Northwestern and USC On Verge To Become the Next Big Rivalry

The Northwestern Wildcats and USC Trojans don’t usually have much history when it comes to basketball. They have met only four times since 1999.

The Wildcats have won 3 of those 4 meetings, including the latest, a 74-68 win on Wednesday night. In the last three meetings, both teams have played hard, and it’s been a close game. The only lopsided game was the first one, which the Trojans won 85-44 in Los Angeles in 1999.

If the Wildcats and Trojans can play at least once or twice each season, we believe this could be a fierce rivalry. There’s a chance we could see many more epic battles between the two programs in the long run. USC recently joined the Big Ten to increase the rivalry.

The 2025-26 season is the beginning of a taste of what’s to come between both programs. The rivalry will improve if both teams improve at recruiting top-tier players out of high school or through the transfer portal. The Trojans could use more Evan Monley- or Demar DeRozan-caliber players to join their program in the future.

As for the Wildcats, we need to see more of Bryant McIntosh and Evan Eschmeyer going forward to make this rivalry more competitive, with both teams having good Big Ten records. Rivalries are ten times better when both teams are great and even with each other. A rivalry is not as good when it’s only one team dominating all the time.

The Wildcats have won three in a row. The Trojans are looking to even the score when they meet again. The current head-to-head matchup features forwards Nick Martinelli of Northwestern and Ezra Ausar of USC. Ausar is averaging 16 points per game on 60 percent shooting. Martinelli is averaging 23 points per game with six boards and 56 percent from the field.

Martenelli and Ausar have the potential to be great head-to-head opponents at the forward position, but both are seniors. If they were first- or second-year students, then it would make it more compelling to go head-to-head every year. However, it’s complicated because student-athletes rarely stay in school for the full four years.

Although both players will soon be heading out the door and move on to the next chapter of their careers, we will see fresh new faces coming into the Northwestern and USC programs, and hopefully give the fans a fascinating 2026-27 season with thrilling finishes.

More from Northwestern On SI

Stay up to date on the Wildcats by bookmarking Northwestern On SIand follow us on Twitter.