New West Coast Big 10 Fans Have No Idea How to Deal with Michigan

When USC visits Michigan Stadium on September 21 it will make official what has been coming for awhile - the reality of West Coast Big 10 football teams making the cross-country trip for a game. USC/Michigan will be the first game away from the west coast for USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon the Pac-12 defectors.

For fans, many accustomed to making trips up and down the Pacific coast, trips to the midwest are coming as a cluster shock as detailed in a fascinating piece published recently in the Athletic. The article describes the realization that superfans of these west coast schools will likely not be able to travel as easily and carefreely as they once did.

Gone are the days when USC fans could fly up to the Bay Area on Saturday morning for games at Stanford or Cal and potentially fly back that night. The logistics are much different now.

Flights are longer. Destinations are unfamiliar. Fans have to take more time off from work.

One fan profied in the article, a USC superfan known by the nickname USC Psycho, goes to every home and away Trojan game - and has since the 1990s. He is coming to Ann Arbor but has some basic questions.

He took to X to ask where one gets tailgating supplies wondering if Michigan has any store like Smart & Final (whatever that is, asks this Midwestern-based writer). X delivered with plenty of recommendation for Meijer.

The USC Psycho successfully made his trip to Southeast Michigan and was able to sample Detroit-style pizza and tour a Ford factory.

READ MORE: Lost Audio - How Michigan Wolverine Radio Announcers Called the 'Trouble with the Snap' Game

Though Michigan and USC have what feels like some familiarity thanks to common Rose Bowl appearances, it will be the Los Angeles school's first game in Ann Arbor since the late 1950s.

The article was shared on Reddit's College Football forum. Astute users there quickly pointed out that unlike the trip to Michigan Stadium, which would likely be a direct Los Angeles to Detroit flight, other schools will require 2 to 3 legs to a journey. Consider, say, Indiana University in Bloomington which would mean a stop or two just to get to Indianapolis than an hour or more in the car south to campus.

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Other West Coast Big 10 fans have decided that the trip to the Midwest just isn't their thing. One told the Athletic,

Like I have no interest in going to Minnesota.

Ouch. Wait until their team plays in Champaign, West Lafayette, Lincoln or Iowa City. At least the Gophers are in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

So, it's a brave new world for West Coasters getting acclimated to their new Midwest rivals.