Michigan State football's history vs. 4 new Big Ten schools

3. USC Trojans

After reading Michigan State's history between the first two schools listed, you might feel nervous as we move on to USC as they are by far the best program all time of the four new Big Ten schools. However, Michigan State has actually done fairly well against USC all time.

The Spartans and Trojans are locked dead even at four wins a piece in their history. In fact, Michigan State is the only Big Ten school who doesn't have a losing record to USC.

USC won the first meeting in Los Angeles 13-10 back in 1963, but Michigan State returned the favor the following season in 1964 by winning 17-10 in East Lansing. After that the series got a little rough for MSU as the Trojans won the next three matchups, but things didn't stay that way forever.

Michigan State got back on track during the 1987 season as they beat USC not once, but twice during the season. This includes a regular season victory in East Lansing 27-13 then at the end of the season in the Rose Bowl 20-17. Next time you talk to a USC fan you should remind them of this season, I'm sure they look back on it fondly.

Then finally, the most recent matchup took place at the 1990 Sun Bowl that saw MSU extend their winning streak to three after a close 17-16 victory.

34 years seems like too long for these historic programs to not play each other, but thankfully we won't have to wait much longer. Michigan State will travel to USC during the 2025 season, which might just be a fun game to travel to if you're able.