The 18-team Big Ten becomes official on August 2. 

The formal addition of UCLA, Washington, Oregon, and Southern Cal means everyone's favorite TV sports conference PSA will either rest in peace or be expanded to run another 30 seconds. 

The addition of four Big Ten schools in the Pacific Time Zone to a conference that was once the sole domain of the Midwest has created some major inequities in travel this upcoming college football betting season. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes hold a substantial edge in terms of their travel lineup. As do the the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines. 

UCLA, Southern Cal, Washington, and Oregon not so much. 

RELATED: ACC Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled

RELATED: SEC Football 2024 Team-By-Team Miles Traveled

Using data compiled from Google Earth, bookies.com calculated the miles each Big Ten football team is scheduled to travel this season. The midpoint of each team’s stadium were used at the start/finish points.

Ohio State is the betting favorite to win the Big Ten at +150 at BetMGM. OSU and Michigan (+550 to win the Big Ten) are 2 of 5 Big Ten schools that make just four road trips. Both teams have just two road games before November 1. 

OSU’s round-trip to Oregon for its October 12 game covers 4107.78 miles, or 72.9% of the total 5633 miles it will travel the entire regular season. Ohio State’s other road games are at Michigan State on September 21; Penn State on November 2; and Northwestern on November 16. 

The Wolverines travel fewer miles (5193.88) than Ohio State, but head south to Columbus this season. Michigan makes a 3801.62-mile round trip to play at Washington on October 9.

Team-By-Team Big Ten 2024 Football Miles Traveled

Here is a rundown of how many miles each team in the new-and-expanded Big Ten will travel this season. Teams are ranked by the total miles traveled, and listed with the number of road trips they will take, the average of each round trip, the number of time zones each team will traverse, and the longest and shortest road trips each team will take.

UCLA Covers Travels Most Miles; Indiana Fewest

The UCLA Bruins (+10000) top the Big Ten in miles traveled. Looks strange, doesn't it They’ll cover roughly 90% of the distance around the world, traveling 22,048.04 miles over six road trips while crossing 26 time zones. 

Indiana travels the fewest miles this season at 4894.88 miles. The Hoosiers make 4 trips and visit UCLA on September 14. They are the longest shot to win the Big Ten at +30000.

The longest scheduled road trip in the Big Ten this year features Southern Cal (+2200) visiting Maryland (+5000) on October 19. The Trojans face a round trip of 5844.98 miles. 

UCLA opens the season against Hawai’i in Honolulu on August 31. The Bruins subsequently play a pair of games in the Eastern Time Zone, at Penn State (+550) and Rutgers (+10000). State College and Piscataway are six hours ahead of Honolulu. 

None of UCLA’s trips are scheduled in back-to-back weeks, so the team will be taking all of its trips without being able to stack them. The same holds for any team traveling coast-to-coast. 

The shortest regularly-scheduled Big Ten intraconference road trip is now the annual USC-UCLA game. The Rose Bowl and LA Memorial Coliseum are just 12.29 miles apart.

Washington (+5500) makes an 8.12-mile round-trip to play Washington State at Lumen Stadium in Seattle in their annual non-conference neutral site game. 

Team-By-Team Odds To Win Big Ten

Here’s a breakdown of the odds each Big Ten team has to win the conference championship via BetMGM.

Big Ten Football Realignment Details 

Five Big Ten teams have four road trips. There are 11 Big teams with five road trips. And two schools, UCLA and Washington, hit the road 6 times. 

This is the first Big Ten season with no divisional format. Its schedule follows a format used by the newly expanded SEC, ACC, and Big 12. 

Each school has "protected matchups" (aka “rivals”) in its schedule. 

The 12 protected matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC.

Each member institution plays nine intraconference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – and will play rotating opponents no more than three times in a five-year period.

The two combatants in the Big Ten Football Championship Game will be determined by the  two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season. Tie Breaking procedures have yet to be determined. 

 Some dates on the schedule are subject to change and could be moved to accommodate the league’s new TV package. The Big Ten’s broadcast and streaming partners now include Fox, CBS, NBC, the Big Ten Network, and Peacock. Some games in the 2024 season may be adjusted to select special dates.