The Great West Conference might have a very specific geographic reference in its title, but it's truly a league with a national scope.
By stretching from New Jersey to the Dakotas and down to Utah and Houston, the Great West has made sure that none of its members have the cushy road trips that are a hallmark of other less expansive leagues.
In the ACC, North Carolina and Duke are separated by about 15 miles, and for either school it's a short drive over to NC State. Mississippi State is roughly 75 miles away from both its primary SEC rivals, Alabama and Ole Miss. And while the Big East has some monster trips, Seton Hall only has to drive 14 miles to play St. John's in Madison Square Garden and just a couple miles more to play Rutgers.
The shortest road trip you'll find in the Great West is the 348 mile round trip from South Dakota to North Dakota. Houston Baptist benefits from the league's second shortest distance between Great West rivals, it's a 582 mile round trip to play Texas-Pan American.
After that, the miles start piling up in a hurry. When you throw in non-conference road games against the likes of Boise State, Michigan and Middle Tennessee, here's how things stack up this season for Houston Baptist:
From Houston, TX to Ann Arbor, MI - 2,160 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Natchitoches, LA - 386 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to New Orleans, LA - 634 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Boise, ID - 1,491 miles
From Boise, ID to Omaha, NE - 1,359 miles
From Omaha, NE to Houston, TX - 792 miles
From Houston, TX to Memphis, TN - 972 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Dallas, TX - 225 miles
From Dallas, TX to Arlington, TX - 18 miles
From Arlington, TX to Houston, TX - 227 miles
From Houston, TX to Chicago, IL - 1,880 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Orem, UT - 2,344 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Edinburg, TX - 582 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Murfreesboro, TN - 1,336 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Newark, NJ - 2,822 miles (round trip)
From Houston, TX to Grand Forks, ND 1,258 miles
From Grand Forks, ND To Vermillion, SD - 348 miles
From Vermillion, SD to Houston, TX - 911 miles
That's 19,745 miles worth of travel...and that doesn't include another trip to Orem for the Great West Tournament in March.
View Great Western Conference PART 1
View Great Western Conference PART 2
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