NCAA Sites

[Dish]

I'm admittedly jumping the gun here, but am monitoring teams/sites. Biggest issue this year is the two sites out west. With no PAC 12 teams getting a protected seed, San Jose becomes an odd destination (assuming Gonzaga and Nevada both go to Salt Lake.

Duke/UVA can be sharpied into Columbia.

Columbus might get the Big 10 winner and probably the runner up (assume both Mich schools stay top 8).

Jacksonville is another odd spot. Tennessee is closer to Columbus, but Florida is more SEC country. It would benefit MU for Tennessee to wind up there and both Michigan schools going to Columbus.

Ultimate goal here is for MU to get to Des Moines. Kansas hopefully goes to Tulsa, which would then open up a path for MU.

I just came back from Des Moines on business and drove past the arena multiple times, hoping to be back there in mid March.

[GooooMarquette]

I'd love Des Moines! Just a little over 3-hour drive for me.

[MUMountin]

I'm admittedly jumping the gun here, but am monitoring teams/sites. Biggest issue this year is the two sites out west. With no PAC 12 teams getting a protected seed, San Jose becomes an odd destination (assuming Gonzaga and Nevada both go to Salt Lake.

Duke/UVA can be sharpied into Columbia.

Columbus might get the Big 10 winner and probably the runner up (assume both Mich schools stay top 8).

Jacksonville is another odd spot. Tennessee is closer to Columbus, but Florida is more SEC country. It would benefit MU for Tennessee to wind up there and both Michigan schools going to Columbus.

Ultimate goal here is for MU to get to Des Moines. Kansas hopefully goes to Tulsa, which would then open up a path for MU.

I just came back from Des Moines on business and drove past the arena multiple times, hoping to be back there in mid March.

Its been years since I've had to think seriously about this issue, since we haven't had a team come close to sniffing a protected seed in far too long.

But, my memory was that the NCAA decided this strictly based on air distance between the campus and the location--is that not the case?  If so, that might affect your assumption about Tennessee going to Tallahassee instead of Columbus--and, I believe, UVA preferring Columbia instead of Columbus.

It also goes strictly by s-curve position, right?  So, even though Duke and UVA both make sense to go to Columbia, if Tennessee is ahead of them on the S-Curve, then they slide into one of those spots, sending the other to either Columbus, Tallahassee, or Hartford in most likely scenarios.  So, it may be premature to say that Columbia is locked in.

But, like I said, I haven't paid attention to this issue in a while, so the NCAA may have changed their approach (or I may not remember it correctly).  Any one know how they do it these days?

[Dish]

That's my bad, I had re-written that post and it timed me out on my phone and posted before the edit.

I had fixed it to say Tennessee will probably prefer Columbia, and Columbia is sharpied for ACC winner and Tennessee as it looks today. Non ACC winner between Duke/UVA probably goes to Hartford or Jacksonville.

MU needs to hang around that 9-14ish range I think for a shot at Des Moines.

[MUMountin]

But, like I said, I haven't paid attention to this issue in a while, so the NCAA may have changed their approach (or I may not remember it correctly).  Any one know how they do it these days?

Answering my own question, I found this on Crashing the Dance from last year: Among the principles the committee must follow are to "attempt to assign teams to the most geographically compatible first-/second-round site, descending in order on the seed list" and to keep teams "in or as close to their areas of natural interest as possible."

Don't know exactly where the quote comes from, nor how much that clears up--sounds less like strict distance and may more be about "fit" sometimes, so MUDish you may be right about Duke/UVA to Columbia (although I think Tenn. gets in there if they squeeze ahead of either team).

(Side note--anyone know what happened to Crashing the Dance?  The website hasn't updated since last year's tourney.  They used to create a chart with all of the distances between schools and locations that made this pretty easy).

Also, one other note--my assumption is that Nevada would go to San Jose, not Salt Lake.  So that likely leaves one spot in San Jose, one in Salt Lake for a team from east of the Rockies. 

We're probably about a month out from having a real good sense of how this might all shake out.

[westcoastwarrior]

No not San Jose again!  Lazar missing a last second shot to Washington is still fresh in my mind. 

[WarriorFan]

Don't expect logic from the tournament committee... and for most of the east-coasters, Milwaukee and San Diego or SLC are all "west" so they don't care.

[TallTitan34]

Seems like we always end up on a coast... against a team located nearby.

I was in Boise when we played Utah State and that was a true road game.

[Galway Eagle]

South Carolina was right by them, Murray state was right by them, San Jose was considerably closer to Washington. Have there been any others recently where we've essentially played on the road?

[tower912]

Seems like we always end up on a coast... against a team located nearby.

I was in Boise when we played Utah State and that was a true road game.

Beating the legend.

[warriorchick]

Hey, everybody stop jinxing us!

[muwarrior69]

Not to worry. The NCAA believes Marquette is a PAC 12 team which is why we nearly always play out West?

[war1980rior]

Tennessee has been to Jax many times for football.  Lots of local fans, and they travel well.  Add a spring break crowd, and this is pretty close to a home game for them.

I can see them in Jax so UVA or Duke gets Columbia. 

Being a local now, I'm jaded and would love MU here in Jax. I don't want Duke. I can see the NCAA setting up a Wojo vs. Coach K match. Ratings matter ($$$).  For that reason, there will be at least one PAC 12 team on the West coast, somewhere. 

Anyhow, logistically speaking, Jax is really Southern GA so it's still very close to the entire SE.

[pbiflyer]

Have tix to the NCAAs in Jax, so I would love us to be seeded there.

[SaveOD238]

So I printed a map, plotted all of the sites, and plotted the campuses of the top 16 on Bracket Matrix.  Then I went through 1 by 1 and placed teams in the closest location.

1. Virginia- Hartford (ok THIS is the one I fudged)
1. Duke- Columbia
1. Tennessee- Columbia
1. Michigan State- Columbus
2. Michigan- Columbus
2. Gonzaga- Salt Lake City
2. Kansas- Tulsa (maybe...I didn't calculate the actual distance)
2. North Carolina- Jacksonville
3. Kentucky- Des Moines
3. Texas Tech- Tulsa
3. Maryland- Hartford
3. Houston- Jacksonville
4. Virginia Tech- Des Moines
4. Marquette- Salt Lake City
4. Nevada- San Jose
4. Louisville (I actually made it Villanova on my map, as they are the next best and probably better than Louisville)- San Jose

So by my calculation, we just need to hop VPI on the seed line and hope that Kansas goes to Tulsa instead to get preference in Des Moines

[dgies9156]

It's nice to be talking about this rather than worrying about whether we make the Big Dance at all.

I'm kinda hoping for us in Jacksonville. This Warrior Snowbird would find Jacksonville appealing because it's about a 2.5 hour drive from my winter home. Given Interstate 95, it's probably 1.5 hours. I'd be there.

Wherever we go, I'm sure the dudes will do well. By the way, where are the women's sites?

[wadesworld]

Tennessee has been to Jax many times for football.  Lots of local fans, and they travel well.  Add a spring break crowd, and this is pretty close to a home game for them.

I can see them in Jax so UVA or Duke gets Columbia. 

Being a local now, I'm jaded and would love MU here in Jax. I don't want Duke. I can see the NCAA setting up a Wojo vs. Coach K match. Ratings matter ($$$).  For that reason, there will be at least one PAC 12 team on the West coast, somewhere. 

Anyhow, logistically speaking, Jax is really Southern GA so it's still very close to the entire SE.

Unless they're putting MU at a 7 or 8 seed, MU will not be playing Duke in a first/second round location.

[war1980rior]

Thx!  Not a matchup I wanted to see early on.  Just hoping they are in Jax, as several classmates are coming to town regardless of MUs location.

Last time the opening rounds were here the games were all pretty tight.  Awesome couple of days.

[SaveOD238]

Wherever we go, I'm sure the dudes will do well. By the way, where are the women's sites?

Top 4 Seeds host the first two rounds.  So there's a solid chance we'll be playing first and second round games at the AL.  One of the regionals is at the Wintrust, so there is a Final Four path that doesn't go further from home than Chicago.  Albany, Greensboro, and Portland OR are the others.  Tampa for the Final Four.

[Lennys Tap]

Ran my first marathon in Des Moines. Friendly people, nice downtown area IIRC.

[We R Final Four]

How many seeds are "protected"?
Top 4?

[🏀]

Ran my first marathon in Des Moines. Friendly people, nice downtown area IIRC.

Des Moines is awesome

[PGsHeroes32]

Ran my first marathon in Des Moines. Friendly people, nice downtown area IIRC.

They do it really well for the tourney too.

If the weather is nice is pretty damn great downtown.

[GooooMarquette]

Ran my first marathon in Des Moines. Friendly people, nice downtown area IIRC.

I ran the marathon there once too! Maybe around '89 or so....

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Anyhow, logistically speaking, Jax is really Southern GA so it's still very close to the entire SE.

Wait, I thought there was a line between the 2?