Don't get me wrong, travel is terrible, but I don't see much of a difference between traveling 2500 miles and 1000 miles.
As a worker, what matters most is the number of connections; a direct trip from LA to Boston can take just as much out of you as a trip from DC to Boston if you have to stop at Laguardia in the middle for a 90 min layover.

In BYU's case, assuming these are chartered flights, I still don't see a huge difference between a 90 minute flight and a 3 hour one. Much of the travel time is fixed, because you have to pack, get on the bus to the airport,, show up early for security, board the plane early, sit on the runway, then you are in the air for a variable amount of time depending on the number of miles, then you still have to deplane, wait for luggage, board the bus to the hotel, check in at the hotel, unpack etc. regardless of how long or short the flight is. So any travel is going to have a 3 hour minimum without any actual airtime based on the above necessities, but there isn't a huge difference between a 90 minute flight plus 3 hours (4.5 hours total), and a 3 hour flight plus 3 hours (6 hours total), particularly when you have iPads and comfy seats etc., I've just never bought into this argument that Seattle teams are at a disadvantage because their MILES TRAVELLED are 10% more than anyone else on the season because of geographic location, what matters is how many total trips but the fact that their trips are a little longer is irrelevant.

What I absolutely do buy into is the body clock thing, where you switch timezones and your body can't sleep the night before, but you still have to get up 2 or 3 hours earlier and so you are lethargic. But I don't think that if Umass were located in Arkansas and 800 miles closer it would somehow be an easier trip. Just my take.