USC's record in Eastern time zone: Inside Trojans' travel trouble before and after joining Big Ten originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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As USC prepares to travel to State College to take on Penn State on Saturday, the Trojans are hoping they continue to buck a recent trend.
Over the past 13 years, USC has struggled to perform well in games that took place in the Eastern Time Zone, which means the team has long travel days in the lead-up to games. In fact, the Trojans had an extensive losing streak in those games before they finally snapped it early in the 2025 season.
Now that USC is in the Big Ten, the team has to play more conference games on the East Coast than ever before. When USC was a member of the Pac-12, the Trojans never had to play conference road games out east and sometimes avoided games on the East Coast entirely depending on their non-conference schedule.
USC may still be acclimating to its new conference, which is why the team has produced better results on the East Coast in the past few years. Still, the team's history on the East Coast has not been great since Pete Carroll left the program.
Here's how USC typically fares in East Coast games.
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USC's record in Eastern time zone
USC is 2-10 in its last 12 games in the Eastern Time Zone dating back to 2012, but they have won their last two games. The Trojans defeated Rutgers in New Jersey earlier this season, while they also beat Purdue in Indiana at the start of the 2025 season.
Most of USC's games on the East Coast in the last 15 years came against their rival Notre Dame, which was especially the case since the team was in the Pac -12. USC has lost its last seven games in South Bend, spanning 14 years, as their last win came in 2011 while their most recent loss came in 2025. Additionally, USC also had a non-conference road game loss to Boston College in 2014.
USC joined the Big Ten in 2024, and in the school's first two years in the conference, they played three conference games on the road in the Eastern Time Zone. In 2024, the Trojans lost to Michigan and Maryland in road games, but their win over the Boilermakers last year was their first win in the Eastern Time Zone since beating Syracuse in 2012.
Prior to USC's nine-game losing streak on the East Coast from 2013-2024, the Trojans actually excelled in cross-country games. Between 2004 and 2012, USC won nine straight games out east, a bunch coming against Notre Dame but some of the wins also came vs. Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Virginia.
That stretch of games does largely coincide with the end of Pete Carroll's run with the program.