SOUTH BEND, Ind. — One of Notre Dame’s annual football rivalries is making a return to the basketball court, and it is looking like it could be a top-10 matchup.
On Friday, the Irish announced that Notre Dame and USC will meet in Los Angeles on November 23, and a 2025-26 season matchup in South Bend will follow. The Irish are the No. 4 team in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, while the Trojans are No. 2.
There are numerous connections between these rosters. The matchup will pit last year’s rookie phenoms against each other in Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and USC’s JuJu Watkins. Hidalgo ranked sixth nationally with 22.6 points per game (which was also the Notre Dame program record) and led the nation with 4.6 steals per contest, while Watkins was second in scoring with 27.1 points per game.
Both programs also added notable, high-level transfers this offseason. Notre Dame welcomed All-ACC forward Liatu King and All-BIG EAST forward Liza Karlen. King played at Pittsburgh for her first four years, while Karlen was at Marquette. USC added both Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen from Stanford and Oregon State, respectively. Iriafen was the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player last season, and both players were on the All-Pac 12 Team.
Also of note, Notre Dame freshman Kate Koval will get to see her high school teammate and fellow rookie Kayleigh Heckel in Los Angeles. They were both McDonald’s All-Americans last season and five-star recruits according to the 2024 ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
Notre Dame is 8-2 all-time against the Trojans and last saw the program on Nov. 25, 2011 as part of the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. The Irish last visited SC in 2006.
Television details for the game will be released at a later date.