Location Advantages
By Joe Nelson
Overanalyzing location advantage can be a mistake as these will generally all be unfamiliar venues and spacious arenas with mixed fan bases. It is worth taking a look at the travel required for teams in the NCAA tournament however and also considering the difficulty for fans to make the trip and gauging what type of crowd to expect. Here is a brief look at some of the advantages and disadvantages presented by the selection committee this season.
Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio State was given the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament and rightfully was given the most favorable location for the first weekend of games, staying the Buckeye State just a short 143 miles northeast of Columbus. Ohio State will enjoy a big advantage over their first round opponent in terms of travel and fan support facing a play-in game winner that required a decent trip to Dayton and then to Cleveland. Fans of George Mason and Villanova will face a hefty trip from the D.C. or Philadelphia areas to get to the second round game versus the top seed. Ohio State was placed in the most favorable region location in Newark but there simply was not a close option this year and at 527 miles away it will be a trek for fans following the team. Ohio State is also at risk to have a crowd disadvantage at a potential regional final if Syracuse can make a run as the #3 seed.
Xavier also gets to play in its home state of Ohio but the trip from Cincinnati to Cleveland is significantly longer at 248 miles, but still a big advantage over Marquette coming from Milwaukee. It might appear that Xavier would have a bit of an advantage in a potential second round game against Syracuse, but the Orange faithful are only traveling a slightly further 334 miles to Cleveland. Ohio State fans in attendance will certainly pull for the Musketeers in that potential game which could be an advantage for the underdog. Syracuse is just 237 miles from Newark so the Orange will enjoy a favorable crowd in a potential sweet 16 game possibly versus North Carolina or in the regional final should they make it that far.
Tampa, Florida
Florida’s strong late season run earned a protected seed and a favorable draw in Tampa. Gainesville is just 130 miles north of the Tampa area and the Gators should be considered one of the big winners of Selection Sunday as a team that likely was a bit over-seeded. To add to the location edge is first round opponent UC-Santa Barbara, making one of the longest trips in the field at 2,269 miles across the country. At least the Gauchos were not forced to play an early time slot game on the east coast. Michigan State and UCLA are both storied programs that could be considered upset threats in the second round but location and fan support should not be an issue for the Gators. This group feeds to New Orleans in the Southeast region and while that is 535 miles away, the Gators are the only contender in the entire region that is even remotely close to Louisiana.
The other pod in Tampa is a bit of mismatch with no teams with clear advantages. Kentucky is the highest seeded team but at 838 miles away the Wildcats did not get much benefit in the bracket from a great run to the SEC championship, where they blew out the Gators who received the cushy draw. Kentucky certainly would have preferred Cleveland, Charlotte, Chicago, or Washington D.C. as a first round venue and the Wildcats are a team that may have some legitimate beef with the seeding and draw from the selection committee, although first round opponent Princeton is traveling even further. The winner of the Clemson/UAB match-up on Tuesday night will be much closer to Tampa than West Virginia but having to travel to Dayton and back will negate that advantage. The winner of this pod will head to Newark so there will not be a significant advantage for any of the teams from this group unless Princeton can make a second straight sweet 16 appearance for the Ivy League.
Charlotte, North Carolina
It seems that every year the state of North Carolina gets tournament games whether in Raleigh, Greensboro, or this year in Charlotte. The benefit usually goes to Duke and North Carolina, who typically are seeded well enough to get favorable placement. North Carolina has a nice set-up for the first round getting to face Long Island. Chapel Hill is just 141 miles from Charlotte but the biggest beneficiary of location in this pod may be Georgia, playing just 201 miles away as the #10 seed against Washington, coming 2,825 miles from Seattle. Washington is another team that could make a legitimate gripe with their positioning despite winning the Pac-10 tournament, especially when the #7 seed in the West is Temple playing in Tucson.
Duke also ends up in Charlotte with a #1 seed although first round opponent Hampton does not face too significant of travel. Tennessee was also given a favorable location as a #9 seed, playing just 245 miles away compared to #8 Michigan traveling 670 miles to Charlotte. Duke would face a big disadvantage in a potential regional final match-up with #2 seed San Diego State however as this pod feeds to Anaheim. Duke could also meet Arizona in the sweet 16 in Anaheim so the road will be tough for the Blue Devils to repeat, but of course last season Duke beat Baylor in Houston in the regional final and then won the championship in Butler’s backyard in Indianapolis so location is not everything in this tournament.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
No schools from Oklahoma made the tournament this season but this venue should be well represented in the heart of Big XII country. Top seed Kansas faces a manageable 221 mile drive south to lead this venue and first round opponent Boston University will face a much longer flight. UNLV and Illinois meet in the #8/9 match-up with no real advantage for either school. Kansas is projected for a deep tournament run but of course the Jayhawks have been knocked off early in several recent tournaments including last year. The winner of this group will head to San Antonio, and while that is a significant journey it is as good as the Jayhawks could have hoped for given the four regions and only a miracle run by #7 seed Texas A&M would present a location disadvantage in a possible regional final.
Austin might look somewhat close to Tulsa on a map but it is still 453 miles away but Texas should still be well represented in this grouping. Memphis as the #12 seed in this pod actually has the shortest travel but it is sill over 400 miles away. Texas and Oakland will play the earliest game on Friday and presumably the Bok Center will be dominated by Kansas fans so it could be a bit of sparse crowd early and it is likely that any Kansas fans will adopt whoever is playing Texas making the upset risk a little bit greater for the Longhorns. This group will lead to Anaheim and face the winner of Duke’s pod.
Washington, D.C.
Connecticut earned a #3 seed with an epic Big East tournament run and of the first round venues this is as good as the Huskies could have hoped for though still 372 miles away. Bucknell is actually only 191 miles away from the capitol city so the Bison should be in a reasonably favorable spot to try to make another run at a tournament upset after beating #3 seed Kansas in the first round of the 2005 tournament. Missouri and Cincinnati both face significant trips east for the #6/11 match-up. The winner of this grouping will end up in Anaheim with potentially San Diego State lurking at a favorable venue in the Sweet 16.
Pittsburgh was allegedly the fourth #1 seed but the Panthers will play just 248 miles away for the opening weekend. Old Dominion is in Norfolk, Virginia which is still 194 miles away from Washington, D.C. so the location edge for the Monarchs is not as great as it might have looked initially. It certainly will help in the first round match-up against Butler but Pittsburgh should be very well represented in a second round match-up. The winner of this group heads to New Orleans and there are no other teams in the region that would enjoy a big location advantage at that site.
Denver, Colorado
BYU had to be in a Thursday/Saturday grouping so Denver makes sense for the Cougars as a #3 seed. Provo is still 483 miles away so it will not be a dramatic advantage for the Cougars although being accustomed to a higher altitude should be a bit of an advantage, especially being an up-tempo team. St. John’s was given no advantage as the #6 seed traveling to Denver and while Gonzaga is much closer, it is still 1,095 miles from Spokane to Denver. BYU has the location edge in this pod but it is not as significant as many other groups feature. The winner moves on to face the winner of Florida’s Tampa pod and no team will enjoy much of an edge in New Orleans.
The second grouping in Denver features a mismatch or misplaced team as this was clearly a ‘leftover’ grouping. Vanderbilt and Richmond face off in a fairly even #5/12 match-up as the Spiders were not given much respect for winning the Atlantic 10 tournament. Louisville and Morehead State both hail from Kentucky but it will be a significant journey for both teams. The depth and pressing defense for Louisville could have somewhat of an advantage at altitude, so that could be something to keep an eye on. The winner of this group will meet in San Antonio with Kansas barring a major upset.
Tucson, Arizona
San Diego State had to be a bit disappointed to not earn a #1 seed despite the glowing 32-2 record but the Aztecs have to be pleased with how the bracket looks. San Diego is 409 miles from Tucson but it is much easier travel than any of the seven other teams in this group will face. If the Aztecs survive the first game with Northern Colorado they will face the winner of Temple and Penn State, two teams traveling a significant ways from Pennsylvania. This pod feeds into the West region in Anaheim and the Aztecs are the only #1 or #2 seed that could have a massive location advantage in the regional games, playing just 95 miles north.
Wisconsin and Kansas State were both sent out west to Tucson and both have emerged as two of the more popular teams to pick against for first round upsets. In terms of the spreads neither would really be a significant upset but location will not be much of a factor if either team falls. Utah is directly north of Arizona but Utah State resides in Logan at the very north end of the state and Tucson is very far south, leaving 848 miles of travel for the Aggies. Manhattan, Kansas is a little bit further but it really is not the advantage it might initially look like for Utah State. Wisconsin and Belmont both face long travel to the desert and the winner of this group would end up in New Orleans, which would not be terribly helpful for any of these teams either.
Chicago, Illinois
Some people though Notre Dame had a case to be a #1 seed but the Irish have to be satisfied with being in Chicago, just 96 miles west of South Bend. Notre Dame should be well represented at the United Center and while Akron is a manageable 367 miles away this does not look like a prime upset spot. Florida State and Texas A&M will face off to meet the Irish and both would be at a big disadvantage in terms of location and fan support. The winner of this group would head to San Antonio so Texas A&M has a great path ahead if they can get hot and pull off a second round upset after surviving what should be a tight evenly matched first game with the Seminoles. This is the only grouping that is matched up in the bracket as the winner will face the winner of the other Chicago grouping in the sweet 16.
Travel was supposed to be a consideration for picking teams in the ‘First Four’ games but USC and VCU likely do not feel that was a factor as both face significant travel to Dayton and will also be far from home in Chicago. Georgetown has to journey over 700 miles to get to the Windy City so there will not be a big advantage for the #6 seed facing the play-in winner. Purdue could have made a case for a #2 seed but the Boilermakers have to like this draw, just 123 miles north of West Lafayette. St. Peter’s travels nearly 800 miles from New Jersey for the match-up so Purdue should be in a good position for the first and second games. A Notre Dame/Purdue match-up would be a very intriguing game in the Sweet 16 and a very tough ticket in Chicago, but of course that game would be in San Antonio.