Travel Ball. With reorganization of collegiate conferences, former Pac12 schools triple down on travel
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
Not Pac 12-related, but I was in Champaign for the Illini vs Kansas game, and my dad that likes to dote on things pointed out that aside from their rivalry game at Kansas State, we were the closest road game for the Jayhawks this season (430ish miles), with their in-confence road opponents being West Virginia (900ish miles), Arizona State (1160ish miles), BYU (1050ish miles), and Baylor (600ish miles).
Definitely feel for teams that have to deal with travel schedules like that. Going to get even more burdonsome once the vultures go after the ACC.
Definitely feel for teams that have to deal with travel schedules like that. Going to get even more burdonsome once the vultures go after the ACC.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
As an alumni of one of the more isolated D1 programs (Montana), the thought of some of the travel involved in these new coast-to-coast conferences is absurd. It's one thing for the football programs, who will only have to travel a handful of times a year and be profitable in doing so, but the other sports? There will be ramifications. If I were a student-athlete of a non-revenue sport I really don't think Cal's schedule would hold much appeal, and that's as someone who loves traveling.
The difference between a couple hours of travel and half a day of travel is enormous, and that's going to be the new normal up and down those athletic programs. I'd have to imagine some student-athletes aren't going to be able to handle it without missing a beat. For academically-driven schools, this isn't the kind of thing that's going to do great things for student-athlete grades.
Just glancing over the women's soccer schedule and the travel aspect really plays out there. The non-conference schedule is pretty standard. Hosting a tournament with a mix of programs (Iowa, Oregon State, & Colorado College), your Washington States, Wyomings, Fresno States, one random midwestern program visiting, and hosting one of the smaller NAIA Montana schools. Furthest distance traveled by the Griz there is @ Air Force, a little less than 1,000 by road. Furthest distance traveled by anyone on that schedule is IU Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI) flying ~1,700 miles for one game. Now picture Cal traveling to Miami for a single conference game in a non-revenue sport. That's 3,000+ miles and at least half a week by bus, so that's a definite flight. Nearest airport to Berkeley is Oakland, which doesn't have any direct flights to Miami so you're chartering a plane 2,600 miles each way. That's a hell of a lot more expensive than taking the bus to Pullman. Better hope the football money is as plentiful as hoped because it will need to be able to float the non-revenue sports on an entirely new level than before.
As someone who grew up a Penn State fan in Pittsburgh and was never able to convince his parents to make the drive to State College for a game, I've always dreamed of seeing Penn State play in the Rose Bowl. A regular season conference game isn't the way I pictured it happening, but it's hard for me to pretend that I'm not excited about Penn State being brought some 2,500+ miles to my backyard. That's a hell of a lot easier to do in a market like Los Angeles than it'll be in State College or Iowa City or any of those cities chosen because of being in the geographical middle of a state like pretty much every long-term Big Ten member is.
The difference between a couple hours of travel and half a day of travel is enormous, and that's going to be the new normal up and down those athletic programs. I'd have to imagine some student-athletes aren't going to be able to handle it without missing a beat. For academically-driven schools, this isn't the kind of thing that's going to do great things for student-athlete grades.
Just glancing over the women's soccer schedule and the travel aspect really plays out there. The non-conference schedule is pretty standard. Hosting a tournament with a mix of programs (Iowa, Oregon State, & Colorado College), your Washington States, Wyomings, Fresno States, one random midwestern program visiting, and hosting one of the smaller NAIA Montana schools. Furthest distance traveled by the Griz there is @ Air Force, a little less than 1,000 by road. Furthest distance traveled by anyone on that schedule is IU Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI) flying ~1,700 miles for one game. Now picture Cal traveling to Miami for a single conference game in a non-revenue sport. That's 3,000+ miles and at least half a week by bus, so that's a definite flight. Nearest airport to Berkeley is Oakland, which doesn't have any direct flights to Miami so you're chartering a plane 2,600 miles each way. That's a hell of a lot more expensive than taking the bus to Pullman. Better hope the football money is as plentiful as hoped because it will need to be able to float the non-revenue sports on an entirely new level than before.
As someone who grew up a Penn State fan in Pittsburgh and was never able to convince his parents to make the drive to State College for a game, I've always dreamed of seeing Penn State play in the Rose Bowl. A regular season conference game isn't the way I pictured it happening, but it's hard for me to pretend that I'm not excited about Penn State being brought some 2,500+ miles to my backyard. That's a hell of a lot easier to do in a market like Los Angeles than it'll be in State College or Iowa City or any of those cities chosen because of being in the geographical middle of a state like pretty much every long-term Big Ten member is.
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