So I guess yesterday Hawaii announced they will be a full time MWC member in 2026. So the MWC doesn't need another team as they now have the 8 minimum. Pac still needs that final 8th team.
Interesting article about how tough the travel has been for former Pac teams; https://www.si.com/college/arizonas...for-former-pac-12-football-teams-01ja5rrzsqaz "Then there's Cal (3-3) and Stanford (2-4), who are navigating through hellish travel schedules in the ACC. The two football programs will combine to log over 34,000 air miles this season as they crisscross the country from the Bay Area to upstate New York and multiple points in between." Maybe Cal/Stanford will be more open to rejoining the Pac after the toll of this years travel.
I think some of this 'travel' stuff is exaggerated. Yes, the time zone shifts can be a little heavier on the body. But jet lag when you're 20 isn't the same as jet lag when you're 60 so anyway, a road trip for a team consists of: * packing and preparing for the trip * traveling to the departure airport * negotiating the departure airport * the flight to the destination * negotiating the arrival airport and traveling to the hotel * arranging for meals * traveling from the hotel to the venue * playing the game * traveling from the venue back to the airport and reversing the process all of those steps will be the same whether the travel is to Colorado or Ohio; Arizona or Florida; Utah or Michigan. The only substantial difference is time spent on the plane; and really, how much more stress and hassle is involved in a 4 hour flight vs a 7 hour flight? now, the expense factor is real. The Oregon AD estimates that the UofO will spend about 4M more for travel costs in the Big-10 than the Pac-12. I'm guessing Cal & Stanford will spend more than that. But the media money flowing out of the Big-10 and the ACC will more than offset the extra travel costs.
I don't think there were many 4 hour flights in the Pac12. You can think its all exaggerated as much as you want - the extra travel is certainly something. As the article says 20 year olds don't normally get the extra rest they need so the jet lag may be MORE difficult for them than an older adult - not less. I never thought the football travel was a huge issue, its only a couple extra long games per year, and these teams get the hometown benefit of visiting teams having long flights coming to play them. This article made me question if maybe I underestimated some of that difficulty though. We'll see in the months and years ahead. It always seemed kind of insane to me the conference changes were for ALL sports instead of the single sport in Football that TV revenue led to the change. Other sports will play way more than 3-4 long distant road games a year. I could see basketball or some other sports having a star recruit prefer a different school with less travel.
No that’s not really accurate. Traveling to Arizona is much easier than Florida on you. Doesn’t matter if you are only 20. Anyone who travels a lot will tell you this.
I would think it's especially difficult if you are a full time college student which is presumably what these guys are.
100%. I was roommates with someone on the basketball team. He complained about flying to Arizona. College isn't easy for everyone.
It’s not just one way either. Then you have delays at times. If the fight is 4 hours longer you lose 8 hours. Now the Pros have some better fights/Seats but at the college level it isn’t that way. Another thing is these guys usually aren’t small.
Those are all some good points. Its one thing to take flights on private planes as the pro teams with personal transportation right to the hanger. Pretty different to be stuck on the middle seat of a united flight in coach after you had to go through a big crowd in security, then when your finally done go wait for your luggage.
I'm not disputing that the impact of travel will be greater. I said as much what I am also saying is that a lot of the 'work' of traveling is from the time you leave your home until you walk on the plane. And from the time you walk off the plane and arive at your destination. Then reversing those factor on the return. Those impacts don't really change according to destination now, for basketball and the other Olympic sports, it might be more. Here is Oregon men's BB Big-10 schedule: consecutive games at Minny and UCLA are strange, but 5 days between them
If travel isn't an issue, then why do NFL teams have these same problems, especially going west to east? I'll never shed a tear for uw but them playing at 9am against Iowa is a set up through and through (as awesome as it was to see those pukes get roasted by a team with little to no offense). This is only after 1/2 of one football season, imagine what the other sports are going to be saying when this is done and it's not going to be any better down the road.
I’m sitting here waiting on a flight as I type this. Anyone who thinks travel doesn’t impact the people traveling isn’t paying attention. The further and more you travel the more it impacts your situation.
I traveled 6 time zones throughout my working years and going east a couple times zones with a 9am game will be an adjustment. Youngsters like to stay up late and thats easy todo going east, but could have issues getting up a couple hours earlier. After a couple days it's not that big a deal but if Oregon travels the day before and has a 9am start the next morning? it will be a factor, imo.
So for us or somebody it would be 9am 3 hours after the sunset, then dark the entire day until you go to bed.
Timberwolves will travel more than any other NBA team ...Sports Illustratedhttps://www.si.com › ... › Minnesota Timberwolves News
I wonder what is harder - 41 travels per season on a luxury private jet or a half dozen as college football does on coach seats in a crowded public plane? I'd tend to think college is much harder, but I'd imagine if you have young kids/family the 41 could actually be pretty difficult.
