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The trend toward more neutral-site non-conference games as well as the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M in 2012 has added some serious miles to the travel log of most SEC teams.
Still, the SEC team traveling the most in 2015 (LSU — 5,662 miles) will need a trip to the SEC championship or at least a far-away bowl game to surpass the mileage of the NFL’s least-traveled team (Philadelphia Eagles — 6,818 miles). The San Francisco 49ers will travel 27,998 miles during the 2015 NFL season, according to CBS Sports.
The prevailing eyebrow-raiser? LSU must travel about 2.6 times as many miles as Georgia.
The SEC’s head coaches spent the offseason grumbling about competitive disadvantage, tying it to discrepancies in cost of attendance, satellite camp rules and transfer rules. But we heard relatively few grumbles about the difference in annual crossover games, and maybe none at all about the varied travel schedule.
A chunk of LSU’s mileage comes from a 2,400-mile round-trip flight to Syracuse on Sept. 26. Georgia’s “long” trip is a 309-mile one-way jaunt to Nashville in order to play Vanderbilt.
Texas A&M also has a favorable schedule. Thanks to neutral-site games against Arizona State (in Houston) and Arkansas (in Arlington), the Aggies leave the Lone Star State just once before Nov. 21.
TRAVEL MILES FOR EVERY SEC TEAM IN 2015
| Team | Total Miles |
|---|---|
| 1. LSU | 5,662 |
| 2. Florida | 4,692 |
| 3. South Carolina | 4,306 |
| 4. Arkansas | 4,292 |
| 5. Missouri | 4,180 |
| 6. Vanderbilt | 3,986 |
| 7. Auburn | 3,874 |
| 8. Texas A&M | 3,502 |
| 9. Mississippi State | 3,410 |
| 10. Alabama | 3,220 |
| 11. Tennessee | 3,190 |
| 12. Kentucky | 2,508 |
| 13. Ole Miss | 2,368 |
| 14. Georgia | 2,262 |
*Trips of longer than 5 driving hours calculated by air miles via USA Today. Trips of shorter than 5 hours calculated stadium to stadium via Google maps. Totals are round-trip.
ALABAMA
Longest: vs. Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas (1,092 miles)
Shortest: at Mississippi State (168 miles)
Total Miles: 3,220
ARKANSAS
Longest: at Tennessee (1,138 miles)
Shortest: vs. Toledo at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. (378 miles)
Total Miles: 4,292
AUBURN
Longest: at Texas A&M (1,198 miles)
Shortest: vs. Louisville in Atlanta (220 miles)
Total Miles: 3,874
FLORIDA
Longest: at Missouri (1,694 miles)
Shortest: vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla. (148 miles)
Total Miles: 4,692
GEORGIA
Longest: at Vanderbilt (618 miles)
Shortest: at Georgia Tech (140 miles)
Total Miles: 2,262
KENTUCKY
Longest: at Mississippi State (812 miles)
Shortest: at Vanderbilt (432 miles)
Total Miles: 2,508
LSU
Longest: at Syracuse (2,400 miles)
Shortest: at Mississippi State (608 miles)
Total Miles: 5,662
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Longest: at Texas A&M (992 miles)
Shortest: at Southern Miss (364 miles)
Total Miles: 3,410
MISSOURI
Longest: at Georgia (1,182 miles)
Shortest: vs. BYU in Kansas City (240 miles)
Total Miles: 4,180
OLE MISS
Longest: at Florida (1,068 miles)
Shortest: at Memphis (166 miles)
Total Miles: 2,368
SOUTH CAROLINA
Longest: at Texas A&M (1,838 miles)
Shortest: vs. North Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. (198 miles)
Total Miles: 4,306
TENNESSEE
Longest: at Missouri (994 miles)
Shortest: at Kentucky (344 miles)
Total Miles: 3,190
TEXAS A&M
Longest: at Vanderbilt (1,354 miles)
Shortest: vs. Arizona State in Houston (198 miles)
Total Miles: 3,502
VANDERBILT
Longest: at Houston (1,360 miles)
Shortest: at Middle Tennessee State (76 miles)
Total Miles: 3,986
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
