The recent Big Ten expansion, bringing in West Coast powerhouses like USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington, has thrown a curveball into the travel game for all the teams in 2025. Imagine racking up serious air miles just to play conference games. It’s a whole new ball game, literally, with teams crisscrossing the country, facing time zone changes, and the sheer fatigue that comes with being on the road so much. But according to the ESPN journalist, it’s about time to stop whining about it, especially in the NIL era.
The teams feeling this the most are, no surprise, the new West Coast additions. Oregon, for example, is basically living out of a suitcase, leading the pack in miles traveled in the Big Ten with a whopping 16,744 miles planned for the season. Their longest haul is a trek to Rutgers, which is like, half a country away. Even teams like UCLA have to travel 15,251 miles, USC? 14,595 miles. And Washington with 14,086 miles. These long trips and crossing multiple time zones can really mess with a team’s rhythm, affecting everything from practice to player performance and sleep schedules.
On October 7th, ESPN’s College football analyst Kris Budden hopped onto ‘Sirius XM College Sports Radio’ and decided to go off against the Big 10 coaches who complaints about the Big Ten travel schedule: “If I don’t get this off my chest, I’m going to run myself through a window, and I will run myself through a window if I hear one more big 10 coach, blame it on the freaking travel. I cannot, and it’s not even about you accepting the money to be a part of this Super League. These are professional athletes. Now call them what they are.” Budden made it pretty clear that she’s tired of hearing this excuse.
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She argued that college football players today are essentially professional athletes, especially in the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) era, where they can earn significant money for just being on the squad. Budden also pointed out that teams travel on chartered planes and that the top athletes usually sit in first-class or lie-flat seats, similar to professional players in the NFL or NBA. Because of these conditions, she believes travel should not be used as an excuse for losing games.
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Coaches like Matt Rhule acknowledge the issue — he knows it’s part of the game. Meanwhile, coaches like Lincoln Riley see it as a logistical problem. Penn State’s James Franklin blamed their loss on excessive travel. Even Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks threw shade at the Big Ten with bold words: ‘It’s almost like they didn’t want us in the Big Ten, or something, right? We snuck our way in, didn’t we?’ Lanning also pointed out that Oregon will face seven opponents this season who will have more prep time than the Ducks.
Kris Budden justified her take with, “Baseball players at the next level do it every single day, basketball players, football players. This is beyond the ability to me to comprehend anymore. You complaining about the travel. It was one thing before they got paid. Now you’re getting paid more than 90% of the population. It is part of the job.” Budden’s central theme message is that traveling long distances is simply part of the job in modern college football, and teams need to adapt instead of complaining.
The Big Ten tried to lessen the pain a bit by scheduling home games or bye weeks after long road trips for the West Coast teams, according to Front Office Sports. Plus, some teams are even flying out a day earlier for Saturday games to help players adjust to the time differences. However, you can try to plan around it, but those long flights and time zone shifts are still a grind and a major adjustment, especially for college athletes balancing sports and school.
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Big 10 players weekly honour
The Big Ten Conference named its Week 6 Football Players of the Week, celebrating the best performances from the weekend. Offensive Player of the Week was none other than Nico Iamaleava (irony), who led his team to a 42-37 upset win over No. 7 Penn State. Nico had five total touchdowns this game and recorded for 294 total yards. Iamaleava also had a 52-yard run, which was the longest play of the season for UCLA. This win was special because it was UCLA’s first dub of the season and also the first home victory over a top-10 team since 2007.
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DeShon Singleton from Nebraska was named Defensive Player of the Week. He helped his team beat Michigan State by making two interceptions and six tackles. Nebraska’s defense played very well, allowing only 240 total yards and 84 rushing yards. Singleton became the first Nebraska player since 2023 to have two interceptions in one game.