Conference realignment will mean longer trips and greater costs for traveling college football fans
College sports realignment will bring big challenges to fans who travel to see their teams on the road
POND GAP, W.Va. — In seven decades of following West Virginia football, little has gotten in the way when Terry Keenan wants to see his beloved Mountaineers.
Conference realignment promises to be a headache.
College sports and the traveling fan are on course for a big reset in 2024. TV money has lured Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will join the growing Big 12. And Oklahoma and Texas will head to the Southeastern Conference.
Although a few regional rivalries have been created or preserved, longer trips will be the norm.
How long? A trip between Oregon and Rutgers is more than 2,400 air miles, would require a stopover and take at least 7.5 hours if things go perfectly. It’s less for schools like Southern Cal, UCLA or Washington that would have nonstop flights available.
Time will tell whether football fans will embrace this new concept, or whether realignment will put a dagger into the heart of the road warrior for games that aren't marquee matchups. For every chance for a new Big Ten school to play at Ohio State, there will be trips such as Utah playing UCF in Orlando, Florida, or Arizona State traveling to Morgantown, West Virginia.
Keenan isn't thrilled, although he still has a year to figure it out, especially after the conference schedules are announced.
“Just speaking for myself, I don’t know. It’s a bad deal, really,” said Keenan, 74. «We’re on the East Coast and everybody else is in the Midwest or on the West Coast. Probably the majority of the fans won’t be able to do that. It puts a burden on them if they want to see the games in person.”
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