The belt’s journey

Everywhere the belt has gone

Every change of hands moves the belt from one campus to another. Add up those 331 hops, home field to home field, and the College Football Belt has traveled 170,607 miles since November 6, 1869 — 6.9 times around the Earth. Press play and watch it go.

Miles traveled170,607

6.9× around the Earth · about 1,088 miles a year

Changes of hands331

515 miles per hop on average

Longest hop2,563 mi

Stanford → Columbia, January 1, 1934

Farthest from home2,547 mi

West Coast Army is the farthest the belt has been from Rutgers, where it started.

Center of gravitynear Louisville

Every campus weighted by the days it held the belt lands 41 miles from Louisville — the star on the map.

Press play to follow the belt from Rutgers.

Longest hops

Straight-line miles between the two campuses

1Stanford → Columbia2,563 miJanuary 1, 1934 2Fordham → Saint Mary's (CA)2,553 miNovember 15, 1930 3Ohio State → Stanford2,101 miSeptember 25, 1982 4Washington → LSU2,029 miSeptember 24, 1983 5Ohio State → USC1,976 miJanuary 1, 1973 6Louisville → California1,973 miNovember 8, 2025 7UCLA → Ohio State1,966 miOctober 4, 1975 8Ohio State → UCLA1,966 miJanuary 1, 1976 9Michigan → USC1,947 miJanuary 1, 1970 10Michigan → USC1,947 miJanuary 1, 2004

Shortest hops

Neighbors trading the belt

1Lehigh → Muhlenberg6 miOctober 31, 1925 2Swarthmore → Pennsylvania9 miOctober 7, 1905 3Pennsylvania → Swarthmore9 miOctober 13, 1906 4UCLA → USC12 miNovember 20, 1976 5USC → UCLA12 miNovember 17, 1984

Miles by decade

How far the belt moved in each

1860s15 mi1 hop

1870s222 mi2 hops

1880s920 mi6 hops

1890s635 mi6 hops

1900s1,981 mi13 hops

1910s2,784 mi13 hops

1920s5,467 mi21 hops

1930s9,699 mi20 hops

1940s7,147 mi16 hops

1950s9,377 mi24 hops

1960s6,152 mi17 hops

1970s25,850 mi27 hops

1980s32,609 mi43 hops

1990s25,443 mi42 hops

2000s11,142 mi19 hops

2010s14,684 mi36 hops

2020s16,480 mi25 hops

The belt’s compass: farthest west it has lived is Oregon State, farthest east Harvard, farthest north Washington, farthest south Miami. The busiest decade on the road was the 1980s, 32,609 miles.

Every hop, in order (331)

1Rutgers → Princeton15 miNovember 13, 1869 2Princeton → Yale111 miNovember 30, 1876 3Yale → Princeton111 miNovember 28, 1878 4Princeton → Harvard230 miNovember 18, 1882 5Harvard → Yale119 miNovember 25, 1882 6Yale → Princeton111 miNovember 21, 1885 7Princeton → Harvard230 miNovember 12, 1887 8Harvard → Yale119 miNovember 24, 1887 9Yale → Princeton111 miNovember 28, 1889 10Princeton → Yale111 miNovember 27, 1890 11Yale → Princeton111 miNovember 30, 1893 12Princeton → Pennsylvania40 miNovember 10, 1894 13Pennsylvania → Lafayette52 miOctober 24, 1896 14Lafayette → Pennsylvania52 miOctober 23, 1897 15Pennsylvania → Harvard269 miNovember 5, 1898 16Harvard → Yale119 miNovember 24, 1900 17Yale → Harvard119 miNovember 23, 1901 18Harvard → Yale119 miNovember 22, 1902 19Yale → Princeton111 miNovember 14, 1903 20Princeton → Navy136 miOctober 15, 1904 21Navy → Swarthmore88 miOctober 29, 1904 22Swarthmore → Pennsylvania9 miOctober 7, 1905 23Pennsylvania → Swarthmore9 miOctober 13, 1906 24Swarthmore → Navy88 miNovember 10, 1906 25Navy → Harvard366 miOctober 19, 1907 26Harvard → Carlisle349 miNovember 9, 1907 27Carlisle → Harvard349 miNovember 7, 1908 28Harvard → Yale119 miNovember 20, 1909 29Yale → Army52 miOctober 15, 1910 30Army → Harvard161 miOctober 29, 1910 31Harvard → Princeton230 miNovember 4, 1911 32Princeton → Harvard230 miNovember 2, 1912 33Harvard → Cornell273 miOctober 23, 1915 34Cornell → Harvard273 miOctober 28, 1916 35Harvard → Brown39 miNovember 18, 1916 36Brown → Colgate222 miNovember 25, 1916 37Colgate → Brown222 miOctober 27, 1917 38Brown → Syracuse255 miNovember 3, 1917 39Syracuse → Michigan390 miNovember 16, 1918 40Michigan → Ohio State161 miOctober 25, 1919 41Ohio State → Illinois276 miNovember 22, 1919 42Illinois → Wisconsin214 miNovember 13, 1920 43Wisconsin → Chicago123 miNovember 19, 1921 44Chicago → Princeton683 miOctober 28, 1922 45Princeton → Notre Dame611 miOctober 20, 1923 46Notre Dame → Nebraska547 miNovember 10, 1923 47Nebraska → Syracuse1,066 miNovember 24, 1923 48Syracuse → West Virginia Wesleyan351 miNovember 8, 1924 49West Virginia Wesleyan → Lehigh281 miOctober 17, 1925 50Lehigh → Muhlenberg6 miOctober 31, 1925 51Muhlenberg → Villanova40 miNovember 26, 1925 52Villanova → Lebanon Valley65 miSeptember 25, 1926 53Lebanon Valley → Penn State78 miOctober 2, 1926 54Penn State → Notre Dame439 miOctober 16, 1926 55Notre Dame → Carnegie Mellon337 miNovember 27, 1926 56Carnegie Mellon → Washington & Jefferson23 miOctober 15, 1927 57Washington & Jefferson → Duquesne23 miOctober 13, 1928 58Duquesne → Geneva28 miOctober 27, 1928 59Geneva → Grove City31 miNovember 3, 1928 60Grove City → Villanova261 miNovember 17, 1928 61Villanova → Bucknell103 miNovember 9, 1929 62Bucknell → Fordham157 miNovember 23, 1929 63Fordham → Saint Mary's (CA)2,553 miNovember 15, 1930 64Saint Mary's (CA) → Olympic Club17 miNovember 7, 1931 65Olympic Club → Loyola Marymount346 miNovember 21, 1931 66Loyola Marymount → San Diego Marines110 miNovember 29, 1931 67San Diego Marines → Fresno State317 miSeptember 24, 1932 68Fresno State → West Coast Army164 miOctober 1, 1932 69West Coast Army → Stanford30 miOctober 15, 1932 70Stanford → USC321 miOctober 22, 1932 71USC → Stanford321 miNovember 11, 1933 72Stanford → Columbia2,563 miJanuary 1, 1934 73Columbia → Navy189 miOctober 20, 1934 74Navy → Pittsburgh212 miNovember 17, 1934 75Pittsburgh → Notre Dame335 miOctober 19, 1935 76Notre Dame → Northwestern78 miNovember 9, 1935 77Northwestern → Notre Dame78 miNovember 21, 1936 78Notre Dame → Carnegie Mellon337 miOctober 16, 1937 79Carnegie Mellon → Temple257 miOctober 23, 1937 80Temple → Michigan State521 miNovember 6, 1937 81Michigan State → Auburn702 miJanuary 1, 1938 82Auburn → Tennessee248 miOctober 8, 1938 83Tennessee → USC1,940 miJanuary 1, 1940 84USC → Stanford321 miOctober 26, 1940 85Stanford → Oregon State496 miOctober 11, 1941 86Oregon State → Washington State331 miOctober 25, 1941 87Washington State → Texas A&M1,572 miDecember 6, 1941 88Texas A&M → Alabama546 miJanuary 1, 1942 89Alabama → Georgia246 miOctober 31, 1942 90Georgia → Auburn154 miNovember 21, 1942 91Auburn → Georgia Tech103 miOctober 14, 1944 92Georgia Tech → Duke345 miNovember 4, 1944 93Duke → Navy246 miOctober 6, 1945 94Navy → Army213 miDecember 1, 1945 95Army → Columbia36 miOctober 25, 1947 96Columbia → Harvard177 miOctober 2, 1948 97Harvard → Cornell273 miOctober 9, 1948 98Cornell → Army148 miOctober 23, 1948 99Army → Navy213 miDecember 2, 1950 100Navy → Princeton136 miOctober 6, 1951 101Princeton → Pennsylvania40 miOctober 11, 1952 102Pennsylvania → Penn State152 miNovember 1, 1952 103Penn State → Syracuse177 miNovember 8, 1952 104Syracuse → Alabama918 miJanuary 1, 1953 105Alabama → Southern Miss166 miSeptember 18, 1953 106Southern Miss → Memphis265 miOctober 31, 1953 107Memphis → Arkansas State64 miNovember 7, 1953 108Arkansas State → Mississippi State197 miOctober 2, 1954 109Mississippi State → Miami729 miOctober 15, 1954 110Miami → Auburn557 miNovember 6, 1954 111Auburn → Tulane329 miOctober 29, 1955 112Tulane → Vanderbilt469 miNovember 12, 1955 113Vanderbilt → Tennessee162 miNovember 26, 1955 114Tennessee → Baylor815 miJanuary 1, 1957 115Baylor → Miami1,092 miOctober 5, 1957 116Miami → North Carolina691 miOctober 11, 1957 117North Carolina → Maryland242 miOctober 19, 1957 118Maryland → Tennessee436 miOctober 26, 1957 119Tennessee → Ole Miss335 miNovember 16, 1957 120Ole Miss → LSU289 miNovember 1, 1958 121LSU → Tennessee568 miNovember 7, 1959 122Tennessee → Ole Miss335 miNovember 14, 1959 123Ole Miss → LSU289 miNovember 4, 1961 124LSU → Ole Miss289 miNovember 3, 1962 125Ole Miss → Alabama139 miJanuary 1, 1964 126Alabama → Texas631 miJanuary 1, 1965 127Texas → Arkansas449 miOctober 16, 1965 128Arkansas → LSU427 miJanuary 1, 1966 129LSU → Rice257 miSeptember 24, 1966 130Rice → Tennessee793 miOctober 1, 1966 131Tennessee → Georgia Tech153 miOctober 8, 1966 132Georgia Tech → Georgia60 miNovember 26, 1966 133Georgia → Ole Miss353 miOctober 14, 1967 134Ole Miss → Tennessee335 miNovember 18, 1967 135Tennessee → Oklahoma761 miJanuary 1, 1968 136Oklahoma → Notre Dame753 miSeptember 21, 1968 137Notre Dame → Purdue94 miSeptember 28, 1968 138Purdue → Ohio State208 miOctober 12, 1968 139Ohio State → Michigan161 miNovember 22, 1969 140Michigan → USC1,947 miJanuary 1, 1970 141USC → Stanford321 miOctober 10, 1970 142Stanford → Air Force945 miNovember 14, 1970 143Air Force → Colorado74 miNovember 21, 1970 144Colorado → Tulane1,101 miDecember 12, 1970 145Tulane → Georgia482 miSeptember 18, 1971 146Georgia → Auburn154 miNovember 13, 1971 147Auburn → Alabama127 miNovember 27, 1971 148Alabama → Nebraska728 miJanuary 1, 1972 149Nebraska → UCLA1,259 miSeptember 9, 1972 150UCLA → Michigan1,936 miSeptember 23, 1972 151Michigan → Ohio State161 miNovember 25, 1972 152Ohio State → USC1,976 miJanuary 1, 1973 153USC → Notre Dame1,816 miOctober 27, 1973 154Notre Dame → Purdue94 miSeptember 28, 1974 155Purdue → Duke530 miOctober 5, 1974 156Duke → Clemson238 miOctober 19, 1974 157Clemson → Tennessee107 miOctober 26, 1974 158Tennessee → UCLA1,931 miSeptember 20, 1975 159UCLA → Ohio State1,966 miOctober 4, 1975 160Ohio State → UCLA1,966 miJanuary 1, 1976 161UCLA → USC12 miNovember 20, 1976 162USC → Alabama1,763 miOctober 8, 1977 163Alabama → USC1,763 miSeptember 23, 1978 164USC → Arizona State367 miOctober 14, 1978 165Arizona State → Washington1,121 miOctober 28, 1978 166Washington → USC965 miNovember 11, 1978 167USC → Washington965 miNovember 15, 1980 168Washington → Michigan1,901 miJanuary 1, 1981 169Michigan → Wisconsin293 miSeptember 12, 1981 170Wisconsin → UCLA1,660 miSeptember 19, 1981 171UCLA → Iowa1,533 miSeptember 26, 1981 172Iowa → Minnesota244 miOctober 24, 1981 173Minnesota → Michigan509 miOctober 31, 1981 174Michigan → Ohio State161 miNovember 21, 1981 175Ohio State → Stanford2,101 miSeptember 25, 1982 176Stanford → Arizona State638 miOctober 9, 1982 177Arizona State → Washington1,121 miNovember 13, 1982 178Washington → Washington State250 miNovember 20, 1982 179Washington State → Michigan1,662 miSeptember 10, 1983 180Michigan → Washington1,901 miSeptember 17, 1983 181Washington → LSU2,029 miSeptember 24, 1983 182LSU → Florida531 miOctober 1, 1983 183Florida → Auburn276 miOctober 29, 1983 184Auburn → Miami557 miAugust 27, 1984 185Miami → Michigan1,144 miSeptember 8, 1984 186Michigan → Washington1,901 miSeptember 15, 1984 187Washington → USC965 miNovember 10, 1984 188USC → UCLA12 miNovember 17, 1984 189UCLA → Washington956 miSeptember 28, 1985 190Washington → Oregon State219 miOctober 19, 1985 191Oregon State → Arizona1,080 miNovember 2, 1985 192Arizona → UCLA438 miNovember 9, 1985 193UCLA → USC12 miNovember 23, 1985 194USC → Alabama1,763 miDecember 28, 1985 195Alabama → Penn State749 miOctober 25, 1986 196Penn State → Alabama749 miSeptember 12, 1987 197Alabama → Florida393 miSeptember 19, 1987 198Florida → LSU531 miOctober 3, 1987 199LSU → Alabama288 miNovember 7, 1987 200Alabama → Notre Dame591 miNovember 14, 1987 201Notre Dame → Penn State439 miNovember 21, 1987 202Penn State → Clemson504 miJanuary 1, 1988 203Clemson → Florida State305 miSeptember 17, 1988 204Florida State → Southern Miss304 miSeptember 2, 1989 205Southern Miss → Mississippi State150 miSeptember 9, 1989 206Mississippi State → Georgia313 miSeptember 23, 1989 207Georgia → South Carolina135 miSeptember 30, 1989 208South Carolina → NC State181 miOctober 28, 1989 209NC State → Virginia155 miNovember 4, 1989 210Virginia → Illinois540 miJanuary 1, 1990 211Illinois → Arizona1,374 miSeptember 8, 1990 212Arizona → California748 miSeptember 29, 1990 213California → Washington676 miOctober 27, 1990 214Washington → UCLA956 miNovember 10, 1990 215UCLA → USC12 miNovember 17, 1990 216USC → Notre Dame1,816 miNovember 24, 1990 217Notre Dame → Colorado999 miJanuary 1, 1991 218Colorado → Baylor741 miSeptember 14, 1991 219Baylor → Rice163 miOctober 12, 1991 220Rice → TCU237 miOctober 19, 1991 221TCU → Baylor81 miOctober 26, 1991 222Baylor → Texas Tech311 miNovember 16, 1991 223Texas Tech → Oklahoma276 miSeptember 3, 1992 224Oklahoma → USC1,186 miSeptember 19, 1992 225USC → Washington965 miOctober 3, 1992 226Washington → Arizona1,221 miNovember 7, 1992 227Arizona → USC442 miNovember 14, 1992 228USC → UCLA12 miNovember 21, 1992 229UCLA → California343 miSeptember 4, 1993 230California → Washington676 miOctober 9, 1993 231Washington → UCLA956 miOctober 16, 1993 232UCLA → Arizona State362 miNovember 13, 1993 233Arizona State → Arizona101 miNovember 26, 1993 234Arizona → Colorado State662 miOctober 8, 1994 235Colorado State → Utah354 miOctober 22, 1994 236Utah → New Mexico485 miNovember 5, 1994 237New Mexico → Wyoming435 miNovember 12, 1994 238Wyoming → Air Force164 miSeptember 9, 1995 239Air Force → Colorado State109 miSeptember 16, 1995 240Colorado State → BYU346 miSeptember 30, 1995 241BYU → Arizona State472 miOctober 14, 1995 242Arizona State → Arizona101 miNovember 24, 1995 243Arizona → Iowa1,249 miSeptember 7, 1996 244Iowa → Tulsa448 miSeptember 21, 1996 245Tulsa → BYU898 miOctober 19, 1996 246BYU → Washington735 miSeptember 6, 1997 247Washington → Nebraska1,345 miSeptember 20, 1997 248Nebraska → Texas A&M706 miOctober 10, 1998 249Texas A&M → Texas86 miNovember 27, 1998 250Texas → NC State1,163 miAugust 28, 1999 251NC State → Florida State491 miSeptember 18, 1999 252Florida State → Miami396 miOctober 7, 2000 253Miami → Ohio State983 miJanuary 3, 2003 254Ohio State → Wisconsin393 miOctober 11, 2003 255Wisconsin → Purdue223 miOctober 18, 2003 256Purdue → Michigan207 miOctober 25, 2003 257Michigan → USC1,947 miJanuary 1, 2004 258USC → Texas1,228 miJanuary 4, 2006 259Texas → Ohio State1,066 miSeptember 9, 2006 260Ohio State → Florida716 miJanuary 9, 2007 261Florida → Auburn276 miSeptember 29, 2007 262Auburn → LSU368 miOctober 20, 2007 263LSU → Arkansas427 miNovember 23, 2007 264Arkansas → Missouri222 miJanuary 1, 2008 265Missouri → Oklahoma State324 miOctober 11, 2008 266Oklahoma State → Texas405 miOctober 25, 2008 267Texas → Texas Tech333 miNovember 1, 2008 268Texas Tech → Oklahoma276 miNovember 22, 2008 269Oklahoma → Florida959 miJanuary 8, 2009 270Florida → Alabama393 miDecember 5, 2009 271Alabama → South Carolina380 miOctober 9, 2010 272South Carolina → Kentucky341 miOctober 16, 2010 273Kentucky → Georgia288 miOctober 23, 2010 274Georgia → Florida303 miOctober 30, 2010 275Florida → South Carolina309 miNovember 13, 2010 276South Carolina → Auburn275 miDecember 4, 2010 277Auburn → Clemson209 miSeptember 17, 2011 278Clemson → Georgia Tech108 miOctober 29, 2011 279Georgia Tech → Virginia Tech327 miNovember 10, 2011 280Virginia Tech → Clemson222 miDecember 4, 2011 281Clemson → West Virginia378 miJanuary 4, 2012 282West Virginia → Texas Tech1,282 miOctober 13, 2012 283Texas Tech → Kansas State486 miOctober 27, 2012 284Kansas State → Baylor529 miNovember 17, 2012 285Baylor → Oklahoma State316 miNovember 23, 2013 286Oklahoma State → Oklahoma67 miDecember 7, 2013 287Oklahoma → TCU173 miOctober 4, 2014 288TCU → Baylor81 miOctober 11, 2014 289Baylor → West Virginia1,112 miOctober 18, 2014 290West Virginia → TCU1,081 miNovember 1, 2014 291TCU → Oklahoma State237 miNovember 7, 2015 292Oklahoma State → Baylor316 miNovember 21, 2015 293Baylor → TCU81 miNovember 27, 2015 294TCU → Arkansas295 miSeptember 10, 2016 295Arkansas → Texas A&M397 miSeptember 24, 2016 296Texas A&M → Alabama546 miOctober 22, 2016 297Alabama → Clemson288 miJanuary 9, 2017 298Clemson → Syracuse680 miOctober 13, 2017 299Syracuse → Miami1,202 miOctober 21, 2017 300Miami → Pittsburgh1,001 miNovember 24, 2017 301Pittsburgh → Penn State116 miSeptember 8, 2018 302Penn State → Ohio State277 miSeptember 29, 2018 303Ohio State → Purdue208 miOctober 20, 2018 304Purdue → Michigan State202 miOctober 27, 2018 305Michigan State → Ohio State203 miNovember 10, 2018 306Ohio State → Clemson368 miDecember 28, 2019 307Clemson → LSU568 miJanuary 13, 2020 308LSU → Mississippi State253 miSeptember 26, 2020 309Mississippi State → Arkansas355 miOctober 3, 2020 310Arkansas → Auburn550 miOctober 10, 2020 311Auburn → South Carolina275 miOctober 17, 2020 312South Carolina → LSU643 miOctober 24, 2020 313LSU → Auburn368 miOctober 31, 2020 314Auburn → Alabama127 miNovember 28, 2020 315Alabama → Texas A&M546 miOctober 9, 2021 316Texas A&M → Ole Miss474 miNovember 13, 2021 317Ole Miss → Baylor480 miJanuary 1, 2022 318Baylor → BYU1,009 miSeptember 10, 2022 319BYU → Oregon640 miSeptember 17, 2022 320Oregon → Washington251 miNovember 12, 2022 321Washington → Michigan1,901 miJanuary 8, 2024 322Michigan → Texas1,134 miSeptember 7, 2024 323Texas → Georgia877 miOctober 19, 2024 324Georgia → Ole Miss353 miNovember 9, 2024 325Ole Miss → Florida532 miNovember 23, 2024 326Florida → South Florida116 miSeptember 6, 2025 327South Florida → Miami197 miSeptember 13, 2025 328Miami → Louisville905 miOctober 17, 2025 329Louisville → California1,973 miNovember 8, 2025 330California → Stanford31 miNovember 22, 2025 331Stanford → Notre Dame1,922 miNovember 29, 2025

How it is measured: each hop is the great-circle distance between the home fields of the program that lost the belt and the one that took it (venue coordinates from the College Football Data API; the four historic programs it no longer tracks are placed by hand), regardless of where the game itself was played. The map is the same Albers projection as the state map; the star is the belt’s days-weighted center of gravity.