This is a list of seasons completed by the USC Trojans college football team since its conception in 1888.
| National Champions † | Conference Champions * |
| Season | Conference | Conference Results | Overall Results | Bowl Game | Final Ranking | Head Coach | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Finish | W | L | T | AP | Coaches' | ||||
| Southern California Methodists / Wesleyans | ||||||||||||
| 1888 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Henry H. Goddard, Frank Suffel | |
| 1889 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1890 | No Team | |||||||||||
| 1891 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1892 | No Team | |||||||||||
| 1893 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1894 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1895 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1896 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 0 | 3 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1897 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Lewis R. Freeman | |
| 1898 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1899 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 1 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1900 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1901 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Clair Tappaan | |
| 1902 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 0 | N/A | N/A | No coach | |
| 1903 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 4 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | John Walker | |
| 1904 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Harvey Holmes | |
| 1905 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 6 | 3 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1906 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1907 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1908 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | Bill Traeger | |
| 1909 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 2 | N/A | N/A | Dean Cromwell | |
| 1910 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1911 | No Team – Rugby | |||||||||||
| 1912 | ||||||||||||
| 1913 | ||||||||||||
| Southern California Trojans | ||||||||||||
| 1914 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 4 | 3 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Ralph Glaze | |
| 1915 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 3 | 4 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1916 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 5 | 3 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Dean Cromwell | |
| 1917 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 4 | 2 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1918 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1919 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Gus Henderson | |
| 1920 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1921 | Independent | — | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1922 | Pacific Coast | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4th | 10 | 1 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Penn State 14–3 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1923 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 2 | 0 | T-3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1924 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 1 | 0 | T-4th | 9 | 2 | 0 | Won Christmas Festival against Missouri 20–7 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1925 | Pacific Coast | 3 | 2 | 0 | T-3rd | 11 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | Howard Jones | |
| 1926 | Pacific Coast | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1927* | Pacific Coast | 4 | 0 | 1 | T-1st | 8 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1928*† | Pacific Coast | 4 | 0 | 1 | T-1st | 9 | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1929* | Pacific Coast | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 2 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Pittsburgh 47–14 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1930 | Pacific Coast | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1931*† | Pacific Coast | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 1 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Tulane 21–12 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1932*† | Pacific Coast | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 0 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Pittsburgh 35–0 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1933 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3rd | 10 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1934 | Pacific Coast | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7th | 4 | 6 | 1 | N/A | |||
| 1935 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8th | 5 | 7 | 0 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1936 | Pacific Coast | 3 | 2 | 2 | T-3rd | 4 | 2 | 3 | N/A | |||
| 1937 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7th | 4 | 4 | 2 | N/A | |||
| 1938* | Pacific Coast | 6 | 1 | 0 | T-1st | 9 | 2 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Duke 7–3 | #7 | N/A | |
| 1939*† | Pacific Coast | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 2 | Won Rose Bowl against Tennessee 14–0 | #3 | N/A | |
| 1940 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7th | 3 | 4 | 2 | N/A | |||
| 1941 | Pacific Coast | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8th | 2 | 6 | 1 | N/A | Sam Barry | ||
| 1942 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 5 | 1 | N/A | Jeff Cravath | ||
| 1943* | Pacific Coast | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 2 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Washington 29–0 | N/A | ||
| 1944* | Pacific Coast | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 2 | Won Rose Bowl against Tennessee 25–0 | #7 | N/A | |
| 1945* | Pacific Coast | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 4 | 0 | Lost Rose Bowl against Alabama 14–34 | #11 | N/A | |
| 1946 | Pacific Coast | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 6 | 4 | 0 | N/A | |||
| 1947* | Pacific Coast | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 2 | 1 | Lost Rose Bowl against Michigan 0–49 | #8 | N/A | |
| 1948 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | N/A | |||
| 1949 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 0 | T-3rd | 5 | 3 | 1 | N/A | |||
| 1950 | Pacific Coast | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7th | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||||
| 1951 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4th | 7 | 3 | 0 | Jess Hill | |||
| 1952* | Pacific Coast | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 1 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Wisconsin 7–0 | #5 | #4 | |
| 1953 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 1954 | Pacific Coast | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 4 | 0 | Lost Rose Bowl against Ohio State 7–20 | #17 | #11 | |
| 1955 | Pacific Coast | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6th | 6 | 4 | 0 | #13 | #12 | ||
| 1956 | Pacific Coast | 5 | 2 | 0 | T-2nd | 3 | 3 | 0 | #18 | #15 | ||
| 1957 | Pacific Coast | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 1 | 9 | 0 | Don Clark | |||
| 1958 | Pacific Coast | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | 4 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| 1959* | AAWU | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 2 | 0 | #14 | #13 | ||
| 1960 | AAWU | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 4 | 6 | 0 | John McKay | |||
| 1961 | AAWU | 2 | 1 | 1 | T-2nd | 4 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| 1962*† | AAWU | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 11 | 0 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Wisconsin 42–37 | #1 | #1 | |
| 1963 | AAWU | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 3 | 0 | #16 | |||
| 1964* | AAWU | 3 | 1 | 0 | T-1st | 7 | 3 | 0 | #10 | #10 | ||
| 1965 | AAWU | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 2 | 1 | #10 | #9 | ||
| 1966* | AAWU | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 4 | Lost Rose Bowl against Purdue 13–14 | #18 | |||
| 1967*† | AAWU | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 1 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Indiana 14–3 | #1 | #1 | |
| 1968* | Pacific-8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1st | 9 | 1 | 1 | Lost Rose Bowl against Ohio State 16–27 | #4 | #2 | |
| 1969* | Pacific-8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 0 | 1 | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 10–3 | #3 | #4 | |
| 1970 | Pacific-8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | T-6th | 6 | 4 | 1 | #15 | #19 | ||
| 1971 | Pacific-8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | #20 | |||
| 1972*† | Pacific-8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 12 | 0 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Ohio State 42–17 | #1 | #1 | |
| 1973* | Pacific-8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 9 | 1 | 1 | Lost Rose Bowl against Ohio State 21–42 | #8 | #7 | |
| 1974*† | Pacific-8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1st | 10 | 1 | 1 | Won Rose Bowl against Ohio State 18–17 | #2 | #1 | |
| 1975 | Pacific-8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 8 | 4 | 0 | Won Liberty Bowl against Texas A&M 20–0 | #17 | #19 | |
| 1976* | Pacific-8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 0 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 14–6 | #2 | #2 | John Robinson |
| 1977 | Pacific-8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | T-2nd | 8 | 4 | 0 | Won Bluebonnet Bowl against Texas A&M 47–28 | #13 | #12 | |
| 1978*† | Pacific-10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 12 | 1 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 17–10 | #2 | #1 | |
| 1979* | Pacific-10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1st | 11 | 0 | 1 | Won Rose Bowl against Ohio State 17–16 | #2 | #2 | |
| 1980 | Pacific-10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | 8 | 2 | 1 | None due to Pac-10 sanctions | #11 | #12 | |
| 1981 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | T-2nd | 9 | 3 | 0 | Lost Fiesta Bowl against Penn State 10–26 | #14 | #13 | |
| 1982 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | T-3rd | 8 | 3 | 0 | #15 | |||
| 1983 | Pacific-10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4th | 4 | 6 | 1 | Ted Tollner | |||
| 1984* | Pacific-10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 9 | 3 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Ohio State 20–17 | #10 | #9 | |
| 1985 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | T-4th | 6 | 6 | 0 | Lost Aloha Bowl against Alabama 3–24 | |||
| 1986 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | T-4th | 7 | 5 | 0 | Lost Citrus Bowl against Auburn 7–16 | |||
| 1987* | Pacific-10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | T-1st | 8 | 4 | 0 | Lost Rose Bowl against Michigan State 17–20 | #18 | #17 | Larry Smith |
| 1988* | Pacific-10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 10 | 2 | 0 | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 14–22 | #7 | #9 | |
| 1989* | Pacific-10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1st | 9 | 2 | 1 | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 17–10 | #8 | #9 | |
| 1990 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 8 | 4 | 1 | Lost John Hancock Bowl against Michigan State 16–17 | #20 | #22 | |
| 1991 | Pacific-10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8th | 3 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 1992 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | T-3rd | 6 | 5 | 1 | Lost Freedom Bowl against Fresno State 7–24 | |||
| 1993* | Pacific-10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | T-1st | 8 | 5 | 0 | Won Freedom Bowl against Utah 28–21 | #25 | John Robinson | |
| 1994 | Pacific-10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | T-2nd | 8 | 3 | 1 | Won Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech 55–14 | #13 | #15 | |
| 1995* | Pacific-10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | T-1st | 9 | 2 | 1 | Won Rose Bowl against Northwestern 41–32 | #12 | #11 | |
| 1996 | Pacific-10 | 3 | 5 | — | T-5th | 6 | 6 | —[1] | ||||
| 1997 | Pacific-10 | 4 | 4 | — | T-5th | 6 | 5 | — | ||||
| 1998 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 3 | — | T-3rd | 8 | 5 | — | Lost Sun Bowl against TCU 19–28 | Paul Hackett | ||
| 1999 | Pacific-10 | 3 | 5 | — | T-6th | 6 | 6 | — | ||||
| 2000 | Pacific-10 | 2 | 6 | — | T-8th | 5 | 7 | — | ||||
| 2001 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 3 | — | 5th | 6 | 6 | — | Lost Las Vegas Bowl against Utah 6–10 | Pete Carroll | ||
| 2002* | Pacific-10 | 7 | 1 | — | T-1st | 11 | 2 | — | Won Orange Bowl against Iowa 38–17 | #4 | #4 | |
| 2003*† | Pacific-10 | 7 | 1 | — | 1st | 12 | 1 | — | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 28–14 | #1 | #2 | |
| 2004*†‡ | Pacific-10 | 7 | 0 | — | 1st | 11 | 0 | — | Vacated Win Orange Bowl against Oklahoma 55–19 | #1 | #1 | |
| 2005*‡ | Pacific-10 | 0 | 0 | — | 1st | 12 | 1 | — | Lost Rose Bowl against Texas 38–41 | #2 | #2 | |
| 2006* | Pacific-10 | 7 | 2 | — | T-1st | 11 | 2 | — | Won Rose Bowl against Michigan 32–18 | #4 | #4 | |
| 2007* | Pacific-10 | 7 | 2 | — | T-1st | 11 | 2 | — | Won Rose Bowl against Illinois 49–17 | #3 | #2 | |
| 2008* | Pacific-10 | 8 | 1 | — | 1st | 12 | 1 | — | Won Rose Bowl against Penn State 38–24 | #3 | #2 | |
| 2009 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 4 | — | T-5th | 9 | 4 | — | Won Emerald Bowl against Boston College 24–13 | #22 | #20 | |
| 2010 | Pacific-10 | 5 | 4 | — | T-3rd | 8 | 5 | — | None due to NCAA sanctions | Lane Kiffin | ||
| 2011 | Pacific-12 | 7 | 2 | — | 3rd | 10 | 2 | — | None due to NCAA sanctions | TBD | ||
‡ 2 wins in 2004 and 12 wins in 2005 were vacated due to NCAA sanctions
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