ESPN Report Addresses Cal, Stanford Travel Challenges in ACC

The two Bay Area rivals will combine to travel more than 44,000 miles in 2024 to play football games

A Delta jet / Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

Cal coach Justin Wilcox on Tuesday addressed the long-distance travel issues Cal will face in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but ESPN published a long story about the travel challenges that Cal, Stanford and SMU must deal with.

The story noted that Cal and Stanford will combine to travel more than 44,000. Both schools play three ACC games apiece in the easter time zone, and each had a nonconference game in the Central times zone (Cal at Auburn and Stanford at Notre Dame) as well as an ACC road game at SMU.

But here is the most meaningful excerpt from the ESPN story:

"It's been a whirlwind," said Josh Hummel, Cal senior associate athletic director for facilities, events and capital projects. "There's not really an exact science to it. I don't think there's a playbook that says, 'Here's what you do when switching conferences.'"

LUCKILY FOR CAL and Stanford, a few California-based schools had already started solving this particular logistical puzzle -- UCLA and USC announced moves multiple time zones away to the Big Ten in 2022. Hummel said Cal had conversations with UCLA, particularly about travel.

Monthly calls between Cal and Stanford were soon arranged so they could exchange ideas, too. Both schools decided they would leave for their long-distance road games on Thursdays, one day earlier than usual. Both schools are taking bigger planes for their trips, not only for the comfort level of their players but for the cargo space. Cal, for example, signed a charter deal with Delta and will use Boeing 767-300 planes for travel this year, with a minimum of 210 seats. The lone exception comes on the trip to Florida State. Because Tallahassee has a small regional airport, Cal has to use a slightly smaller 757 plane.

The Cal and Stanford equipment trucks will now depart their respective campuses on Mondays for a Saturday kickoff to be able to make the cross-country trek with enough time to set up the sideline and locker room. Two drivers will take turns driving -- 10 hours on, 10 hours off.

The long return trip home means the trucks will not return to California until Tuesday or Wednesday. So game gear -- including uniforms, coach and staff laundry, will have to be packed on the airplane to be cleaned and ready for the next week. Exercise bikes, coolers, some medical equipment, rain gear and cooling fans will stay on the trucks.

Despite the challenges of playing in a conference located on the opposite coast, Wilcox concluded, "It's not that big of a deal."

Well, we'll see.

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