2024 College Football: AP Top 25 Teams Ranked By Miles Traveled
The Georgia Bulldogs are the college football team to beat this season, according to the AP Top 25 College Football Poll and the 2024 ESPN Power Index preseason rankings.
Among the many advantages the Bulldogs will enjoy this season is a soft travel schedule. Georgia will travel 4043.7 miles this season through just 6 time zones. Georgia ranks 23rd for miles traveled in the AP Top 25 Poll, and 26th in terms of miles traveled in the ESPN Power Index Top 30.
Bookies.com has compiled scheduled travel data for each team ranked in the AP Top 25. Each team’s scheduled road trips were measured by linear distance between each stadium using Google Earth data.
The SEC holds a massive advantage in terms of ease of travel. There are 7 SEC schools among the 11 that travel the fewest miles. The miles-traveled list is bookended by a pair of ACC rivals. Florida State will travel the most miles of the AP Top 25 teams, and Clemson the fewest.
A consensus of oddsmakers has the Bulldogs favored to win their third national championship in four years. The Dawgs are +320 at DraftKings and +300 at BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook.
RELATED: ACC Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled
RELATED: SEC Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled
RELATED: Big Ten Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled
RELATED: Big 12 Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled
The AP's poll saw Georgia gain 46 of a possible 62 first-place votes. It is determined weekly by a nationwide poll of sportswriters and broadcasters.
The Worldwide Leader scores all 134 Division 1-A teams using simulations and analytics against an "average" team to determine the 2024 ESPN College Football Power. One data set the Index does not use in determining its rankings is team travel. And we’re here to help.
AP Top 25 – Team-By-Team Miles Traveled Ranked
Here is the rundown of the teams in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll ranked by total miles scheduled to travel this year. Bookies.com compiled this data by measuring each game from the stadium midpoint of each team using Google Earth. Teams are listed with their conference, total miles traveled, the average distance of each trip, and number of time zones through which they travel, along with AP Top 25 rank.
No. | Team | Conf. | Miles | TZs | Avg. RT | AP Poll |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Florida State | ACC | 13028.14 | 14 | 2605.63 | 10 |
2. | Southern Cal | Big Ten | 12710.62 | 16 | 2542.14 | 23 |
3. | Oregon | Big Ten | 12520.86 | 16 | 2504.72 | 3 |
4. | Miami | ACC | 11516.52 | 6 | 1919.42 | 19 |
5. | Utah | Big 12 | 9796.32 | 10 | 1632.72 | 12 |
6. | Notre Dame | Ind. | 9365.84 | 8 | 1560.97 | 7 |
7. | Arizona | Big 12 | 9321.86 | 16 | 1864.37 | 21 |
8. | Penn State | Big 12 | 8602.46 | 10 | 1720.45 | 8 |
9. | Kansas State | Big 12 | 7599.76 | 6 | 1266.62 | 18 |
10. | Kansas | Big 12 | 7381.11 | 8 | 1230.18 | 22 |
11. | Iowa | Big Ten | 6793.36 | 10 | 1358.67 | 25 |
12. | LSU | SEC | 6789.48 | 4 | 1357.89 | 13 |
13. | Missouri | SEC | 6600.02 | 4 | 1320.04 | 11 |
14. | N.C. State | ACC | 6284.06 | 6 | 1256.81 | 24 |
15. | Texas A&M | SEC | 5796.56 | 4 | 1449.14 | 20 |
16. | Ohio State | Big Ten | 5633.03 | 8 | 1408.25 | 2 |
17. | Texas | SEC | 5371.86 | 2 | 1074.37 | 4 |
18. | Michigan | Big Ten | 5193.88 | 8 | 1298.47 | 9 |
19. | Oklahoma | SEC | 4411.66 | 0 | 882.33 | 16 |
20. | Oklahoma St. | Big 12 | 4380.14 | 4 | 730.02 | 17 |
21. | Ole Miss | SEC | 4267.16 | 6 | 853.43 | 6 |
22. | Alabama | SEC | 4091.16 | 4 | 818.23 | 5 |
23. | Georgia | SEC | 4043.7 | 6 | 808.74 | 1 |
24. | Tennessee | SEC | 3268.58 | 6 | 817.15 | 15 |
25. | Clemson | ACC | 2471.78 | 0 | 494.36 | 14 |
Breaking Down The Numbers: FSU, Clemson Bookend List
Florida State, No. 10, is scheduled to travel the most miles (13028.14) of any team in the AP Top 25. The Seminoles pick up 8174.2 frequent flier miles thanks to a Week Zero game against Georgia Tech in Dublin on August 24.
Clemson travels the fewest miles of any of the AP Top 25. The No. 14 Tigers cover a mere 2471.78 miles this season and never leave the Eastern Time Zone.
Big Ten newcomer Southern Cal is No. 2 in terms of most miles traveled among the AP Top 25. The Trojans traverse 16 time zones and 12710.62 miles. They have both the longest Continental road trip and shortest road trip of any team in the AP Top 25. Southern Cal visits Maryland on Oct. 19. That roundtrip is 5844.98 miles. The annual Southern Cal-UCLA game, meanwhile, means a 24.58-mile round trip for the visiting Trojans.
The ESPN College Football Power Index ranks teams by point margin per game against an average opponent on a neutral site. Teams are ranked by their projected strength, using 20,000 game simulations based on analytics, past scores, projected players, and, of course, the schedule.
About the Author
Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist and editor whose career includes stops at USA Today Sports Network / Golfweek, Cox Media, ESPN, Orlando Sentinel and Denver Post.