August 25, 2008

Road Warriors: How far will teams travel in 2008?

Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan pulled out his handy-dandy schedule guide and got onto Mapquest.com to see which college football teams travel the most for the 2008 season. The results are probably not that shocking (does it ruin it if I say #1 is from the WAC?) but there are some surprises when you go through the list.

Surprise #1? Ten of the top 14 travel distances belong to BCS teams.
Surprise #2? Nineteen of the bottom 22 are BCS teams.

Note: These are DRIVING DISTANCES, so Hawaii is not included.
Note: Because there is no bridge to Hawaii. Seriously.

Which college football teams travel the most miles for games in 2008?

1. Fresno State 18,190 miles
2. UTEP 15,016
3. Florida International 14,692
4. Florida Atlantic 14,534
5. Louisiana Tech 13,648
6. Notre Dame 13,348
7. Oregon State 13,278
8. San Diego State 13,134
9. Stanford 12,984
10. Idaho 12,798

Again, no big surprise that the most geographically diverse conferences are leading the top spots. After all, the longest roundtrip for a WAC conference game is 4,348 miles. (Idaho at Louisiana Tech)

The one standout is Notre Dame. The Irish go from sea to shining sea with games at Washington, at Boston College, and at USC.

I know what you're thinking and the answer is YES - college football players can accrue frequent flier miles for their travel. (NCAA Bylaws § 16.12.1.11(b))

Which college football teams travel the fewest miles for games in 2008?

110. Virginia 3,060 miles
111. Nebraska 3,050
112. Mississippi State 3,036
113. Indiana 3,018
114. Duke 2,922
115. Miami (Ohio) 2,874
116. Central Michigan 2,599
117. Ball State 2,464
118. Purdue 2,280
119. N.C. State 1,734

Again, it's not that shocking that the least geographically diverse conferences primarily make up the bottom of the list. The Pack play two games (@ UNC and @ Duke) where the total roundtrip is less than 100 miles... combined! I don't know that it's right to "criticize" the Wolfpack for After all, NC State was ranked as the #60 most difficult pre-season schedule. The fact that they never cross more than one state line when traveling... bonus.

Which BCS teams lead their conference in miles traveled for games in 2008?

Pac10 - Oregon State (7th) 13,278
ACC - Miami (21st) 9,952
Big XII - Colorado (22nd) 9,166
Big East - South Florida (42nd) 7,462
Big 10 - Ohio State (46th) 7,364
SEC - Georgia (47th) 7,264

Check out the whole thing over at Rivals. There's some interesting details on the longest & shortest road trips as well as the complete list of how many miles each team travels this year.

Posted by Kevin Donahue

Comments:

Road Warriors: How far will teams travel in 2008?
Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan pulled out his handy-dandy schedule guide and got onto Mapquest.com to see which college football teams travel the most for the 2008 season. The results are probably not that shocking (does it ruin it if I say #1 is from the WAC?) but there are some surprises when you go through the list. Surprise #1? Ten of the top 14 travel distances belong to BCS teams. Surprise #2? Nineteen of the bottom 22 are BCS teams. Note: These are DRIVING DISTANCES, so Hawaii is not included.
Note: Because there is no bridge to Hawaii. Seriously.

Which college football teams travel the most miles for games in 2008?

1. Fresno State 18,190 miles
2. UTEP 15,016
3. Florida International 14,692
4. Florida Atlantic 14,534
5. Louisiana Tech 13,648
6. Notre Dame 13,348
7. Oregon State 13,278
8. San Diego State 13,134
9. Stanford 12,984
10. Idaho 12,798 Again, no big surprise that the most geographically diverse conferences are leading the top spots. After all, the longest roundtrip for a WAC conference game is 4,348 miles. (Idaho at Louisiana Tech) The one standout is Notre Dame. The Irish go from sea to shining sea with games at Washington, at Boston College, and at USC. I know what you're thinking and the answer is YES - college football players can accrue frequent flier miles for their travel. (NCAA Bylaws § 16.12.1.11(b))

Which college football teams travel the fewest miles for games in 2008?

110. Virginia 3,060 miles 111. Nebraska 3,050 112. Mississippi State 3,036 113. Indiana 3,018 114. Duke 2,922 115. Miami (Ohio) 2,874 116. Central Michigan 2,599 117. Ball State 2,464 118. Purdue 2,280 119. N.C. State 1,734 Again, it's not that shocking that the least geographically diverse conferences primarily make up the bottom of the list. The Pack play two games (@ UNC and @ Duke) where the total roundtrip is less than 100 miles... combined! I don't know that it's right to "criticize" the Wolfpack for After all, NC State was ranked as the #60 most difficult pre-season schedule. The fact that they never cross more than one state line when traveling... bonus.

Which BCS teams lead their conference in miles traveled for games in 2008?

Pac10 - Oregon State (7th) 13,278 ACC - Miami (21st) 9,952 Big XII - Colorado (22nd) 9,166 Big East - South Florida (42nd) 7,462 Big 10 - Ohio State (46th) 7,364 SEC - Georgia (47th) 7,264 Check out the whole thing over at Rivals. There's some interesting details on the longest & shortest road trips as well as the complete list of how many miles each team travels this year.