Agree. Going the day of is actually a smarter way to travel. Sleep in your own bed will always bring more rest than in a hotel. Eating what's familiar is always a better bet too. Flying an hour and standing/walking in an airport are not going to fatigue legs. If you watched the game, UCLA did not get beat because of fatigue. Just couldn't get a quality chance in the final third. Santa Clara's second goal was top notch and well earned. Remember they coulda had 3 with that awful PK. They have players on that team--several from SoCal. In this game at least, UCLA seemed to be missing a true "9". Fishel is more of a 10 than a 9. Still, a great game played by both teams. Beautiful soccer. Sometimes that's the way it goes when playing tiki taka.
The Raiders used to always fly into Denver the day of a NFL game (not sure if they still do). That was for dealing with altitude, but still similar concept.