Before the Big Ten’s schedule structure and its 2024 slate of football games were announced on Thursday, many people thought that the Trojans would get multiple annual opponents. Maybe USC was going to play Nebraska every year. Maybe the Trojans were going to play Iowa. More than a few people felt that the teams on the western side of the Big Ten’s geographical footprint would become annual opponents for the Trojans.
Only 11 matchups were protected on a long-term basis beyond the next two years. Every team will play three common opponents in 2024 and 2025, but not in 2026 and 2027. That two-year grid will change the rotations and freshen up the schedule. Only 11 games will annually repeat without interruption.
USC plays Penn State and Wisconsin in both 2024 and 2025, but the Trojans will not play one (maybe both) of those teams in the 2026 and 2027 seasons. USC might play one of the two teams in one of two years, but it won’t play both teams in both 2026 and 2027. That is a guarantee.
The only team USC will play every year in the Big Ten is UCLA.
An obvious question: Why did this happen, especially since Iowa — in contrast to USC — got three annual matchups (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska)?
The answer is not as complicated as it might seem.
USC is a geographical outlier in the new 16-team Big Ten which begins next year. As such, the Big Ten doesn’t want teams from the Midwest to be locked into relentless, unceasing, annual trips to Los Angeles. The Big Ten wants that to be flexible. Forcing Nebraska or Iowa to fly to L.A. every other year would put a travel burden on those schools. Other Big Ten schools would be relieved of that annual burden. That’s the simple reason USC doesn’t have annual, permanent Big Ten games against any school from the Midwest or the East. Just UCLA.
This was a way for the Big Ten to tell its 14 current members, “Playing USC won’t mean endless travel to Los Angeles. We’re going to contain and manage that part of the logistical landscape for you.”
It makes sense. It’s smart. The Big Ten did a really good job here.
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