USC’s Week 0 win moves the needle in an otherwise quiet Big Ten season start

After only one Big Ten team played on Week 0, USC’s 42-26 victory over San Jose State became the day’s defining standings update.

By The Apex Times Newsroom2 min readAI-assisted Apex article

Week 0 is supposed to be a warmup, but it did real work in the Big Ten’s early standings. In the only conference game day of the opening slate, USC handled San Jose State 42-26, producing the first meaningful movement in how teams will be judged once the season fully settles into conference rhythm.

USC enters the year ranked No. 14 in both the AP Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll, and the Trojans’ result against the Mountain West opponent helped set an immediate tone for what the program is trying to prove in its new, more consequential Big Ten context. Even when non-conference games do not count in the standings, the first week’s performance often shapes internal perceptions of strength, readiness, and momentum.

The practical impact of Week 0 was simple: only one Big Ten team was in action, so the standings changes were tightly concentrated. With limited movement across the conference, USC’s result became the single reference point for fans and evaluators looking at the early picture, especially because later weeks will bring a fuller mix of conference matchups and ripple effects.

USC’s win was not just a headline number. The Trojans scored enough to separate themselves offensively and held up through the late portion of the game to finish with a 16-point margin. A decisive score in an early-season game matters because it reduces the ambiguity that comes with close calls, and it provides a clearer baseline for how a team should stack up when conference games begin to take on greater weight.

What the standings updates do not do is create a complete story. With most Big Ten teams still waiting to play in Week 0, the early table is likely to be misleading if treated like a reliable snapshot of long-term standings quality. The same conference that produced an isolated Week 0 event will quickly erase that narrow view once multiple teams take the field and conference results begin to accumulate.

For USC, the next test is how the program carries this kind of performance into a season where every additional week of conference play has higher stakes. The Trojans will be looking to translate a strong early execution into consistency, because in a crowded Big Ten race, a single non-conference win can open the door, but the conference ledger is what ultimately decides positioning and tiebreaker conversations.

Why It Matters

A decisive early win gives USC an immediate baseline of form at a time when the conference standings are still incomplete.
Because only one team played, Week 0 creates a temporary standings tilt that will be quickly tested once more Big Ten games are completed.
USC’s early ranking, combined with a strong non-conference result, increases scrutiny as the Trojans move deeper into conference play.
Early performance often shapes expectations for consistency in offensive and defensive execution when conference opponents become more familiar.

Sources

Key Facts

Week 0 produced only one Big Ten team in action, making the standings update unusually concentrated.
USC defeated San Jose State 42-26 on Week 0.
USC is ranked No. 14 in both the AP Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll.
The standings movement was tied to USC’s result because most conference teams had not yet played on Week 0.