When the Big Ten added schools to create the 18-team super conference, increased travel immediately became a hot-button topic. Not only for the four new schools on the West Coast, but also for the existing 14 teams located primarily in the Midwest.
Indiana football was tasked with making the cross-country flight to take on UCLA in mid-September 2024. When Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s squad made the trip to the historic Rose Bowl Stadium, he kept it simple: a business trip.
He said the Hoosiers weren’t going to Los Angeles for a cruise or to go on tour, but to play football and to do their job. They did — a 29-point win.
Now, the Cream and Crimson are tasked with another lengthy trip, as they face No. 3 Oregon at 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday inside Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
The Hoosiers are accustomed to departing Bloomington and arriving at their road contests the day before the game. When Indiana played at UCLA, it arrived in California approximately 21 hours before kickoff.
In an interview on the Pat McAfee Show last October, around a month after the Hoosiers’ dominant victory over the Bruins, Cignetti said a few members of his staff had “all these designs” for the Hoosiers’ trip west.
Cignetti vetoed. He and his squad stuck to their routine of getting to road sites as late as possible, waking up in the morning, playing the game and getting back to Bloomington.
“We got to the hotel at about eight o'clock at night, ate our meal, went to bed, woke up, played 3:30, kicked their ass and came home,” Cignetti said.
Now, in Cignetti’s second season as the helm, the Hoosiers have experience. Not only in going west, but in high-profile games — both fit Saturday’s contest. Cignetti said he and his squad will arrive in Oregon “slightly earlier” than they did at UCLA last season, but “it won’t be by much.”
For players like redshirt senior center Pat Coogan, who spent the last four seasons at the University of Notre Dame, the Cream and Crimson’s travel plans don’t differ from what he grew accustomed to.
“We got there Friday (for West Coast games at Notre Dame),” Coogan said during player media availability Tuesday. “Yeah, I don't specifically remember what time, or I don't even know what time we're getting out there this Friday. But no, nothing different.”
Indiana is coming off a 20-15 victory against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Sept. 27. After Saturday’s matchup with Oregon, the Cream and Crimson have three remaining regular-season road games: Maryland, Penn State and Purdue.
In total, Indiana will travel 6,582 miles this season — the 11th most in the Big Ten — up from 4,896 in 2024, according to The Athletic. Regardless of the trip’s duration, whether short or long, nothing changes for the Cignetti-led Hoosiers.
“There’s not much to figure out,” Cignetti said. “That’s what we do every game. We get in about the same time in the evening, and we’ve got our routine. It’s just the way I like to do it.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
