I wanted to take some time and run through some of the travel spots associated with the NCAA Tournament.
Many teams will be facing unique and unfamiliar arenas and everyone who wins will battle quick turnarounds. The NCAA Tournament is a great test for coaching staffs who are tasked with prepping for opponents on the fly.
Travel takes such a toll on these teams during the rigors of a regular season, conference tournament play and now the NCAA Tournament. So, let's get into it.
Advantage: No. 11 USF Bulls
USF travels to Buffalo, New York, for its first- and second-round games. While this travel may seem insignificant to the Bulls themselves, there's added meaning to playing in upstate New York for head coach Bryan Hodgson.
Hodgson grew up in Western New York after being adopted as a child. His ailing father has never seen him coach in the college leagues, and will be able to attend these games in Buffalo.
There's supreme added motivation for South Florida, and with Hodgson recently declining the Syracuse job in favor of staying at South Florida, this staff appears fully locked in.
I like USF in its opening-round matchup against Louisville aside from this situation, but expect a complete and full effort from the Bulls playing for their coach in front of his father for the first time.
This situation matters, in my opinion.
Advantage: No. 1 Duke Blue Devils
Duke has an easy trip to Greenville, South Carolina, and should have an exceptional home-crowd advantage.
The Blue Devils should have little trouble with Siena in the opening round, but I would expect the crowd to show up heavily in favor of the Dukies in the second round, when they face either Ohio State or TCU.
Advantage: No. 13 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Hawaii was in Vegas all week for the Big West Tournament, and the Rainbow Warriors now travel to Portland, Oregon, for its scheduled game against Arkansas.
Hawaii didn't travel back to the Island in between and has been on the mainland for quite some time now. The flight to Portland should've been quick and easy.
Meanwhile, Arkansas spent some time in Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC Tournament, headed back to Fayetteville for a couple of days and has now hit the road to Portland.
The travel advantage in this spot vs. Arkansas favors Hawaii.
Advantage: No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs
Gonzaga will have a massive edge in travel and fan support in its first-round game against Kennesaw State.
The Owls spent several days in Huntsville, Alabama, playing in the CUSA Tournament before heading back home for a few days. Then they hit the airport terminals for a cross-country trip to Portland.
This venue is one Gonzaga is familiar with, and the fan travel should be relatively easy for the Zags.
Advantage: Bulldogs.
Advantage: Top 4 Seeds
You could make a serious argument that most of the top four seeds in each region were blessed with above-average travel situations for their first- and second-round games.
The three teams that I think would be able to gripe the most of those seeded on the 1-4 line include:
- Arkansas having to go to Portland, Oregon, against Hawaii.
- Illinois having to go to South Carolina.
- Kansas flying to San Diego, California, to take on a team located just down the road from the venue (Cal Baptist).
Aside from these three, I thought the committee did a fair job of rewarding top seeds and making the travel situations as frictionless as possible for them.
Disadvantage: No. 7 UCLA Bruins
OK, so this next spot in Philadelphia doesn't specifically provide an advantage to either UCF or UCLA. It's exceptionally noteworthy however, to mention that of the 11 losses the Bruins have suffered this season, seven of them occurred when UCLA traveled east of the “Mountain” time zone.
The operation hasn't looked nearly as crisp this season when UCLA has had to travel east. Factor in the health of Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent — who have both been ailing with lower-leg injuries — and the Bruins could be in for a quick trip in and out of Philly.
Disadvantage: No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas gets rewarded for a solid regular season in the Big 12 with a trip out to California as the four-seed in the East Region.
The Jayhawks spent a good majority of last week in Kansas City at the Big 12 Tournament, a small jaunt from Lawrence, Kansas, where they're based out of.
The travel itself isn't overly complex getting to and from San Diego, but its opponent — Cal Baptist — will be making the short hour drive from Riverside.
This travel situation clearly favors the Lancers and with how slow Cal Baptist plays — and with a sneakily underrated defense — I could see a slower than expected start from Kansas.
The Jayhawks shouldn't be in serious jeopardy of losing outright, save for a heroic all-time NCAA Tournament performance from otherworldly Dominique Daniels Jr., which he's capable of.
Disadvantage: No. 7 Miami (FL) Hurricanes
Miami gets the seven-seed in the West Region, and its reward is a trip to St. Louis. That seems fair, until we consider its opponent, Missouri. The Tigers get the 10-seed, but they'll play in their home state just two hours down the road from Columbia.
The fan support should be outstanding and this will feel like a home environment for Mizzou.
Factor in the uniqueness of the arena and its propensity for games to trend hard to the under, and we could be looking at a tougher than expected first-round game for Miami.
