The long and short (but mostly long) of OSU's 2013 football schedule
Published: 11/20/2012 4:44 PM
Last Modified: 11/20/2012 4:44 PM
Oklahoma State’s 2013 football schedule has been released. The story behind the schedule? It’s long and short.
Specifically: Short travel in 2012. Long travel in 2013.
OSU hit a travel jackpot this season. The Cowboys are playing only five road games and they’ll travel 4,066 round-trip miles to participate in the road games.
More than half of those miles (2,118) came on one trip (to Arizona). The rest of the treks -- at Kansas, at Kansas State, at Oklahoma, at Baylor -- could be a car ride for fans who like to go globetrotting with the team. None of those drives encompasses more than 561 round-trip miles.
Payback arrives next season.
The Cowboys are playing six road games and they’ll travel 7,068 round-trip miles to do it. The closest road trip is to Texas Tech, which is 824 round-trip miles from Stillwater. The other road trips are to Houston (for a neutral-site game against Mississippi State), San Antonio (road game at UTSA), Austin, Morgantown, W.V., and Ames, Iowa.
Average road trip in 2012: 813 round-trip miles. Average road trip in 2013: 1,178 round-trip miles.
Will grueling travel exact a toll on OSU next season? The Cowboys should hope not, especially since returning personnel suggests they may be in the thick of the Big 12 championship race next season. Faraway West Virginia was positioned for a run at the Big 12 title this season and all was hunky dory after a league road opener in Austin. But the Mountaineers haven’t won a road game -- or any game -- since.
Best guess? If OSU wants to chase a ring next season, travel fatigue won’t be a party crasher. But fans who enjoyed the convenience of the current schedule will be inconvenienced in 2013.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
