Among the teams in the 2026 preseason Top 25 US LBM Coaches Poll, none faces more one-way travel than No. 14 USC.
The Trojans will travel an estimated total of 8,144 miles one-way from their L.A. Memorial Coliseum home based on great circle miles, farther than any of the other 24 teams USA TODAY analyzed.
Big Ten and West Coast opponent No. 2 Oregon
is close behind at 7,980 miles, about 164 fewer than USC.
USC’s schedule includes cross-country trips to Rutgers and No. 17 Penn State. The Trojans will also travel twice to the Midwest to play Wisconsin and defending champion No. 6 Indiana.
Oregon’s journeys include a non-conference matchup at Oklahoma State and a trip down to Southern California to face USC. The Ducks will also venture to the Midwest
several times to play at Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State.
In a distant third place is No. 7 Miami. As part of their ACC schedule, the Hurricanes will play at Stanford and have a non-conference tilt at No. 5 Notre Dame.
Conference realignment helps explain why several Big Ten teams face cross-country trips, but geography alone does not determine the ranking.
For instance, No. 19 Washington, which joined the Big Ten with USC and Oregon, travels just an estimated 4,370 miles this season, a total that is less than more centrally located Big Ten foe No. 1 Ohio State and its 4,419 miles.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the seven teams with the shortest travel schedules all play in the SEC. None has a shorter travel schedule than No. 11 Alabama at 1,223 miles. The Crimson Tide’s longest one-way trip is an estimated 374 miles to Kentucky.
No. 3 Georgia also has a short travel total with 1,423 miles, while No. 25 Missouri is the third shortest at 1,763.
Outside of the SEC, No. 22 Iowa has the shortest travel slate at 2,608 miles. The bulk of the Hawkeyes’ travel total is a 1,556-mile trip to play at Washington.
The average travel distance for the Top 25 this season is just under 3,700 miles. No. 9 Oklahoma is closest to the Top 25 average, sitting just above it at 3,708 miles.
The full ranking is below:
Can access the data table? View here.
Methodology: USA TODAY obtained 2026 regular-season schedules from Sports-Reference.com and stadium coordinates from College Football Data. One-way great circle distances were calculated from each team’s home stadium to every road-game venue. For neutral-site games, distance was calculated from each team’s home stadium to the neutral venue. Totals do not represent driving or flight routes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking every preseason college football Top 25 team by travel
