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2019 Ultimate College Football Road Trip: 49 Games and 37,000 Miles in 115 Days

HERO Sports by HERO Sports
August 2, 2019
2019 Ultimate College Football Road Trip: 49 Games and 37,000 Miles in 115 Days

How many college football fans have attended 49 games in their lifetime? How many college football fans have attended 49 games in one season? This is the 2019 Ultimate College Football Road Trip.

This year's Ultimate College Football Road Trip (click here for the FCS version) includes 48 regular-season games and one conference championship. It covers 37,201 miles over 115 days, an average of 323 miles per day, or, very roughly, more than five hours of driving time. Per day. Every single day. For 115 consecutive days.

Three rules: You must drive to each game. You must be realistic (1,000 miles in eight hours is not realistic). And you must pick the games before the season starts. No audibles.

Total cities: 44.

Multiple stops in five different cities: Auburn, Atlanta, Athens (Ohio), Houston and Toledo. Yes, more stops in Athens, Ohio, than Athens, Georgia. 

Longest drive: 2,319 miles from Orlando to Provo.

Longest one-day drive (i.e. 24 hours: 1,243 miles from Boulder to Ann Arbor.

Shortest drive: 86 miles from Troy to Auburn.

Average drive: 775 miles.

Most games in one week: Five games in three different weeks (1, 11, and 12).

Total teams: 66.

Most appearances: Houston and Auburn (four games apiece). Six teams have three appearances: App State, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio, and Toledo. And 12 teams have two appearances: Alabama, Colorado, LSU, Navy, NC State, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Temple, Texas, and UCF.

Sacramento State is the only FCS team on the schedule. 

Neutral-site games: Eight, three of which are among the first four games of the road trip. 

First, the Ultimate College Football Road Trip episode of the High Motor podcast with Seth Vander Tuig of "Mission: College Football" (click here for Seth's 49-game road trip):

[divider]

Second, an interactive map of all 49 games in 44 different cities:

[divider]

And third, the full 17-week itinerary:

Week 0

The best Week 0 game ever, Miami and Florida's first matchup since 2013 is the only opening-week choice.

Date Game Location Miles
Sat., Aug. 24 Miami (FL) vs. Florida Orlando N/A

[divider]

Week 1

The 100th Holy War (and 74th consecutive Holy War) is the first of five games in five days as we crisscross the country for five nonconference games. 

I'd rather be in Reno than Denver on Friday for Purdue-Nevada but need to stay within driving distance of Arlington, Texas, for Oregon-Auburn on Saturday. 

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Aug. 29 Utah at BYU Provo 2,319
Fri., Aug. 30 Colorado State at Colorado Denver 482
Sat., Aug. 31 Oregon vs. Auburn Arlington 783
Sun., Sept. 1 Houston at Oklahoma Norman 196
Mon., Sept. 2 Notre Dame at Louisville Louisville 777

[divider]

Week 2

I did not circle the Sacramento State-Arizona State game — one of the least appealing games of the entire season — when embarking on my Ultimate College Football Road Trip. Weird things happen.

Marshall-Boise State is the better play for Friday night, but it's not within driving distance of Austin, Texas, where Texas hosts LSU in one of the premier games of the season.

Date Game Location Miles
Fri., Sept. 6 Sacramento State at Arizona State Tempe 1,709
Sat., Sept. 7 LSU at Texas Austin 1,001

[divider]

Week 3

I'm passing on the most intriguing game of Week 3 — Clemson at Syracuse — because college football shouldn't be played in domed landfills. Instead, it's a short drive to Houston for Mike Leach vs. Dana Holgorsen, followed by a trip to Ames for the 67th meeting between Iowa and Iowa State.

Date Game Location Miles
Fri., Sept. 13 Washington State at Houston Houston 165
Sat., Sept. 14 Iowa at Iowa State Ames 972

[divider]

Week 4

I'm skipping Utah-USC on Friday night and adding a Thursday stop in New Orleans because Athens is the can't-miss destination on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Sept. 19 Houston at Tulane New Orleans 1,042
Sat., Sept. 21 Notre Dame at Georgia Athens 541

[divider]

Week 5

Blacksburg is a great college town, but after Navy-Memphis on Thursday night, you may consider skipping Duke-Virginia Tech to reach Lincoln late on Friday night.

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Sept. 26 Navy at Memphis Memphis 463
Fri., Sept. 27 Duke at Virginia Tech Blacksburg 625
Sat., Sept. 28 Ohio State at Nebraska Lincoln 1,114

[divider]

Week 6

Easy choices in Week 6: East Carolina has struggled lately, but Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is still a spectacular college football destination, as is Nippert Stadium when the Bearcats are rolling, which should be the case when UCF visits on Friday night.

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Oct. 3 Temple at East Carolina Greenville 1,377
Fri., Oct. 4 UCF at Cincinnati Cincinnati 598
Sat., Oct. 5 Auburn at Florida Gainesville 792

[divider]

Week 7

The Week 7 decision: Oklahoma vs. Texas or Alabama at Texas A&M?

I picked the Cotton Bowl.

Date Game Location Miles
Wed., Oct. 9 App State at Louisiana Lafayette 647
Thurs., Oct. 10 Syracuse at NC State Raleigh 984
Sat., Oct. 12 Oklahoma vs. Texas Dallas 1,201

[divider]

Week 8

It's not easy to reach the west coast for college football road trips. Long drives and, oftentimes, volume sacrifices. 

I'm passing on two notable Big Ten games — Ohio State at Northwestern on Friday and Michigan at Penn State on Saturday — to catch two Pac-12 games and one Mountain West game.

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Oct. 17 UCLA at Stanford Stanford 1,708
Fri., Oct 18 UNLV at Fresno State Fresno 168
Sat., Oct. 19 Oregon at Washington Seattle 922

[divider]

Week 9

After SMU-Houston on Thursday, should I skip a 1,000-mile drive to Boulder and head straight for Ann Arbor? Get into town late on Friday, up early for Big House tailgating ahead of Notre Dame-Michigan.

That's the Week 9 dilemma.

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Oct. 24 SMU at Houston Houston 2,279
Fri., Oct. 25 USC at Colorado Boulder 1,056
Sat., Oct. 26 Notre Dame at Michigan Ann Arbor 1,243

[divider]

Week 10

Primetime Sun Belt game in Boone in late October followed by the World's Largest Cocktail Party on Saturday? Sign me up. 

Date Game Location Miles
Thurs., Oct. 31 Georgia Southern at App State Boone 571
Sat., Nov. 2 Florida vs. Georgia Jacksonville 475

[divider]

Week 11

Week 11: quantity > quality.

The first five-game week since Week 1 — and first of two straight five-game weeks — two MACtion games are followed by the last 1,000-mile drive of the trip, Tampa to Tulsa. 

Date Game Location Miles
Tues., Nov. 5 Kent State at Toledo Toledo 997
Wed., Nov. 6 Miami (OH) at Ohio Athens 215
Thurs., Nov. 7 Temple at USF Tampa 930
Fri., Nov. 8 UCF at Tulsa Tulsa 1,208
Sat., Nov. 9 LSU at Alabama Tuscaloosa 631

[divider]

Week 12

Five games in under 2,000 miles. Week 12 is Value Week.

I'm passing on new MACtion sites (Akron and Bowling Green) for better MACtion games in better MACtion environments. 

I flipped a coin between Georgia-Auburn and Alabama-Mississippi State, which worked out fine because I'll be in Starkville for the Egg Bowl.

Date Game Location Miles
Tues., Nov. 12 Western Michigan at Ohio Athens 669
Wed., Nov. 13 Northern Illinois at Toledo Toledo 217
Thurs., Nov. 14 North Carolina at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh 232
Fri., Nov. 15 Louisiana Tech at Marshall Huntington 279
Sat., Nov. 16 Georgia at Auburn Auburn 586

[divider]

Week 13

I was in tears planning Week 13: Penn State-Ohio State or Texas A&M-Georgia?

I opted for Columbus because I was already in Athens for the Notre Dame in Week 4. 

Date Game Location Miles
Tues., Nov. 19 Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois DeKalb 847
Wed., Nov. 20 Toledo at Buffalo Buffalo 598
Thurs., Nov. 21 NC State at Georgia Tech Atlanta 897
Sat., Nov. 23 Penn State at Ohio State Columbus 567

[divider]

Week 14

The Thanksgiving Egg Bowl is followed by a short drive to Troy and an even shorter drive to Auburn. 

If you're not digging southeastern Alabama in late November, you have three other good Friday-night options: Washington State-Washington, Iowa-Nebraska or Virginia Tech-Virginia. Some of those, however, limit your Saturday options.

Date Game Location Miles
Tues., Nov. 26 Ohio at Akron Akron 126
Thurs., Nov. 28 Ole Miss at Mississippi State Starkville 784
Fri., Nov. 29 App State at Troy Troy 236
Sat., Nov. 30 Alabama at Auburn Auburn 86

[divider]

Week 15

This was simple: The most likely playoff-impacting conference championship.

Date Game Location Miles
Sat., Dec. 7 SEC Championship Atlanta 108

[divider]

Week 16

The Ultimate College Football Road Trip ends in Philly on Dec. 14 with the most unique college football game of each season.

Date Game Location Miles
Sat., Dec. 14 Army vs. Navy Philadelphia 778
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