Oregon’s Dan Lanning Downplays Big Ten Travel, Says League Has to ‘Prepare for Us’

He downplayed the impact of increased travel, and was very confident about the Ducks playing in their new conference.

Dan Lanning has had two very successful seasons at Oregon to start his head coaching tenure, and enters 2024 with a 22–5 record. Last season, the Ducks finished 12–2 (with both losses to national runner-up Washington) and a win in the Fiesta Bowl.

Of course, everything is about to change for Lanning’s program.

In 2024, Oregon makes the jump to the Big Ten. This conference change will have the Ducks (and fellow Pac-12 expats UCLA, USC and Washington) making frequent trips to the Midwest and the occasional jaunt to far-flung destinations like Maryland and Rutgers.

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning is very confident entering the Big Ten :: Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard/USA TODAY Network

Lanning isn’t worried about the change, though. In fact, during a recent appearance on The Ryen Russillo Podcast, he said that he believes the biggest change will come for his new conference rivals.

“I think at the end of the day the Big 10’s going to have to prepare for us and what we do different for that league,” said Lanning. “But great football’s great football. I’m glad to be in one of the two conferences in college football that are elite.”

Lanning led into that line by downplaying the impact of increased travel on his program, stating that it won’t be that much more of a significant burden than travel in the Pac-12 was.

In terms of raw numbers, the change is pretty stark, though. Per the Daily Emerald, Oregon’s independent student news organization, the Ducks will go from 4,509 miles traveled in 2023 to 12,618 miles for road games in 2024. Part of that is a season-opening trip to Hawai’i, but the conference slate will send the team to UCLA, Purdue, Michigan and Wisconsin. 2025 will bring a pair of trips out east, with road games at Penn State and Rutgers, as well as to Iowa and Northwestern.

On paper, Oregon should quickly compete in its new league, but the team’s travel is about to ramp up significantly.