The University of Notre Dame will travel to Las Vegas in December 2026 to contest two marquee non‑conference contests against the University of Southern California and the University of South Carolina, as part of the Player’s Era Women’s Showcase.
A New Era of Non‑Conference Rivalries
The games are slated for December 19 and 20, 2026, and will be broadcast on ESPN, giving the Irish a national platform to open their 2026‑27 campaign against a diversified slate that includes opponents from the Big East, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12.
Headlining the Irish will be senior guard Hannah Hidalgo, the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, who will be joined by former teammate KK Bransford now suiting up for the UCLA Bruins, while USC’s sophomore star Juju Watkins, the 2025 Player of the Year, is expected to lead the Trojans.
South Carolina, coached by Dawn Staley, arrives in Las Vegas after a 2023 national runner‑up finish and brings a storied program that has repeatedly challenged Notre Dame, a rivalry that dates back to a 2006 victory for the Trojans and a 2011 neutral‑site meeting in the Bahamas.
The upcoming meetings mark the third consecutive season that Notre Dame and USC will square off and the eleventh overall encounter, a series currently dead‑locked at 3‑3, while the Irish’s schedule also guarantees contests against Big East and Big Ten foes and at least two SEC opponents, underscoring a strategic push to strengthen a non‑conference résumé ahead of the NCAA tournament.