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Huskers Historic Travel Trends: Record by Distance, East vs. West

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  Published in Travel and Leisure on Wednesday, October 8th 2025 at 12:54 GMT by Sports Illustrated
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Nebraska’s New‑Era Travel Footprint: How the Cornhuskers Are Covering the Big Ten’s Stretch From East to West

When the University of Nebraska’s football team joined the Big Ten in 2024, one of the most surprising questions among fans and analysts alike was simply how far the team would have to fly, drive or ride a bus each season. A fresh look at the 2025 schedule—released last month on SI.com—offers a fascinating data‑driven portrait of the Huskers’ most‑recent travel habits, comparing the distances to eastern and western members of the conference and tracking the evolution of those numbers over the past decade.

The feature, “Huskers’ Historic Travel Trends Record by Distance: East vs. West,” breaks the season down into 12 “away” trips and 12 “home” games, but it goes far beyond a simple win‑loss ledger. The article includes a detailed table that lists each opponent, the distance traveled from Lincoln, Nebraska, and a color‑coded rating of whether the trip was “short,” “moderate,” or “long.” For reference, a 200‑mile journey is considered short, 200–600 miles moderate, and anything over 600 miles long.

2025: A Big Ten Stretch

According to the SI article, Nebraska’s 2025 Big Ten schedule pushed the team across the Midwest in ways that look almost unthinkable for a program that once played in the Big 12, a league that had fewer western members. The longest trip on the itinerary was to the University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign, 1,500 + miles from Lincoln. This trip, marked in the table as a “very long” journey, is a reminder of the vast geographic spread of the Big Ten—especially with the addition of the University of Maryland in 2024.

The next‑longest was to the University of Indiana, 1,200 miles away, and then to Penn State at roughly 1,000 miles. These three games account for more than a third of the Huskers’ total travel distance for the season. By contrast, the closest away games were against Iowa (approximately 100 miles) and Illinois State (around 120 miles), both of which are part of the Big Ten’s “East” cluster. The middle of the table shows travel distances to teams like Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, all in the 300–400 mile range, giving the Huskers a blend of moderate travel across the conference’s eastern half.

On the western side of the conference—teams that have been part of the Big Ten only since its 2014 expansion—Nebraska faced Iowa State, Rutgers and Minnesota. The journey to Iowa State was the shortest of the West’s three games (approximately 70 miles), but travel to Rutgers (1,100 miles) and Minnesota (750 miles) again underscored the logistical challenge of a centrally located program.

The Numbers, in Context

A quick glance at the 2025 travel map shows a clear divide: the Huskers routinely traveled more miles to eastern opponents than to western ones. The article uses a split‑line graph to illustrate the cumulative travel distance to each half of the conference. By the 2025 season’s midpoint, the Huskers had already covered over 7,000 miles traveling to eastern teams, compared with 5,200 miles for western trips.

Historically, the article compares those numbers to the Huskers’ travel distances during their Big 12 era. When Nebraska was in the Big 12, the furthest away game was against Texas A&M at 1,100 miles, a distance that now ranks in the Big Ten’s upper‑mid range. That comparison is made possible by a link to the 2019 Big 12 travel report in the SI article, which shows that the Huskers’ average away distance per season during the Big 12 years hovered around 4,800 miles.

The article also references a 2023 study on conference travel costs, linked as a footnote, which estimates that the extra mileage Nebraska has incurred since joining the Big Ten costs the athletic department roughly $600,000 in fuel and accommodation expenses each year. That figure gives context to the numbers on the travel table: it’s not just about distance, it’s about budget and the logistics of transporting 90‑plus athletes and staff.

The Big Ten’s Geographic Footprint

A side‑bars in the SI piece breaks down the conference’s geography: the Big Ten stretches from the Atlantic coast (Maryland) to the Great Plains (Nebraska), with a handful of teams in the Midwest and one in the Pacific Northwest (Washington). The article points to an interactive map that lets readers drag and drop the Huskers’ travel routes onto a U.S. map to see the total mileage in a more visual format.

The “East vs. West” comparison also serves to underline a broader trend in college football: as conferences expand, the travel burden on teams increases. For Nebraska, this means longer pre‑game travel times, higher travel costs, and potentially more logistical complications for the coaching staff and support personnel.

What This Means for Nebraska

The article concludes with speculation about how the travel trend might affect Nebraska’s future performance. Long trips can lead to player fatigue, and the article quotes a former Nebraska assistant coach who says, “We try to offset travel by getting players to bed early, but there’s no substitute for the extra time on the road.” A link to a separate piece on the Huskers’ travel schedule reveals that the program has started hiring more travel coordinators and is investing in faster air travel options to cut down on ground time.

In sum, the SI article paints a detailed, data‑rich picture of how Nebraska’s shift to the Big Ten has stretched its travel demands. The “East vs. West” split in the table, the historical comparison to the Big 12, and the cost analysis together give fans a comprehensive look at the logistics behind each away game. As the Huskers continue to navigate a conference that is geographically as diverse as it is competitive, one thing remains clear: the road to victory will still be paved with miles, and every extra mile counts.