Charter & Fractional
Big 12 basketball teams are still big on aircraft charters
Before Big Eight basketball teams began competing in the newly formed Big 12 Conference in 1994, their longest league road trip was about 600 mi.

Before Big Eight basketball teams began competing in the newly formed Big 12 Conference in 1994, their longest league road trip was about 600 mi. And among the former Southwest Conference schools that now comprise the league’s southern division, it was only 400 mi to the farthest conference venue. Today, travel to play Big 12 games can range as much as 900 mi, and inter-conference contests may take cagers to both coasts, Hawaii and Alaska. The 12 schools play a total of nearly 300 times per season, and all are road trips for one team.

As with colleges and universities across America, air travel has become a necessity rather than an option, and in all cases is an item that is in the athletic department budget. In some cases, alumni furnish funds–and occasionally aircraft–to carry the teams.