USC Trojans' Eric Musselman Reveals Frustrations Over Big Ten Road Schedule

The USC Trojans return back to Los Angeles on a three-game losing streak that featured back-to-back losses on the road at the Maryland Terrapins and Rutgers Scarlet Knights. USC coach Eric Musselman spoke after their loss to Rutgers about his displeasure with the Trojans' schedule.

Feb 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

When the USC Trojans joined the Big Ten conference after spending years in the Pac-12, one of the first questions that came into mind was how were the Trojans going to handle the travel. Being on the road is tough to begin with. Throw in the fact that USC travels thousands of miles for conference games with some weeks having multiple road games, it begins to add up. Schools like Rutgers, Maryland, and Ohio State are thousands of miles apart from USC.

USC coach Eric Musselman made his thoughts and feelings on the Trojans' long road trips clear after their loss to Rutgers on Feb. 23. After USC's 95-85 loss to the Scarlet Knights, Musselman went into a tirade about the effect the long travel days have on the program and on the former Pac-12 schools that are now in the Big Ten.

Feb 23, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; USC Trojans guard Wesley Yates III (6) during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

"UCLA, Washington, Oregon, USC, we're in the hole two to four games based on travel," Musselman said. "It's going to be that forever for men's basketball. . . and unless you're doing it or have done it in the past, which no one has done it unless you've been in the NBA, and when you travel three time zones and you're out here for six days."

Mussleman was particularly upset that the Trojans played so late with tipoff being at 6 p.m. on a Sunday night, meaning that USC gets back into Los Angeles well after midnight.

"We're going to get back, roughly, at 3:00 a.m. Then we're going to bus. And then they're going to go to class at 8:00. You're not going to be in your bed even to try to attempt to sleep until 4:00 a.m., and then you have a class in four hours, which means you gotta get up, you gotta shower, you gotta get to class," Musselman said.

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The Trojans will host Ohio State on Wednesday, Feb. 26 as the Buckeyes venture west for the first time this season to take on the Bruins and Trojans in a road trip similar to the ones USC just came off of. Musselman pointed out that the Buckeyes got a surprisingly early Sunday tip off of 12:45 in the afternoon.

Jan 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts against the UCLA Bruins at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Ohio State's in Los Angeles and has been there for two days, and they played several hours before us, but yet we're the team that has to travel cross-country and then our body clocks have to re-adjust. Is that why we lost tonight? No. I'm more worried about the travel affecting our game against Ohio State," Musselman said.

USC aims to break their three-game skid vs. the Buckeyes with the game being broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

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