NCAA Pod assignment

[jsglow]

We know today that the two closest NCAA Pods are Columbus and Louisville with probably Pitt, Nashville and Omaha next after that.  At this juncture, is it possible to know what seed lines are being assigned to a particular pod?  In other words, do the #4 seeds end up in predetermined specific locations, for example.  If that's the case, it might be possible to make some educated guesses as to where MU might travel.  Yes, I know there's lots of basketball yet to be played.

Of course, the Committee in its usual wisdom will send us to Portland to play the PAC-10 champion.

[mileskishnish72]

This is probably one of the better years to play the PAC champion.

[TJ]

There are no requirements about which seeds play in which locations.  Each site must have two top 4 seeds in any combination (8 sites, 16 teams seeded 1-4), then the other seeds at that site are determined by necessity, i.e. if there's a 1 seed at a site then there also must be an 8, a 9, and a 16 at that site.

[Warriors10]

This is probably one of the better years to play the PAC champion.

Didn't work well for us when we played Washington a couple years back.

[PGsHeroes32]

Didn't work well for us when we played Washington a couple years back.

Thats why he said THIS YEAR is one of the better years.

[mugrad2006]

For those of you who haven't seen it, Crashing the Dance does great work on this and other seeding questions.  I love this table that shows distances for each of the pods and the regions.

http://www.crashingthedance.com/distance.php

[TallTitan34]

Summary:
St. Louis 318 mi
Columbus 331 mi
Louisville 349 mi
Omaha 425 mi
Pittsburgh 431 mi
Nashville 477 mi
Greensboro 636 mi
Atlanta 670 mi
Boston 857 mi
Phoenix 1459 mi
Portland 1713 mi

[TJ]

Summary:
St. Louis 318 mi
Columbus 331 mi
Louisville 349 mi
Omaha 425 mi
Pittsburgh 431 mi
Nashville 477 mi
Greensboro 636 mi
Atlanta 670 mi
Boston 857 mi
Phoenix 1459 mi
Portland 1713 mi

Further summary: no significant advantage to any site so we'll probably end up in Portland.

[jsglow]

There are no requirements about which seeds play in which locations.  Each site must have two top 4 seeds in any combination (8 sites, 16 teams seeded 1-4), then the other seeds at that site are determined by necessity, i.e. if there's a 1 seed at a site then there also must be an 8, a 9, and a 16 at that site.

Makes sense.  Thanks.  We'll just have to wait and see.

[muwarrior69]

When was the last time the tournament was not hosted in North Carolina?

[BM1090]

In every one of Buzz's years we have been placed closer to an opponents home than ours. Twice as a 6 seed and once as an 11 seed.

We are due for a good location

[TJ]

When was the last time the tournament was not hosted in North Carolina?

This won't translate well, so wee the picture attached.
.........UNC...........seed.......Duke...............seed............site in Carolina?
2011..Charlotte......2..........Charlotte...........1................y
2010..-............................Jacksonville FL....1................n
2009..Greensboro....1.........Greensboro.........2................y
2008..Raleigh..........1.........Washington DC...2................y
2007..Winston-Salem.1.......Buffalo NY..........6................y
2006..Dayton OH.....3........Greensboro.........1................y
2005..Charlotte.......1........Charlotte............1................y
2004..Denver CO.....6.........Raleigh..............1................y
2003..-...........................Salt Lake City UT...3..............n
2002..-...........................Greenville SC.......1................y
2001..New Orleans LA..2....Greensboro..........1................y
..............avg seed 2.13...............avg seed 1.82
........5 at home out of 8.......7 at home out of 11
site in Carolina 9 of last 11 years

[TJ]

In every one of Buzz's years we have been placed closer to an opponents home than ours. Twice as a 6 seed and once as an 11 seed.

We are due for a good location

A 6 or 11 seed isn't supposed to be given favorable treatment.  Cleveland was good last year, even if Xavier was our opponent.  San Jose and Anaheim sucked, but there's not much you can do about it as a 6 seed.

[ATWizJr]

Summary:
St. Louis 318 mi
Columbus 331 mi
Louisville 349 mi
Omaha 425 mi
Pittsburgh 431 mi
Nashville 477 mi
Greensboro 636 mi
Atlanta 670 mi
Boston 857 mi
Phoenix 1459 mi
Portland 1713 mi

These must be air miles. Actual driving mileage is significantly further.

[Warriors10]

Thats why he said THIS YEAR is one of the better years.

We were saying two years ago that it was nice playing a weak PAC-12 and look what happened...

That is what I meant.

[BM1090]

A 6 or 11 seed isn't supposed to be given favorable treatment.  Cleveland was good last year, even if Xavier was our opponent.  San Jose and Anaheim sucked, but there's not much you can do about it as a 6 seed.

I'm not talking about "favorable" treatment. We were given completely ridiculous draws when we earned a 6 seed. We played a lower seeded Washington team in San Jose and a lower seeded Utah State in Idaho. In those two years our lower seeded opponent was given a clear locational advantage.

Last year Cleveland was a mixed bag. We were the lesser team so there was no issue getting Xavier extremely close to their home, but we also had the clear advantage over Syracuse in round 2.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I'm not talking about "favorable" treatment. We were given completely ridiculous draws when we earned a 6 seed. We played a lower seeded Washington team in San Jose and a lower seeded Utah State in Idaho. In those two years our lower seeded opponent was given a clear locational advantage.

Last year Cleveland was a mixed bag. We were the lesser team so there was no issue getting Xavier extremely close to their home, but we also had the clear advantage over Syracuse in round 2.

Syracuse is 100 driving miles closer to Cleveland than Milwaukee.  MU needs the high seed.

[MUMountin]

To answer your original question about making educated guesses about where we might end up, I think it is possible to do based on how the committee assigns the pods.  

In theory, I believe, the top 16 teams are "protected" in that they are supposed to be placed at the location closest to them that doesn't already have 2 better-seeded teams in it (as mentioned, each site is guaranteed 2 teams from the top 4-seed levels).  The best teams will be sent to the closest locations, which will limit the possibilities for the lower top 16 teams.  So, if you start at the top of the S-curve and work your way down, you eliminate possible locations.

I am assuming that Marquette gets seeded in the 3-5 seed range (#9-20 on the S-curve), assuming that they drop 2-3 games down the stretch, including the BEast tourney.  I think we have a really good shot at least at a #4 seed, which would place us in the so-called "protected" territory.

Making some assumptions about teams that I assume will likely finish ahead of Marquette (barring MU winning out), here're some likelihoods about what sites probably won't be available to us, because they are the closest location to a team that is likely to be either a #1 or #2 seed:

Columbus (331 mi): OSU (I believe they play at another arena, so they can be placed at Nationwide), MSU
Louisville (349 mi): UK
Omaha (425 mi): KU, Mizzou
Pittsburgh (431 mi): Syracuse, Georgetown
Nashville (477 mi):
Greensboro (636 mi): Duke, UNC
Albuquerque (1141 mi):
Portland (1713 mi):

So that likely wipes Omaha and Greensboro, and maybe Pittsburgh and Columbus off as possibilities (depending on whether you think we'll be seeded higher than Michigan State and Georgetown--both arguably could go either way).  

Louisville looks to be the best possible remaining spot, and Nashville would be a decent back-up.  Other than UK to Louisville, none of the other projected top 8 or so teams would likely end up at either of those locations currently.  So, it looks like there are three spots at decent locations (within 500 miles) that are probably still up for grabs.

There are a number of other teams that are projected to be somewhere in the top 20 of the S-curve that we could be competing with for those three spots: Indiana, Wisconsin, Louisville, and Michigan, maybe ND if they stay really hot.  Other teams, like Baylor or any of the MWC teams would have other locations like Albuquerque or Portland as options that would be closer and less likely to go to a #1 or #2 seed currently.

So, as long as we don't get seeded behind more than two of those teams, I think we have a pretty decent shot at being in either Louisville or Nashville.  And, given that we've beaten both UW and UL, there's a pretty good shot at that (also note that Louisville can't play in Louisville).  

And, if we happen to pass either MSU or Georgetown, which is definitely possible, then Columbus and Pittsburgh could also both be back in play as options.

[BM1090]

Syracuse is 100 driving miles closer to Cleveland than Milwaukee.  MU needs the high seed.

I guess my geography isn't up to snuff.

[cheebs09]

According to Wikipedia, Ohio State is the Columbus host.

[MUMac]

According to Wikipedia, Ohio State is the Columbus host.

That does not matter, it is if they play x% of games at that facility during the season.  If yes, and I cannot recall the %, they cannot be sent there.  If under that %, they can be sent there.

Nova hosted a few years back and was able to be sent to the Philly location, because they did not play enough games there to disqualify them.

[GGGG]

I'm not talking about "favorable" treatment. We were given completely ridiculous draws when we earned a 6 seed. We played a lower seeded Washington team in San Jose and a lower seeded Utah State in Idaho. In those two years our lower seeded opponent was given a clear locational advantage.

Honestly, I didn't view San Jose as any type of advantage for Washington.  They are 850 miles apart.  That would be like saying Marquette would have an advantage if they played in Tulsa.

[GGGG]

When was the last time the tournament was not hosted in North Carolina?

They have three big arenas that aren't on college sites (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte) in a state that loves college basketball.  Hard to blame them.

[brewcity77]

Looking at the current top-4 seed lines I have along with the sites, here's where I'd place the top-4 seeds:

• Columbus: 1 Ohio State, 3 Michigan State
  
• Louisville: 1 Kentucky, 3 Marquette
  
• Omaha: 1 Missouri, 2 Kansas
  
• Pittsburgh: 1 Syracuse, 3 Georgetown
  
• Nashville: 4 Indiana, 4 Louisville
  
• Greensboro: 2 Duke, 2 North Carolina
  
• Albuquerque: 2 Baylor, 3 UNLV
  
• Portland: 4 Wisconsin, 4 Wichita State

[cheebs09]

That does not matter, it is if they play x% of games at that facility during the season.  If yes, and I cannot recall the %, they cannot be sent there.  If under that %, they can be sent there.

Nova hosted a few years back and was able to be sent to the Philly location, because they did not play enough games there to disqualify them.

St. Josephs was the host that year. You may still be right because of the percentage of games, but I always thought the host status automatically disqualified a school from playing there. Although that may be due to most venues using their home arena.