No. 4 – Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The distance to Piscataway, New Jersey, from the USC campus, is 2,788 miles. It would take Trojans fans one day and 14 hours to reach the Rutgers campus by car without stopping. Thankfully, USC football will travel to away games in New Jersey by plane.
Still, coast-to-coast travel to play a Big Ten bottom-dweller is not ideal.
Rutgers remains the program many Big Ten football fans scratch their heads about. We know the conference was antsy to get a footing in the New York market and added Rutgers during the 2014 expansion. However, the program has not been successful, and we question how many New Yorkers care about a college football team located in northern New Jersey.
The Scarlet Knights have only accomplished two winning seasons since joining the Big Ten, including their 7-6 finish to 2023. Their college basketball and baseball programs are virtually unnoticeable. And much like Maryland, we don’t think the revenue juice is worth the squeeze.
Rutgers will make the long flight to play USC for a Friday night game on October 25th. The Trojans will not have to play a game in New Jersey until the 2026 regular season.
Travel considerations aside, we’re moving on to other three teams we think USC would kick out of the Big Ten, if given a choice.