The NCAA Selection Committee takes a ton of heat every year — especially this March — due to who they invite to the NCAA Tournament and how they seed those teams.
One area that the committee arguably deserves more scrutiny is how they disperse those teams throughout the country.
It's not easy. The tournament requires 60 teams to head to eight different first weekend sites, with eight more teams routed through Dayton, Ohio, as part of the First Four.
In theory, geography takes on an outsized role in the process. Having taken part in mock committee exercises in the past, I've seen that location is a priority, yet despite that prioritization, the tournament forces some teams into terrible travel and quasi-road games year after year.
If you're filling out a bracket, participating in any kind of pool or betting on games, identifying and understanding the travel and geographic advantages is crucial before putting pen to paper or plunking wagers down.
Here are the spots I'm eyeing this week.
The Alabama to Spokane Pipeline
The way the committee decides where to send each pod starts with the top seeds. As the highest seeded teams are bracketed, they're sent to their closest possible venue.
Because the population of the United States and the majority of D-I schools sit on the eastern side of the map, that often leaves four seeds from east of the Mississippi without a venue close to home. Only one of the top 12 seeds comes from the West half of the country, Arizona.
Look at this year's bracket, where teams like Baylor and Creighton were sent East (to Memphis and Pittsburgh, respectively), leaving the four seeds packing up for a West Coast trip.
Duke, as the final four seed, steals the last spot in Brooklyn, sending Kansas to Salt Lake City and then, preposterously, both Alabama and Auburn shipped across the country to Spokane, Washington. Flights from the state of Alabama to Spokane will be packed this week, with UAB also being sent there.
(If getting everyone the best possible travel was the goal, I'd have sent Baylor to Salt Lake and Creighton to Spokane, with the Alabama schools to Memphis and Pittsburgh, but the committee is very strict about giving the highest seeded teams their closest possible venue, with little regard for the last few teams to be slotted.)
Luckily for both the Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers, they'll face East Coast schools also being flung across the country, Charleston and Yale.
UAB isn't as lucky, catching San Diego State.
In a funny twist, Charleston noticed that its opponent will have its hated arch-rival in town. It's started a little movement, urging Auburn fans to show up and loudly root against the Tide.
Dear Auburn Nation,
it just means more when Alabama loses! We look forward to your support out in Spokane as we try to roll the tide!
Sincerely,#OurCity🌴🏀 @AuburnMBB@MarleneNavorpic.twitter.com/GJofvecTTz
— Everett German (@Ev_German) March 18, 2024
Yale might benefit from the same fun quirk, with the Alabama fans returning the favor.
The Right Spot for the Top Seeds
Because the top seeds are slotted first, they're often given incredibly advantageous locations for their fans. That's true of three of the four top seeds, with UConn in Brooklyn, North Carolina in Charlotte and Purdue in Indianapolis.
Does that actually matter for such highly-seeded teams?
Of the last seven top seeds to fail to reach the Sweet 16, just two played in their home state. One of those two was Villanova playing in Pittsburgh, which though its the same state is not exactly the Wildcats' backyard.
The other was Baylor in 2023, which lost to North Carolina in Fort Worth.
Any American Airlines frequent flier would tell you that the Charlotte to DFW flight was probably jam packed with Carolina Blue, negating a home court advantage.
Maybe this gives you pause about Houston, playing in Memphis with its eyes sneaking ahead to second weekend games in Dallas.
The Altitude Factor
Playing above sea level is a massive factor every year in college hoops. Looking at KenPom's home court advantage rankings, that's clear.
Among his top 25 teams who outperform at home, you'll find seven teams who live and play over 3,000 feet above sea level, including tourney teams Colorado, Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas Tech.
The affect on this year's tournament is not, however, related to those teams, but to one of the host sites. Thursday and Saturday games will be played in Salt Lake City, nearly a mile above sea level.
Teams playing there will have limited time to acclimate to the setting and it could be a factor — especially for two popular upset picks.
Samford lucked out when it drew a hobbled Kansas team and got even luckier when the game was placed in Utah. The Bulldogs play their brand of "Bucky Ball," named for head coach Bucky McMillan, a high-tempo, high-pressure scheme.
Samford ranks third in the nation in bench player usage, per KenPom, with McMillan frequently shuttling in fresh legs to keep the pace moving.
Kansas, meanwhile, ranks 318th in that stat, before considering injuries to two starters. Anyone backing Kansas will tell you that senior point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. will be able to steady the Jayhawks against the Bucky Ball pressure. Will he be able to play his normal 36 minutes per game at altitude, though?
You can also ask the same of Gonzaga, which ranked 346th in bench minutes with a seven man rotation. The Zags will face pressure against McNeese, though it's worth noting that the Zags live at nearly 2,000 feet above sea level, making the transition easier.
Other Teams Racking Up Miles
A few more teams will be asked to make long, cross-country flights prior to the first round this weekend.
- Oregon, a sexy upset pick, will need to migrate all the way to Pittsburgh by Thursday for date with South Carolina.
- The Dayton Flyers will take their nickname to heart, playing Nevada in Salt Lake City on Thursday, much closer to home for the Wolf Pack.
- The same is true of another seven-seed, Washington State. The Cougars miss out on Spokane or Salt Lake, heading to Omaha to face Drake, which is playing just two hours from campus.
- If you're worried about any team in the First Four, it's likely Montana State, which would need to hop from Bozeman to Dayton, beat Grambling, then head to Indianapolis to battle Purdue. The Boilermakers might look nice against the spread if they catch the Bobcats.
