With a packed schedule from January through April, NCAA gymnasts spend much of their time on the road during the season. We analyzed select schedules for the 2025 season and found that the median round-trip distance a team travels throughout the season is 6,700 miles, approximately the distance from Los Angeles to Istanbul, up from a median of 6,100 miles in 2024. We wanted to know: How did conference realignments change team travel distances between 2024 and 2025?
To find out, we analyzed schedules released before December 10th and calculated distances between home and away campuses. For neutral site meets, we calculated distances between each participating team’s campus and the arena. Conference championships, regionals, and nationals are not included. Distances were calculated using the Haversine formula, which takes into account the earth’s curvature when measuring the distance in miles between two points. We accounted for double-meet weekends with non-round trip travel. For example, Greenville will travel 2,948 miles to Alaska for a meet on January 23, zero miles for its next meet at Alaska on the 25th, followed by 2,948 miles back home.
How did conference changes impact distance traveled?
The table below shows the median distance each conference’s teams will travel in 2025 compared to their travel in 2024. We excluded the Pac-12 from this table because in 2025, Oregon State is the only team in the conference. We also excluded independent teams.
The ACC added two new teams for 2025: California and Stanford. This West Coast expansion resulted in a 46% increase in the conference’s median miles traveled. Each ACC team will make a cross-country trip to compete against new rivals. California, Stanford, and N.C. State will cover the most ground this year.
The Big 10 also welcomed two West Coast teams, UCLA and Washington, in 2025. Their travel increased by 20%, and the two new teams will travel farther than any other teams in the conference. Of teams that were also in the Big 10 in 2024, Maryland is adding the most miles in 2025. It will more than double its distance and will make a trip to Washington.
The Big 12 added three teams for the 2025 season, but the median distance traveled will decrease by just 3%. Iowa State and Denver, teams that were both in the Big 12 last season, will both travel at least 30% fewer miles this year. West Virginia will increase its mileage by about 40%, including trips over 3,000 miles to BYU and newly admitted Arizona State.
Oklahoma joined the SEC for the 2025 season. SEC teams must compete against one another during the regular season, and these dual meets make up the bulk of each team’s schedule. With Oklahoma added to the schedule, the conference’s median distance traveled dropped by 8%.
| Conference | Realigned | 2024 Median Distance | 2025 Median Distance | Change | Percent Change |
| ACC | Yes | 7,294 | 10,655 | 3,361 | 46% |
| MPSF | No | 6,797 | 9,886 | 3,089 | 45% |
| EAGL | No | 5,128 | 7,903 | 2,775 | 54% |
| Big 10 | Yes | 8,289 | 9,935 | 1,646 | 20% |
| Mountain West | No | 7,382 | 8,992 | 1,610 | 22% |
| WIAC | No | 1,635 | 2,239 | 604 | 37% |
| MAC | No | 3,543 | 3,782 | 239 | 7% |
| Big 12 | Yes | 9,188 | 8,922 | -266 | -3% |
| NCGA-East | No | 1,749 | 1,478 | -271 | -15% |
| SEC | Yes | 6,075 | 5,591 | -484 | -8% |
| MIC | No | 8,132 | 6,879 | -1,253 | -15% |
| GEC | No | 5,044 | 3,158 | -1,886 | -37% |
How did travel change for teams that changed conferences?
Seven teams left the Pac-12 after the 2024 season and joined the ACC, Big 10, and Big 12 for 2025. Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC. The chart below shows each team’s change in miles traveled between 2024 and 2025.
UCLA and Washington joined the Big 10 and will cover not only more distance than any other teams in the conference but also the country. Washington will travel about 900 more miles, about the distance from New York City to St. Louis, while UCLA will cover almost 12,000 additional miles, the equivalent of a round trip between Los Angeles and Barcelona. UCLA will cover almost 4,000 miles during two trips to face Big 10 rivals at Michigan and Ohio State. The Huskies will travel coast-to-coast when they head to Rutgers for a nearly 5,000 mile round trip journey. They will compete in six away meets this year, down from eight last season.
California and Stanford both joined the ACC but had very different schedule outcomes. Stanford will travel just over 1,000 more miles in 2025 than in 2024, a little farther than the distance between Palo Alto and Denver. On the other hand, California will travel over 7,000 more miles in 2025 than in 2024, the same distance as a trip from Berkeley to Puerto Rico and back. In 2025, California will travel to two ACC rivals, covering about 60 miles to and from Stanford and nearly 5,000 miles to and from N.C. State. Although the distance to N.C. State is significant, California will travel nearly 5,600 more miles to and from neutral site meets than it did in 2024, making up the majority of its mileage difference. All ACC teams will make a coast-to-coast trip this season.
Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah all moved to the Big 12. Utah will add 2,600 miles (think Salt Lake City to Jamaica), Arizona State will add 2,200, and Arizona will cover 1,500 fewer miles (saving the equivalent of a round trip to San Francisco). In 2024, Arizona traveled over 10,000 miles, Arizona State traveled about 6,000 miles, and Utah covered just under 5,000 miles. In 2025, these three teams will average about 1,000 fewer miles than the other Big 12 teams.
Oklahoma joined the SEC and will travel about 700 fewer miles this season than in 2024, saving the equivalent of a one-way trip from Norman to Chicago. The Sooners will cover the second-most distance of any SEC team. Of the four SEC dual meets and three neutral-site meets that the Sooners will travel to, Georgia is their farthest trip (1,600 miles round trip).
Which teams are traveling the farthest?
Three teams involved in conference realignments will travel the farthest in 2025: UCLA (18,000 miles), Washington (16,000 miles), and California (15,000 miles). Alaska ranks fourth this season; it will cover 14,000 miles in three weekend trips to Sacramento State and UC Davis, Oregon State, and Townson and West Chester. Explore the ten teams traveling the farthest in the table below.
| Rank | Team | Conference | 2025 Distance |
| 1 | UCLA | Big 10 | 18,141 |
| 2 | Washington | Big 10 | 15,982 |
| 3 | California | ACC | 15,416 |
| 4 | Alaska | MPSF | 13,870 |
| 5 | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 13,263 |
| 6 | West Virginia | Big 12 | 12,184 |
| 7 | Stanford | ACC | 12,054 |
| 8 | Penn State | Big 10 | 11,936 |
| 9 | N.C. State | ACC | 11,860 |
| 10 | Michigan | Big 10 | 11,501 |
READ THIS NEXT: How Conference Realignment Impacts the 2025 Season
Article by Jill Walsh
