The N.C. State football team starts this season with four straight home games, and will play eight games total at the friendly confines of Carter-Finley Stadium.

Not only does this give the team the benefit of crowd support, but coach Tom O’Brien noted before the season that the schedule will help the team deal with the rough economy.

“Lee Fowler was a smart man. He saw the economy coming down and decided to have eight home games so we don’t travel,” O’Brien said. “We’ll play eight here; we’ll take the bus to Wake Forest. We’ll bus to Virginia Tech; we only take two airplane trips, so I’m saving money here this year.”

Rather than flying to close destinations, which would have been an option in a more forgiving economic climate, Associate Athletic Director for Business and Finance Diane Moose said the team will take a bus.

“It will all depend on how far we are traveling. The best example I can give is a bus trip to Virginia Tech will cost approximately $10,000 while a charter air trip to Virginia Tech will cost approximately $75,000,” Moose said. “We will be busing for the 2009 game versus Virginia Tech.”

However, driving to schools such as Florida State and Boston College – schools at either end of the ACC’s range – is not a viable option. Money will be taken out of the school’s auxiliary funds to book the trip.

Despite this, the team will have the fewest miles traveled to road games among area schools.

Moose’s office operated with a budget of $40 million as of 2006, according to GoPack.com. Much of that goes to team travel, salaries, and day-to-day operations.

Note: Distances were calculated as straight line distances between cities using google maps rounded to the nearest 10 miles.