Could Travel Be The Downfall of UCLA's Season?

The Bruins have four road games on the East Coast and that may be the difference in a bowl game bid.

Nov 2, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster walks off after a timeout in the second quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

One of the most difficult adjustments for UCLA's athletic programs in their first season in the Big Ten was the extensive travel that came with moving to a conference filled with East Coast teams.

And the guys on the Cover 3 Podcast, part of the CBS Sports Network, believe it may be the difference in the Bruins having a better football season than they are projected to have.

Given the 5.5 projected win total UCLA has on the season, Tom Fornelli chose the under, and travel was the main reason.

"I'm on the under," Fornelli said. "I think UCLA will be very fun to watch as far as a football team this year... But the schedule to me is difficult... And you've got six road games. And I know USC is across town, but that's still like a four-hour trip if you live in LA. And then UNLV on the road, that's still in the Pacific time zone. But all your four other road games, like Northwestern is central but the other three on the eastern.

Oct 19, 2024; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano, left, talks with UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster before their Big Ten conference game at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

"That's a lot of travel for those games. As I've talked about already, we've seen these teams struggle when they have to make those kinds of trips. Maybe they're better adjusted to it in the second year than they were in the first. But, just based on all that, there's a lot of variance to this team. I don't really feel confident anyway about where this is going to go."

UCLA's men's basketball coach, Mick Cronin, long quibbled with the travel difficulties in his first season in the Big Ten, but even he has come around to facing those obstacles without excuses.

Cronin's Blunt Take on Travel Challenges

Mar 19, 2025; Lexington, KY, USA; UCLA head coach Mick Cronin speaks with media during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

In a sit-down interview with CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Cronin gave a blunt answer to how he handles the dynamics of travel in this new conference.

"Get a better team," Cronin said half-jokingly. "At the end of the day, the Lakers and Celtics in the '80s used to have to fly back and forth to play those seven-game great NBA Finals. It just is what it is. And, I really mean it, it sounds funny, get a better team. Look, our women's team was excellent last year. Our women's team was No. 1 in the country a long time and went to the Final Four. That's the answer. The answer is get the best team."

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