is widely recognized as among the greatest records of any coach in the sport's amateur history. Dedeaux was the head ba ...
, has continually been improved over the years with the grandest project taking place before the 2002 season. A $4 million project signified the largest improvement made to the facility as a new clubhouse and players' lounge were added on the first base side. Expanded offices for the coaching staff and new Hall of Fame were also part of the project, along with a new pavilion. Prior Plaza, named after Jerry and Millie Prior (parents of former Trojan
Mark Prior Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. A onetime top prospect of the Chicago Cubs, he pitched for the team from 2002 to 2006 in a career that was marred by injuries. I ...
), is located on the first base side and features USC's All-Americans and players who have played in the majors. A new bleacher section was added on the first base side, pushing capacity to 2,500 at Dedeaux Field. With dimensions of down the right and left field lines, 365 in the right field power alleys and 375 to the left field power alleys, and 395 to straightaway center, Dedeaux Field is a natural grass field. The outfield fences stand high.


Galen Center

Opened in September 2006, the
Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Ang ...
is the basketball and volleyball facility for the University of Southern California Trojans. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles, it is across the street from the campus and near the Shrine Auditorium. The facility, named after
Louis Galen Louis "Lou" Joseph Galen (April 19, 1925 – November 12, 2007) was an American philanthropist. Before he retired he was a successful banker and CEO of Golden West Financial Corporation. Early life Galen moved to Los Angeles at age 6 with his mo ...
, is , with a pavilion, and has three practice courts and offices. The
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
is 10,258 as well as 22 private suites.


Johnson Family Golf Practice Facility

The Burell C. Johnson Family practice facility is the practice facility for the men's and women's golf teams at USC. Dedicated on November 25, 2000, it is night-lighted and provides the Trojan golf teams with an opportunity to practice their short game with a focus on chipping, putting and bunker play. It is located behind Dedeaux Field on the USC campus.


Lyon Center

The 1,500-seat Lyon Center main gym hosts some USC Trojan intercollegiate events. The Lyon Center is the on-campus student recreation center.


McAlister Field

McAlister Field is a 1,000-seat facility opened in 1998. It is home to the women's soccer team and women's lacrosse team. It is also home to the USC men's and women's club rugby teams.


Merle Norman Stadium

Merle Norman Stadium was dedicated on March 7, 2013. It is the home of the women's
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
team.


USC Boathouse

The USC Boathouse is the off-campus boathouse for the USC crew team. It is located at the Los Angeles Harbor.


USC Physical education building

The USC Physical Education building houses the 1,000-seat North Gym and also campus' first indoor swimming facilities. Until 2006, the men's volleyball and
women's volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
teams used the facility as their home venue. The venue is still used for select volleyball matches. The Trojans basketball and volleyball teams also practiced in the North Gym until 2006.


Uytengsu Aquatics Center

The
Uytengsu Aquatics Center The Uytengsu Aquatics Center (originally the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium) is a 2,500-seat outdoor aquatics venue located on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The facility features two pools: a long course poo ...
(originally the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium) is an outdoor aquatics venue located on the campus of the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
in Los Angeles, US. The facility features two pools: a
long course An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champion ...
pool (50x25 meters), and a diving well (25x25 yards), with towers.McDondald's Olympic Swim Stadium page
of the Los Angeles Sports Council's website (www.lasports.org); retrieved August 24, 2008.
The facility is the home pool for the USC Trojans swimming and diving teams. The facility was originally constructed for the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
, and opened in July 1983. Financial assistance for the construction of the facility came from
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
, and for the first 29 years of its existence, the stadium bore the name McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium. At the time of the '84 Games, it was called the "Olympic Swim Stadium", and was the main
Aquatics Aquatics may refer to: *Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming *Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...
venue at the Games, hosting competitions in
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
,
Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...
, and
Synchronized Swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...
. (Note:
Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
was held at
Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool The Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool is an aquatics venue located on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The pool was constructed in 1975 and dedicated the following year to Raleigh Neal Runnels, the son of Pepperdine Chancell ...
in
Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...
.) For the Games, the facility featured temporary bleacher seating around the two pools, which were removed after the Games. In 1989, the Lyon Center was built on a portion of the land where the Games stands were. The pool has hosted several high-level national meets since 1984, including the 1989 U.S. Swimming Nationals, the Swimming competitions at the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival, and the 1993 U.S. Diving Nationals. It hosted the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship in 2002 and is slated to host again in 2014. It also hosted the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship in 2012. The pool was closed in 2013, was rebuilt, and reopened in 2014 with its current name, an homage to USC alumnus Fred Uytengsu, who donated $8 million for the renovations. The pool is named for former USC swim coach
Peter Daland Peter Daland (April 12, 1921 – October 20, 2014) was an International Swimming Hall of Fame U.S. Olympic and collegiate swim coach from the United States, best-known for coaching the University of Southern California Trojans swim team to nine N ...
, while the diving tower was dedicated to Olympian diver Sammy Lee.


Athletic directors

* Willis O. Hunter (1925–1957) *
Jess Hill Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His ...
(1957–1972) * John McKay (1972–1975) * Dick Perry (1975–1984) * Mike McGee (1984–1993) *
Mike Garrett Michael Lockett Garrett (born April 12, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) with the Kansas City Chiefs and S ...
(1993–2010) *
Pat Haden Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is an American former professional football player and college administrator. He was the athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. ...
(2010–2016) *
Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former professional football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He ...
(2016–2019) * Dave Roberts (interim, 2019) *
Mike Bohn Michael Robert Bohn (born November 16, 1960) is an American sports administrator. He served as the athletic director for the Idaho Vandals, San Diego State Aztecs, Colorado Buffaloes, Cincinnati Bearcats, and USC Trojans. Career Born in Hinsdal ...
(2019–2023) * Jennifer Cohen (2023–present)


Trojan fight songs


''Fight On''

The school's fight song, ''Fight On'' is usually played after first downs and touchdowns. The music for USC's fight song, ''Fight On'', was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet (with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant) as an entry in a Trojan spirit contest. Outside of USC, the song has been used in numerous recordings and movies. The song was also adapted by an American task force in the Pacific theater of World War II.


''All Hail''

The words and music to USC's alma mater, ''All Hail,'' were composed in the early 1920s by Al Wesson, Troy's longtime sports information director. He wrote the song as a student member of the Trojan Marching Band for the finale of a 1923 campus show.


''Conquest''

Another famous USC song is the processional march, ''Conquest'', by
Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...
. It is usually played after every USC victory, and in the case of football, after every score. The battle cry, from Newman's score to the 1947 motion picture ''
Captain from Castile ''Captain from Castile'' is a 1947 American historical adventure film. It was released by 20th Century-Fox. Directed by Henry King, the Technicolor film stars Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, and Cesar Romero. Shot on location in Michoacán, Mexic ...
'', has become synonymous with the tradition of USC since the Trojans adopted it in 1954 during a basketball game against Oregon State. Newman, a composer of film music, was the musical director of Twentieth Century-Fox Studios dedicated this as a perpetual gift to USC.


Other songs

''Tribute To Troy'', the incessant stanza of pounding drums and blaring horns, is played after every defensive stop. ''Fanfare'' is the introduction to ''Tribute To Troy'' and is played when the band takes the field. ''All Right Now'' is played after USC recovers a turnover. ''
Another One Bites the Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album ''The Game (Queen album), The Game'' (1980). It was a worl ...
'' is played after USC gets a sack. The ''
William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he w ...
'' is played at the start of the fourth quarter. '' Imperial March'" (Darth Vader's theme from the ''Star Wars'' films) is played when USC is flagged for a major penalty. ''Tusk'' (by Fleetwood Mac) is also played during the 4th quarter with the fans chanting "U-C-L-A Sucks!" The band plays " Levels" by
Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...
whenever the opposing team is flagged for a major penalty.


Trojans in the Olympics

* From the 1904
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
through the 2014 winter games, 422 Trojan athletes have competed in the Games, taking home 135
gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
, 88
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and 65
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
. * At least one USC Trojan has won a gold medal at every Summer Olympics from 1912 through 2024. * There have been more Trojans in the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
than from any other university in the world â€“ if USC were its own nation in the Olympics, it would rank tied for 8th in the world in total
gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
earned, but only after counting each USC gold-medal winner individually and each country's team medals as a single medal. For instance, USC's three women's water polo 2012 gold medalists count as 3 medals by this method, whereas silver medalist Spain only counts one medal.


See also

* NCAA football bowl records *
2019 college admissions bribery scandal Operation Varsity Blues was the code name for the investigation into the 2019 criminal conspiracy scandal to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. United States federal prosecutors made the invest ...


References


External links

*
Image of young men playing with a large exercise ball at a homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, [1928?
">928?">Image of young men playing with a large exercise ball at a homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, [1928?
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
,
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.
Image of young men playing tug of war at a homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 928?">Image of young men playing tug of war at a homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, [1928?
/nowiki> Los Angeles Times">928?
/nowiki>">928?">Image of young men playing tug of war at a homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, [1928?
/nowiki> Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
,
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
.
Image of young men in homecoming "brawl" at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1928
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
,
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
.
Image of USC's rooting section depicting a shamrock as a show of respect to Notre Dame's Fighting Irish, Los Angeles, 1928.
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
,
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
.
Image of USC's rooting section depicting a Trojan astride a warhorse during halftime of the USC and Notre Dame football game, Los Angeles, 1928.
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
,
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Usc Trojans