Rumors of Florida State to the Big XII have been ongoing for weeks now. Bud and Company did an excellent podcast on the issue. And as Florida State fans who crave more money for the program, how could you not be excited about the move?

Well, there is the matter of road games. Would it be harder for the team and FSU fans to travel in the Big XII versus the ACC? Analysis after the jump.

Below, I am going to list distances from the FSU campus in three ways. First is distance from campus to campus over the road via Mapquest. Second is the Mapquest estimate for road travel time. Use this to estimate whether a team bus trip would be viable or if flying via charter would be required. Third is the direct distance from the Tallahassee Regional airport to the airport closest to the school in question. (Or, in the case of Miami, the stadium.) We'll use this simply to determine if there is an overall significant difference between our current situation in the ACC as it has developed, and what we would end up with in the Big XII with ONLY the current members.

This is a combined list of both conferences. Big XII teams are in bold and the current ACC Atlantic teams are marked with an asterisk. Obviously, these teams would be visited on a more frequent basis. (**Miami is our annual cross-divisional game.) I shall make no attempt to assume what the Big XII divisions would be at this time.

SCHOOL NAME - LOCATION - ROAD DISTANCE / ROAD TIME / DISTANCE VIA AIR (In nautical miles)

Georgia Tech Yellowjackets - Atlanta, GA - 275 miles / 5 hours / 208.8 NM

*Clemson Tigers - Clemson, SC - 391 miles / 7 hours / 267 NM

**Miami Hurricanes - Miami Gardens, FL (stadium) - 469 miles / 7.25 hours / 344.8 NM

*Wake Forest Demon Deacons - Winsten-Salem, NC - 630 miles / 10 hours / 401.6 NM

UNC Tarheels - Chapel Hill, NC - 646 miles / 10 hours / 425.1 NM

*NC State Wolfpack - Raleigh, NC - 618 miles / 9.5 hours / 431.4 NM

Duke Blue Devils - Durham, NC - 643 miles / 10 hours / 431.4 NM

Virginia Tech Hokies - Blacksburg, VA - 720 miles / 11.25 hours / 453.4 NM

Virginia Cavaliers - Charlottesville, VA - 837 miles / 13 hours / 548.6 NM

WVU Mountaineers - Morgantown, WV - 921 miles / 14.5 hours / 595.8 NM

*Maryland Terrapins - College Park, MD - 888 miles / 14 hours / 631.6 NM

Pittsburgh Panthers - Pittsburgh, PA - 996 miles / 16 hours / 638 NM

TCU Horned Frogs - Ft. Worth, TX - 868 miles / 14 hours / 664.7 NM

Baylor Bears - Waco, TX - 892 miles / 14 hours / 666 NM

Texas Longhorns - Austin, TX - 868 miles / 13.75 miles / 689.7 NM

Oklahoma Sooners - Norman, OK - 1,009 miles / 16.5 hours / 722 NM

Oklahoma State Cowboys - Stillwater, OK - 1,007 miles / 16.5 hours / 725.6 NM

Kansas Jayhawks - Lawrence, KS - 1,017 miles / 17.5 hours / 743.5 NM

Kansas State Wildcats - Mahnattan, KS - 1,166 miles / 18.75 hours / 801.2 NM

Iowa State Cyclones - Ames, IA - 1,179 miles / 19.5 hours / 826.8 NM

*Syracuse Orange - Syracuse, NY - 1,238 miles / 20 hours / 858.6 NM

Texas Tech Red Raiders - Lubbock, TX - 1,228 miles / 18.75 hours / 908.9 NM

*Boston College Eagles - Chestnut Hill, MA - 1,314 miles / 21.5 hours / 962.5 NM

Conclusion? FSU jumping to the Big XII would pretty much eliminate the use of busses for conference games, and thus our travel costs may increase. But how many of those games do we bus to as a team currently? And as a fan, how many road games do you drive to?

As the ACC stands currently, there are only two games FSU plays on a fairly regular basis that are within an eight hour drive of Tallahassee. Clemson and Miami. And of the three most distant universities on this list, two of them are already in FSU's current ACC Atlantic Division. (Note that 'Cuse will join in 2014, as will Pitt.) Basically, I think that the topic of geography for Florida State and conference affiliation, in this case, amounts to little more than semantics.

But what are your thoughts? If you have any additional information in this matter, please chime in.