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Michigan State vs USC Timeline

Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Michigan State and USC.

PROGRAM ONEMichigan State4 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD4–5WINS · LOSSES
PROGRAM TWOUSC5 recorded wins
9Recorded meetings
1963Earliest documented
2025Most recent season
0Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME

Head-to-head timeline

Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.

9 games
  1. 1963
    Michigan State10 — 13USC
    Oct 4, 1963USC won
  2. 1964
    Michigan State17 — 7USC
    Oct 3, 1964Michigan State won
  3. 1967
    Michigan State17 — 21USC
    Sep 30, 1967USC won
  4. 1972
    Michigan State6 — 51USC
    Sep 30, 1972USC won
  5. 1978
    Michigan State9 — 30USC
    Sep 29, 1978USC won
  6. 1987
    Michigan State27 — 13USC
    Sep 7, 1987Michigan State won
  7. 1987
    Michigan State20 — 17USC
    Jan 1, 1988Michigan State won
  8. 1990
    Michigan State17 — 16USC
    Dec 31, 1990Michigan State won
  9. 2025
    Michigan State31 — 45USC
    Sep 21, 2025USC wonLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK

All recorded results

The latest documented meeting appears first.

SeasonMatchupScoreOutcome
2025Michigan State vs USC31–45USC won
1990Michigan State vs USC17–16Michigan State won
1987Michigan State vs USC20–17Michigan State won
1987Michigan State vs USC27–13Michigan State won
1978Michigan State vs USC9–30USC won
1972Michigan State vs USC6–51USC won
1967Michigan State vs USC17–21USC won
1964Michigan State vs USC17–7Michigan State won
1963Michigan State vs USC10–13USC won
OUR DATA STANDARD

Sources and historical coverage

These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.

Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.