NORFOLK — Norfolk State’s upcoming road trip reads less like a November slate of college hoops and more like a concert tour.
By the time the road trip is over, the Spartans will have logged 15,703 air miles — enough to flirt with frequent-flyer status and test just how much legroom a college team can survive on.
NSU wrapped up its final home game of 2025 on Tuesday night with a 136–79 rout of Virginia–Lynchburg, a brief breather wedged between what is a very travel-heavy stretch for the Spartans. The 136 points were the most the Spartans have scored as a Division I program; the 57-point margin was the sixth-largest in that era.
“A lot of times, people see the result and they don’t look at the process,” head coach Robert Jones said after the win. “Yeah, we won today — but did we do good enough in the process to get better?”
For Jones, Tuesday was less about the record-setting numbers and more about tightening the details. NSU (4–4) hasn’t played to the level he believes it’s capable of, and he maintains the Spartans “should be 8–0 right now” if not for stretches of inconsistent intensity. Fixing that, he said, is the priority for a road swing built to harden the Spartans for MEAC play — and hopefully for March.
The marathon began Sunday with a 75–67 loss at Wyoming, where NSU fell behind by 24 before nearly clawing all the way back against the Cowboys. The Spartans flew home — the only true pause they’ll get — before preparing to crisscross time zones for the next four weeks.
“Sometimes our intensity doesn’t kick in until our backs are against the wall,” Jones said. “When we were down 24 at Wyoming, all of a sudden we start swinging like Mike Tyson. Those last 10–12 minutes? That has to be us for 40 minutes. If it is, we’re a tough out for anybody — Arizona and Baylor included.”
The road only stiffens from here. NSU, still searching for its first road win, travels to No. 2 Arizona on Nov. 29, then visits James Madison on Dec. 6 and Baylor on Dec. 10 — a ranked team, a top 25 team in KenPom rankings and a tough mid-major in the span of 12 days.
“Some of these trips aren’t as bad as they seem,” Jones said. “It’s just the opponents — like Baylor and Arizona — that are potentially bad for us.”
But the miles don’t ease up. The Spartans head south to Atlanta for the CP3 HBCU Challenge, facing Grambling on Dec. 18 and Jackson State on Dec. 19, then fly to Texas for a Dec. 21 matchup at UTEP and a Dec. 22 game against either North Dakota State or UC Irvine in the Sun Bowl Invitational.
“Four games in five days and two time zones — that’s the tricky one,” Jones said.
The month wraps with a trip to Louisiana–Lafayette on Dec. 28. By then, the Spartans might know their flight attendants better than their professors.
And the start of MEAC play offers no comfort: NSU opens with road games at North Carolina Central (Jan. 3) and Delaware State (Jan 10.) before finally returning home against Maryland Eastern Shore on Jan. 12. That’s nearly seven weeks without a home game.
When it’s all over, the Spartans won’t just be able to say they survived a brutal stretch of opponents. They’ll be able to say they beat jet lag, too.
Not bad for a team spending the next month touring the country like it’s on the road with a headlining act.
