Editor’s Note: The author spent the fall of 2009 traveling around the country covering an entire season of college football on his own dime for his now-defunct website. He went broke and got fat but it was the best creative project he’s ever undertaken. Here’s your guide — albeit a late one — to planning a road trip for this season.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The first thing you do when planning a season-long college football road trip is check the composite schedule as early as possible and flag the four or five best games of each weekend.
If you’re driving, you need to accept that not every week is going to feature national championship contenders. And that’s OK. The goal is to see a good game in a lively atmosphere in a cool college town week after week. If the biggest game one week is in Tuscaloosa and the next week it’s in Eugene and the week after that it’s Columbus, well, that’s just not a manageable road trip.
That’s why I flew! It may sound expensive but every flight was a one-way flight so that made things easier on the wallet. Rental car fees surely added up — thus the point about going broke — but I wasn’t spending hundreds of dollars on gas every week driving 400 miles from one college town to the next. Plus, had I done that, that would have put a lot of stress on my car and probably my body and my overall health and welfare.
OK, let’s get started:
Week 1 (Sat Aug 30)
Texas at Ohio State: This is a no-brainer. Two top-five teams who are both likely to make the College Football Playoff again. A great way to kick off your life-changing adventure and your Labor Day weekend at one of the sport’s greatest stadiums.
Side note: Don’t get greedy. I know the temptation is real to hop a flight to Miami the next morning for that Notre Dame-Miami tilt on Sunday night. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay focused and play the long game.
Other games of note: Alabama at Florida State, LSU at Clemson
Week 2 (Sat Sep 6)
Michigan at Oklahoma: This should be a fun game. Michigan and Oklahoma weren’t CFP factors last season but an early test in Norman could send one of these teams on the right track in Year 2 of the 12-team playoff. Plus the rest of the Week 2 schedule is a dud. A one-way flight from Columbus to Oklahoma City on Monday (Labor Day), Sept. 1, is $119 on Southwest.
Week 3 (Sat Sep 13)
Pittsburgh at West Virginia: There are better games on the schedule, but no larger rivalry games (except maybe Georgia at Tennessee or Florida at LSU). I went to the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown in 2009 and let me just say I thought I had heard every possible arrangement of foul-language-laden insults but that was an educational experience for me for sure. In all seriousness, though, it was a great game and this is an underrated rivalry. Flight from Oklahoma City to Pittsburgh on Monday, Sept. 8, is $149 on American Airlines.
Other games of note: Wisconsin at Alabama, Texas A&M at Notre Dame
Week 4 (Sat Sep 20)
Florida at Miami: Florida will be coming into this game off a Week 3 roadie at LSU, and Miami will have already played Notre Dame so these teams will be tested early. Neither is expected to be elite, but both could stay in the CFP conversation until November in part because of what they might do here. Flight from Pittsburgh to Miami on Monday, Sept. 15, is $109 on American Airlines and is direct.
Week 5 (Sat Sep 27)
Alabama at Georgia: Alabama is the sport’s most recent dynasty and Georgia looked poised to take that title from the Tide just a couple years ago. But then NIL leveled the playing field and the last two national champions have hailed from the Big Ten. Anyhoo, this will no doubt be another slugfest between two SEC heavyweights. Flight from Miami to Atlanta on Monday, Sept. 22, is $89 on Delta Airlines and is direct.
Other games of note: Ohio State at Washington
Week 6 (Sat Oct 4)
Colorado at TCU: Not only will these teams not contend for a CFP slot, they won’t contend to win the Big 12 either. Still, this is where it all started for Colorado coach Deion Sanders, with a thrilling track-meet win in Fort Worth two years ago. Prime’s Buffs will have a new cast but both teams will keep the scoreboard operator busy. Plus a week in the DFW Metroplex means steaks and barbecue for dayyyzzzz! Flight from Atlanta to Dallas (DFW) on Monday, Sept. 29, is $67 on Frontier Airlines and is direct.
Other games of note: Texas at Florida, Miami at Florida State
Week 7 (Sat Oct 11)
Oklahoma vs. Texas: The Red River Shootout is a bucket-list game. Go there. Do it now. Stay in the DFW Metroplex for a second straight week for more steaks and barbecue. No flight needed, brah!
Other games of note: Michigan at USC
Week 8 (Sat Oct 18)
USC at Notre Dame: You’ve never been to South Bend, you say? It’s high time you change that. Hotels are not plentiful so book your travel today. Like right now. Every college football fan should see a game here at least once in his life. Why not make it at a game under the lights against one of its biggest rivals? A nice touch there by the way is when you walk in and show your ticket to the ushers, they’ll say “Welcome to Notre Dame.” I’ve never seen that anywhere else. They know it’s special there. And it is. Flight from Dallas (DFW) to Chicago (ORD) on Monday, Oct. 13, is $71 on Frontier Airlines and is direct.
Other games of note: Tennessee at Alabama, Texas Tech at Arizona State, SMU at Clemson
Week 9 (Sat Oct 25)
Tennessee at Kentucky: This is a little bit of a rivalry, at least it is considered one in Lexington. But this is a good weekend to be in the Bluegrass because it’s the last weekend of the fall meet at Keeneland Race Course. Planning a fall trip around a bourbon tour on a Thursday, a visit to the horse track on a Friday and a college football game on a Saturday, all within 20 or 30 miles, is a great trip. Flight from Chicago (ORD) to Cincinnati on Monday, Oct. 20, is $89 on American Airlines and is direct.
Week 10 (Sat Nov 1)
Penn State at Ohio State: At some point we need to show the Big 12 and ACC some respect, but not on this weekend. Columbus will be the site of the most impactful game on the playoff picture on this first weekend of November. College GameDay likely will be there and FOX Big Noon Kickoff surely will, too. This game should be a top-five matchup and we are obviously a little biased here, but Columbus is a fine place to spend a week during football season. No need for a flight. Just drive up from Lexington, maybe chill in Cincinnati for a day or two and resume the roadie 100 miles up to Columbus.
Other games of note: Texas Tech at Kansas State, Arizona State at Iowa State, Miami at SMU, Georgia vs. Florida
Week 11 (Sat Nov 8)
LSU at Alabama: Let’s head back down south to Tuscaloosa for what will no doubt be another dogfight. Both teams will begin the season in the top 10 and probably will be in the top 10 at the time of this matchup. Did you know there’s a Paul “Bear” Bryant Museum? To keep the expense low, you’ll have to return your rental car back to Cincinnati, so a flight from there to Birmingham on Monday, Nov. 3, is $99 on American Airlines.
Other games of note: Florida State at Clemson
Week 12 (Sat Nov 15)
Texas at Georgia: Stay in the south and take in yet another SEC bout with conference and playoff implications. This could be a top-five matchup between the hedges late in the season. Flight from Birmingham to Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 10, is $199 on Delta Airlines and is direct.
Other games of note: Oklahoma at Alabama
Week 13 (Sat Nov 22)
Kansas State at Utah: This game could very well determine who plays for a Big 12 championship two weeks later. And Salt Lake City has become a popular US tourism destination in recent years. Sounds like a great week to me! Flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City on Monday, Nov. 17, is $163 on Southwest Airlines.
Week 14 (Sat Nov 29)
OSU at Michigan: I tried to shoot this game during my 2009 tour but the Michigan athletic department shut me down (just as the Notre Dame and Oklahoma and Texas people did early in the season), so I shot the Harvard-Yale tilt. Had some good pizza in New Haven so the joke’s on those other guys. But this is the obvious place to be for the final weekend of the regular season. Every year. Flight from Salt Lake City to Detroit on Monday, Nov. 24, is $329 on Delta Airlines and is direct.
Week 15 (Sat Dec 6)
Want to do something wild? Keep your rental car and hit up that MAC title game at noon in Detroit, leave at 3 p.m. and drive four hours south to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game at 7 p.m. It’s the last travel week of your tour. Go big or go home. After Championship Saturday, you can do both!
