Since the Big Ten welcomed four new members from the West Coast last season, the Big Ten’s other 14 teams have lost far more often than they have won when traveling to play a regular-season game in the Pacific Time Zone.
Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Big Ten teams from the Eastern and Central time zones are just 3-13 when traveling to the West Coast to play opponents from the Pacific Time Zone during the regular season. Ohio State suffered one of those 13 losses last season when it lost to Oregon, 32-31, in Eugene last October.
| Date | Away Team | Home Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 20, 2025 | Michigan State | USC | L, 45-31 |
| Sept. 13, 2025 | Minnesota | California | L, 27-14 |
| Nov. 16, 2024 | Nebraska | USC | L, 28-20 |
| Nov. 9, 2024 | Maryland | Oregon | L, 39-18 |
| Nov. 8, 2024 | Iowa | UCLA | L, 20-17 |
| Oct. 26, 2024 | Illinois | Oregon | L, 38-9 |
| Oct. 25, 2024 | Rutgers | USC | L, 42-20 |
| Oct. 12, 2024 | Ohio State | Oregon | L, 32-31 |
| Oct. 12, 2024 | Penn State | USC | W, 33-30 |
| Oct. 12, 2024 | Minnesota | UCLA | W, 21-17 |
| Oct. 5, 2024 | Michigan | Washington | L, 27-17 |
| Oct. 4, 2024 | Michigan State | Oregon | L, 31-10 |
| Sept. 28, 2024 | Wisconsin | USC | L, 38-21 |
| Sept. 21, 2024 | Purdue | Oregon State | L, 38-21 |
| Sept. 21, 2024 | Northwestern | Washington | L, 24-5 |
| Sept. 14, 2024 | Indiana | UCLA | W, 42-13 |
A Big Ten team that isn’t from the West Coast hasn’t won a regular-season game on the West Coast since Oct. 12 – the same day as Ohio State’s loss to Oregon – when Penn State won at USC and Minnesota won at UCLA. Big Ten teams that aren’t Oregon, UCLA, USC or Washington are 0-7 in regular-season games in the Pacific Time Zone since then, including an 0-2 start to this year with Michigan State’s late-night loss to USC last weekend and Minnesota’s non-conference loss at Cal the week before.
Ohio State will look to change those trends when it travels to Seattle later this week to play Washington in its first road game and first Big Ten game of the season.
The Buckeyes have changed up their travel plans from last year’s trip to the Pacific Northwest as part of their efforts to achieve a different result. While Ohio State flew to Oregon just one day before the game last year, Ohio State will fly to Washington on Thursday, giving the Buckeyes a full day to get acclimated on Friday before Saturday’s afternoon game, which will kick off at 12:40 p.m. local time at Husky Stadium.
“A little bit like when we were in the playoffs, just sort of that mindset of going into a new environment, sort of getting calibrated and then going to play from there,” Ryan Day said Tuesday. “We spent a lot of time talking about it – Coach Mick, myself, some of the other coaches – to figure out what gives us the best chance to play at our maximum level.”
Washington
Huskies
Day doesn’t think the decision to travel on Friday caused Ohio State’s loss last year at Oregon – a game the Buckeyes were in position to win on their final drive if not for a controversial offensive pass interference penalty against Jeremiah Smith – but he says the Buckeyes are constantly trying to improve their process to ensure they’re as well-prepared to play as possible.
“It wasn't really anything about the (Oregon) trip. I thought we were ready and we were playing fast. I don't think there was anything sports science-wise that says us leaving the day before had any effect in the game. Because I think it's more about are you focused, are you locked in, are you sluggish? You look at all these different metrics, didn't see any of that,” Day said. “But that being said, we always want to get better, and we've done a lot of studying on this. We've talked to a lot of people in the NFL, we've talked to different other sports and how they travel multiple time zones, and we felt like this is the best way. We also really looked at how we played in the playoffs as an indicator on this. And so, like we said, we always learn, so we're always trying to get better.”
Day and his staff have good reason to draw from last year’s College Football Playoff run in preparing for its trip to Washington, as the Buckeyes had far more success in their postseason game against Oregon, beating the Ducks 41-21 in their playoff quarterfinal rematch even though that game was also played on the West Coast at the Rose Bowl. Day believes the experience Ohio State’s returning players have from that title run, which also included successful trips to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl and Atlanta for the national championship game, benefits the Buckeyes entering their first road game of the season.
“Although we don't have as much time, it's similar in that way (in terms of travel). So we'll keep that same mindset,” Day said.
Ohio State has also had an extra week to prepare for Washington, allowing players to rest and recover their bodies since it didn’t have a game last weekend. That could help the Buckeyes overcome the trend of Big Ten teams struggling with West Coast trips, as Ohio State is 9-0 in regular-season games after a bye week under Day.
| Date | Opponent/Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 12, 2024 | Oregon | L, 31-32 |
| Sept. 15, 2007 | Washington | W, 33-14 |
| Sept. 10, 1994 | Washington | L, 16-25 |
| Sept. 13, 1986 | Washington | L, 7-40 |
| Oct. 4, 1969 | Washington | W, 41-14 |
| Oct. 2, 1965 | Washington | W, 23-21 |
| Oct. 7, 1967 | Oregon | W, 30-0 |
| Oct. 5, 1974 | Washington State (Seattle) | W, 42-7 |
| Oct. 5, 1957 | Washington | W, 35-7 |
That said, Day knows going on the road will be a new challenge for this year’s team, especially since Husky Stadium is known for one of college football’s loudest environments. But he says the Buckeyes need to focus on playing with clean fundamentals rather than allowing the environment and travel to affect how they play.
“It's almost like going back to the beginning, going back to basics, because any time you go on the road, just everything is a little bit more difficult. Communication is more difficult, all of those things,” Day said. “It's not anything new, but at the same time, we have to, amidst the environment and the noise and the chaos, have poise and composure, and we can't let the environment dictate how we play.
“We know this is going to be a great challenge being on the road, a very good team. For this group, it'll be our first time on the road. So this is the next challenge for us as a group. Whatever we've done the first three games means absolutely nothing going into this game; we've got to go on the road and get this win. And it starts with taking care of the football, it starts with tackling, it starts with blocking, and then it goes from there. As coaches, it's our job to make sure we're putting them in a situation to be successful.”
