USC’s cross-country trip to Rutgers revives questions about East Coast struggles

No. 11 Southern California opens Big Ten play this week with the conference's longest road trip, traveling across the country to face Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.

The expanded Big Ten has brought increased travel demands for every member, but no team in the league faces a longer regular-season journey than USC's trek to Rutgers. In fact, the trip is longer than any road game facing the other 24 teams ranked in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25.

The Trojans enter as heavy favorites against the Scarlet Knights, but history suggests the matchup isn't a formality. USC has often struggled in games played in the Eastern time zone, adding another layer of intrigue as the Trojans try to stay unbeaten while navigating the challenges of cross-country travel.

USC will travel 2,769 miles to play Rutgers.

It is the longest possible conference trip as it takes roughly five hours to travel from Los Angeles to New Jersey. It is one of the longest distances a team will travel to play this season, as Miami owns that distinction after it traveled more than 3,000 miles to play at Stanford in California in Week 1.

The Rutgers game is a major reason…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/