USC and UCLA rank among the most-traveled programs in Football Bowl Subdivision football in 2026, with USC logging 16,290 round-trip miles for five road games and UCLA logging 13,636 miles for five road games, according to figures compiled by TripBalls. The distances are measured in straight-line miles between stadium coordinates, not driving or flying distances.
USC ranks 8th, UCLA 12th in FBS travel distance for 2026 season
USC and UCLA rank among the most-traveled programs in Football Bowl Subdivision football in 2026, with USC logging 16,290 round-trip miles for five road games and UCLA logging 13,636 miles for five road games, according to figures compiled by TripBalls. The distances are measured in straight-line miles between stadium coordinates, not driving or flying distances.
Among all 138 FBS programs, USC ranks No. 8 in road travel. The Trojans are scheduled to play at Rutgers, Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana, and rival UCLA. USC and Rutgers are set to meet in Piscataway, N.J., on Sept. 19.
UCLA ranks No. 12. The Bruins' five road games are at California, Maryland, Oregon, Minnesota, and Michigan.
Hawaii leads the nation with 37,232 round-trip miles across six road games, a figure the source attributes to the program's requirement to travel by air to every away contest. Auburn travels the least of any FBS team, covering 2,188 round-trip miles. Across all 138 programs, TripBalls calculates a combined 1,093,266 miles over 770 trips.
Several former Pac-12 programs also rank high in travel distance. Stanford, now in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is No. 2 with 21,758 miles. Cal, also in the ACC, is No. 6 with 18,102 miles. Oregon ranks No. 9 with 15,968 miles for five trips, and Washington ranks No. 16 with 12,448 miles for five trips.
Rutgers ranks No. 116 nationally with 4,084 miles for its five road trips, the lowest total among Big Ten programs. The source notes that USC will travel nearly four times the distance of Rutgers within the same conference.
- The source does not state the methodology TripBalls uses to determine stadium coordinates.
- The source does not identify which teams rank No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 7, No. 10 through No. 15, or No. 17 through No. 115 in travel distance.
- The source does not state USC's or UCLA's travel rankings in prior seasons, only asserting they finish in the top 20 'almost guaranteed' each year without citing historical data.
- The source does not state the number of road games played by Auburn or Hawaii's opponents.
- The source does not address any financial or competitive implications of the travel distances cited.
Read the original at New York Post