I thought this was interesting. After years of wondering how the increased travel would work out, here we are in the middle of spring sports season, so we can look at some actual data now.
This Athletic piece focused on the 12 former Pac schools.
www.nytimes.com
At Eastern and Central time zone locations, the former Pac-12 teams were 15-23 overall. The Big Ten’s foursome of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA finished 5-9 in games east of the Rocky Mountains, with the Ducks claiming three victories. The ACC’s Stanford and Cal were 3-6 in games played at least two time zones ahead with only one victory coming against a team with a winning record. The Big 12’s Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah were more successful at 7-8 overall.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, several former Pac-12 players were asked about their experiences of competing in different conferences, including lone holdovers Washington State and Oregon State. Their teams had varied success last season, from Arizona State’s and Oregon’s reaching the College Football Playoff to five teams’ failing to qualify for a bowl game.
Styles of play differences required adjustments, but that wasn’t the most difficult part of competing in a coast-to-coast conference. Most of them leaned on the traditional football mindset of shrugging off change as just adversity. But nearly every player brought up travel as the greatest challenge they experienced last year.
“It definitely was a lot different, starting with the travel,” Washington linebacker Carson Bruener said. “We’re traveling a lot farther, a lot farther plane rides. Then, especially after the games, we’ll have to get on that plane and go back into another four- or five-hour flight. It definitely pushed back that recovery window. And then, even at Rutgers, we had to stay there an extra night just because of the game being so late.”
Of the 12 programs, Cal had the most challenging travel schedule with four flights to the Eastern time zone and one in Central time. The Bears finished 2-3 on those trips with a nonconference win at Auburn and an ACC victory at Wake Forest. Cal lost at Florida State, Pittsburgh and SMU. Of those five programs, only SMU and Pitt competed in the postseason.
“It really wasn’t too much different, except for the fact that we’re on a little longer flight,” Cal linebacker Teddye Buchanan said. “Cal did a great job. We left two days early, so I would say the transition was smooth, and I had a great time playing out on the East Coast for a lot of our road games.”
Considering the competition, Washington’s four trips east were perhaps the most grueling. All four opponents — Rutgers, Iowa, Indiana, Penn State — won at least seven regular-season games. The Huskies lost the final three contests by a combined score of 106-39 with two games kicking off at 9 a.m. PT and the other two in prime time. The Huskies’ game at Rutgers took place on a Friday night.
Both Cal and Washington finished 6-6 in regular-season play and qualified for bowls. USC had the same overall record but lost all three trips east (Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland) by a combined 11 points. The schools handled trips differently; Cal and Washington flew two days in advance, and USC traveled the day before the game.
“There’s certainly a lot more that comes with it, with travel, compared to years in the past,” USC center Jonah Monheim said. “But (it is) all about your priorities, how you’re managing your time, how we’re taking care of things, both individually and as a team.”
And here are the UCF mentions...
Neither Arizona nor Utah reached a bowl game after combining for 18 overall victories in 2023. They had mixed outcomes in the Eastern and Central time zone teams last fall. The Utes finished 2-1 with wins against Oklahoma State and UCF, but neither qualified for the postseason. Arizona lost at Kansas State, UCF and TCU.
“If we’re playing UCF, then we’re playing them, and the distance will not affect us,” Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea said. “That’s something out of our control. What we can control is our preparation leading up to it.”
As much as those teams had to adjust to longer travel, they also had to adapt to different types of opponents. Oregon won the Big Ten championship outright and was ranked No. 1 until falling in a rematch with Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. Throughout the regular season, the Ducks largely dictated game flow and tempo, which few teams seemed to match.
“I’ll personally say I think the Pac-12 was better,” Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr. said. “But I feel like the difference in the Big Ten is the size. There are a lot (more) bigger bodies.”
Style of play fluctuated among the conferences. The 16 Big 12 programs averaged 3,051 passing yards, and 15 allowed at least 20 points per game. In the Big Ten, eight teams allowed fewer than 20 points per game. In the final year as a 12-team conference, Pac-12 teams averaged 3,530 passing yards, and three teams held foes to fewer than 20 points per game.
“There are different narratives in college football,” UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger said. “I think the Pac-12 was a bigger passing conference versus the Big Ten heavier run. But at the end of the day, in my opinion, football is football.”
“Going to the Big 12 for us, it was always a run-first mentality,” Utah tight end Brant Kuithe said. “Obviously, they passed a lot more in the Big 12, so we had to kind of mold our game a little bit.”
This Athletic piece focused on the 12 former Pac schools.
What former Pac-12 players at NFL Scouting Combine learned from season wandering country
In Indianapolis, several former Pac-12 players were asked about their experiences of competing in different conferences.
www.nytimes.com
At Eastern and Central time zone locations, the former Pac-12 teams were 15-23 overall. The Big Ten’s foursome of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA finished 5-9 in games east of the Rocky Mountains, with the Ducks claiming three victories. The ACC’s Stanford and Cal were 3-6 in games played at least two time zones ahead with only one victory coming against a team with a winning record. The Big 12’s Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah were more successful at 7-8 overall.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, several former Pac-12 players were asked about their experiences of competing in different conferences, including lone holdovers Washington State and Oregon State. Their teams had varied success last season, from Arizona State’s and Oregon’s reaching the College Football Playoff to five teams’ failing to qualify for a bowl game.
Styles of play differences required adjustments, but that wasn’t the most difficult part of competing in a coast-to-coast conference. Most of them leaned on the traditional football mindset of shrugging off change as just adversity. But nearly every player brought up travel as the greatest challenge they experienced last year.
“It definitely was a lot different, starting with the travel,” Washington linebacker Carson Bruener said. “We’re traveling a lot farther, a lot farther plane rides. Then, especially after the games, we’ll have to get on that plane and go back into another four- or five-hour flight. It definitely pushed back that recovery window. And then, even at Rutgers, we had to stay there an extra night just because of the game being so late.”
Of the 12 programs, Cal had the most challenging travel schedule with four flights to the Eastern time zone and one in Central time. The Bears finished 2-3 on those trips with a nonconference win at Auburn and an ACC victory at Wake Forest. Cal lost at Florida State, Pittsburgh and SMU. Of those five programs, only SMU and Pitt competed in the postseason.
“It really wasn’t too much different, except for the fact that we’re on a little longer flight,” Cal linebacker Teddye Buchanan said. “Cal did a great job. We left two days early, so I would say the transition was smooth, and I had a great time playing out on the East Coast for a lot of our road games.”
Considering the competition, Washington’s four trips east were perhaps the most grueling. All four opponents — Rutgers, Iowa, Indiana, Penn State — won at least seven regular-season games. The Huskies lost the final three contests by a combined score of 106-39 with two games kicking off at 9 a.m. PT and the other two in prime time. The Huskies’ game at Rutgers took place on a Friday night.
Both Cal and Washington finished 6-6 in regular-season play and qualified for bowls. USC had the same overall record but lost all three trips east (Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland) by a combined 11 points. The schools handled trips differently; Cal and Washington flew two days in advance, and USC traveled the day before the game.
“There’s certainly a lot more that comes with it, with travel, compared to years in the past,” USC center Jonah Monheim said. “But (it is) all about your priorities, how you’re managing your time, how we’re taking care of things, both individually and as a team.”
And here are the UCF mentions...
Neither Arizona nor Utah reached a bowl game after combining for 18 overall victories in 2023. They had mixed outcomes in the Eastern and Central time zone teams last fall. The Utes finished 2-1 with wins against Oklahoma State and UCF, but neither qualified for the postseason. Arizona lost at Kansas State, UCF and TCU.
“If we’re playing UCF, then we’re playing them, and the distance will not affect us,” Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea said. “That’s something out of our control. What we can control is our preparation leading up to it.”
As much as those teams had to adjust to longer travel, they also had to adapt to different types of opponents. Oregon won the Big Ten championship outright and was ranked No. 1 until falling in a rematch with Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. Throughout the regular season, the Ducks largely dictated game flow and tempo, which few teams seemed to match.
“I’ll personally say I think the Pac-12 was better,” Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr. said. “But I feel like the difference in the Big Ten is the size. There are a lot (more) bigger bodies.”
Style of play fluctuated among the conferences. The 16 Big 12 programs averaged 3,051 passing yards, and 15 allowed at least 20 points per game. In the Big Ten, eight teams allowed fewer than 20 points per game. In the final year as a 12-team conference, Pac-12 teams averaged 3,530 passing yards, and three teams held foes to fewer than 20 points per game.
“There are different narratives in college football,” UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger said. “I think the Pac-12 was a bigger passing conference versus the Big Ten heavier run. But at the end of the day, in my opinion, football is football.”
“Going to the Big 12 for us, it was always a run-first mentality,” Utah tight end Brant Kuithe said. “Obviously, they passed a lot more in the Big 12, so we had to kind of mold our game a little bit.”
