Opening weekend of NCAA location question

[dgies9156]

Which location do people PREFER?

For me, Des Moines (I've only said that 20 times).

It's not a bad town at all, by any means.  It's no Milwaukee, but you can find lots to do there.  I heard Columbus is decent too.

Des Moines makes most sense, due to location.  For Chicago and for that matter, Milwaukee, and Mpls, it's an easy peasy drive.  If I'm not mistaken, that's our 3 largest alumni bases.

Orlando.

92 minutes from my house.

Nice area, good access to the arena.

Something for the out of towners to do between games!

[pbiflyer]

Orlando.

92 minutes from my house.

Nice area, good access to the arena.

Something for the out of towners to do between games!

Two hours from mine. Sadly if we get placed there, UCF daughter will be on spring break and we leave that Saturday for sons's spring break, so I would only get to see one game. But I'd take that in a heartbeat!

[i71_dawg]

Lunardi's latest update yesterday morning now has MU playing as a 3-seed in Albany.

That's certainly not one of the top preferred destinations for us.

I don't know the reason for his change, but he has Gonzaga also as a 3 playing in Columbus (along with Purdue's pod).

He has Kansas & Kansas State heading up the 2 pods in Des Moines

[Galway Eagle]

Lunardi's latest update yesterday morning now has MU playing as a 3-seed in Albany.

That's certainly not one of the top preferred destinations for us.

I don't know the reason for his change, but he has Gonzaga also as a 3 playing in Columbus (along with Purdue's pod).

He has Kansas & Kansas State heading up the 2 pods in Des Moines

Lunardi is pretty infamously poor at bracketology. My understanding is he had one year like 15yrs back where he did really well and has cashed in on it ever since.

[dgies9156]

Lunardi is pretty infamously poor at bracketology. My understanding is he had one year like 15yrs back where he did really well and has cashed in on it ever since.

If we are going to Albany, why not Denver? They are roughly the same distance and Denver is a heck of a lot easier for our fan base to get to than Albany?

Or Birmingham for that matter?

[CountryRoads]

Lunardi is pretty infamously poor at bracketology. My understanding is he had one year like 15yrs back where he did really well and has cashed in on it ever since.

He's become obsolete. When he was first becoming popular, his main claim to fame was picking all the teams that were included. I've put in 0 minutes and I think on Selection Sunday I could pick a minimum of 65 teams right (missing 3 of them). Picking the teams isn't impressive and it's a bit lucky for those last few. The real challenge is getting the seeds and locations right. That's where he falls off relative to others.

[MUMountin]

If we are going to Albany, why not Denver? They are roughly the same distance and Denver is a heck of a lot easier for our fan base to get to than Albany?

Or Birmingham for that matter?

Since Alabama and Houston are both almost assuredly ahead of us in seeding, they (and their first/second round pairings) are likely to be placed in B'ham as their top geographic preference.

Albany is, I believe, technically closer to Milwaukee than Denver.  It is also in Big East territory (roughly), so the committee may consider that a more natural preference while leaving Denver available as a site for some of the Big 12 teams.  Which is a bummer, b/c I'd love to have them here in Colorado! 

[brewcity77]

Lunardi is pretty infamously poor at bracketology. My understanding is he had one year like 15yrs back where he did really well and has cashed in on it ever since.

He was the first person doing it publicly and has been doing ESPN for about that long. Everyone else doing it now is following in his footsteps, but he's not nearly as accurate as he once was. He's better than Palm at CBS, but not great. In terms of Marquette v Gonzaga for Columbus, here is where the schools stand:

Marquette
1. Des Moines (373 miles)
2. Columbus (452)
3. Birmingham (760)
4. Greensboro (831)
5. Albany (911)

Gonzaga
1. Sacramento (822)
2. Denver (1,090)
3. Des Moines (1,479)
4. Columbus (2,141)
5. Birmingham (2,240)


If both are on the 3-line, it's safe to assume that Birmingham will be closed (Alabama and Houston). Sacramento will also likely be closed (UCLA and Arizona). On the one-line, Des Moines will take Kansas and Columbus will take Purdue. So that's six of the 1/2 seeds accounted for.

In terms of teams in the mix right now, you have Texas, Baylor, Kansas State, and Tennessee are the other teams fighting with Marquette and Gonzaga. If Texas, Baylor, and K-State are all ahead of Marquette and Gonzaga, Baylor or K-State would go to Des Moines (closing it) and the other two would go to Denver.

So at this point, Birmingham, Sacramento, Des Moines, and Denver are all closed, while Columbus has one spot left. The closest spot left for Tennessee is Greensboro, so no matter what, that's where they would be expected to go if they're competing with Marquette and Gonzaga.

If Gonzaga is ahead on the S-Curve, I could see them getting Columbus, but if so, that would likely kick Marquette to Greensboro with Tennessee instead of Albany. It's possible they would consider the Big East presence in New York state, but proximity should be the guiding line once you get past a team's first choice venue (which is really only guaranteed for the top overall seed).

I also think with Marquette adding the Creighton win, the outright Big East title, and no losses outside Q1+2, MU gets the edge over Gonzaga. If I had to book tickets for one spot right now, it would be Columbus. It's certainly not guaranteed, but if you are sending Gonzaga 2,000+ miles away, what's the difference between any of the sites at that point?

[oldwarrior81]

Arizona is about equal distance from Denver as it is from Sacramento.

I could see them in Denver and Gonzaga being a 3 in Sacramento.
Either way, I think Gonzaga/Arizona may fill both the Sacramento & Denver pods.

A guess would be that a Big 12 team (K-State, Texas, Baylor) is the second team in Denver.   Possibly both spots in Denver are taken by Big 12 teams.  Which requires the lower of Arizona/Gonzaga to move east.

Unless K-State finishes above Marquette, I'd find it surprising they get Des Moines.  Don't most projections have them both as 3-seeds?
K-State is about 320 miles from Des Moines, less than 500 from Denver.
I'm pretty sure K-State is the closest in mileage to Denver, then any of the projected top 20 teams.

[Jay Bee]

Who has booked Houston already??

[pbiflyer]

Lunardi's latest update yesterday morning now has MU playing as a 3-seed in Albany.

That's certainly not one of the top preferred destinations for us.

I don't know the reason for his change, but he has Gonzaga also as a 3 playing in Columbus (along with Purdue's pod).

He has Kansas & Kansas State heading up the 2 pods in Des Moines

OOF, Albany has little redeeming qualities. City Beer Hall has good beer selection, not good food. TheHollow has good food, minimal TVs for watching basketball.
And there is, um, a great, a, well, decent, um okay, interesting, actually no real redeeming aspect of Albany.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Arizona is about equal distance from Denver as it is from Sacramento.

I could see them in Denver and Gonzaga being a 3 in Sacramento.
Either way, I think Gonzaga/Arizona may fill both the Sacramento & Denver pods.

A guess would be that a Big 12 team (K-State, Texas, Baylor) is the second team in Denver.   Possibly both spots in Denver are taken by Big 12 teams.  Which requires the lower of Arizona/Gonzaga to move east.

Unless K-State finishes above Marquette, I'd find it surprising they get Des Moines.  Don't most projections have them both as 3-seeds?
K-State is about 320 miles from Des Moines, less than 500 from Denver.
I'm pretty sure K-State is the closest in mileage to Denver, then any of the projected top 20 teams.

The problem with putting Arizona in Denver is that displaced a Big 12 school.

Kansas will be in Des Moines.  The trio of Texas, Baylor, and Kansas State take the 2nd Des Moines spot and both Denver spots.

If the committee puts Gonzaga in Sacramento, pushing Arizona to Denver, that displaces a Big 12 school who probably ends up in Columbus.  That pushes Marquette to either Greensboro or Albany.

[brewcity77]

Arizona is about equal distance from Denver as it is from Sacramento.

I could see them in Denver and Gonzaga being a 3 in Sacramento.
Either way, I think Gonzaga/Arizona may fill both the Sacramento & Denver pods.

A guess would be that a Big 12 team (K-State, Texas, Baylor) is the second team in Denver.   Possibly both spots in Denver are taken by Big 12 teams.  Which requires the lower of Arizona/Gonzaga to move east.

Unless K-State finishes above Marquette, I'd find it surprising they get Des Moines.  Don't most projections have them both as 3-seeds?
K-State is about 320 miles from Des Moines, less than 500 from Denver.
I'm pretty sure K-State is the closest in mileage to Denver, then any of the projected top 20 teams.

The Selection Committee can do what they choose, but if they follow their general guidelines, they go by closest to the school that is up on the curve. So if they get to Arizona and both Sacramento (873) and Denver (896) are open, they should get Sacramento. If they get to K-State and both Des Moines (314) and Denver (494) are open, they should get Des Moines. There might be a little more nuance with the Arizona or Texas (916 to Denver, 926 to Des Moines) types, but I really think Birmingham closing early will push a Big 12 2-seed to Des Moines with Kansas, leaving us in Columbus. The math strongly favors it.

[wisblue]

The video on the NCAA site covering how teams are placed from the seed list to the bracket suggests that the software they use assigns a team to the closest available location based purely on mileage from the school's campus to the game site. But, I would  think that the Committee might tinker with that if moving one team a little farther from home would allow another team to be much closer to its home.

That's my small ray of hope that if MU doesn't get assigned to Columbus it might get sent to Orlando instead of Albany.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

It depends on the S-Curve.  Let's use Bracket Matrix for a practice bracketing.

1. Alabama to Birmingham
2. Houston to Birmingham

***Birmingham is full.***

3. Purdue to Columbus
4. Kansas to Des Moines
5. UCLA to Sacramento
6. Texas to Des Moines
7. Baylor to Denver

The of the two seeds to this point doesn't matter a ton.  UCLA is the first team sent to Sacramento.  Texas and Baylor could be flipped on the S-Curve, but one of them is going to Ames and the other to Denver.

***Des Moines is full***

8. Arizona to Sacramento
9. Kansas State to Denver
10. Marquette to Columbus
11. Tennessee to Greensboro
12. Gonzaga to ???

Gonzaga gets the short end of the stick as because they are 12th on the S-Curve.

Another possibility if we change the order:

8. Arizona to Sacramento
9. Gonzaga to Denver
10. Kansas State to Columbus
11.  Marquette to Greensboro
12.  Tennessee to Greensboro

The change in the S-Curve creates a domino effect that changes where teams are placed.  It's not just seed, but also S-curve position that influences site assignments.

[The Sultan]

Assuming you mean Des Moines and not Ames.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Assuming you mean Des Moines and not Ames.

Correct. I will edit.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Assuming you mean Des Moines and not Ames.

It's Iowa, it's Iowa

[Newsdreams]

There is no way we go to DesMoines, MU West court is only 38 miles away.

[MU82]

I'd obviously love Greensboro, but that wouldn't be the greatest for most of Marquette's fan base. Agree with those pulling for Columbus; neat city, good venue and reasonable distance.

[tower912]

Party at mu82's house if MU is in Greensboro!  Sleepover?

[MU82]

Party at mu82's house if MU is in Greensboro!  Sleepover?

I live about 1 1/2 hours from Greensboro ... but sure, for those who'd actually want to make the trip, we might be able to swing a between-games party. Even Southerners dig my pimento cheese dip, y'all!

[Dr. Blackheart]

I live about 1 1/2 hours from Greensboro ... but sure, for those who'd actually want to make the trip, we might be able to swing a between-games party. Even Southerners dig my pimento cheese dip, y'all!

I'll bring the St. Patrick's holiday lights.

[MU82]

I'll bring the St. Patrick's holiday lights.

Nice!

[tower912]

I will just mooch and snore.  And try to find a tee time on  the in between days.