Thursday Round of 64 NCAA Tournament Location Advantages

Thursday Round of 64 NCAA Tournament Location Advantages

The NCAA Tournament field is set and while the seeds and matchups are worthy of most of the attention, the locations can have an impact as well. Most of the brackets printed don’t even list the venues but it is worth paying attention to when and where teams are playing this week. Here is a look at a few location advantages for Thursday’s Round of 64 schedule. 

(6) BYU vs. (11) Duquesne – Omaha, NE

Provo is nearly 1,000 miles from Omaha as Pittsburgh is slightly closer to Omaha for Duquesne. The advantage for BYU comes by forcing Duquesne to play one of the first games of the tournament early on Thursday after making a long trip west, when the Dukes were one of the very last teams to finish their season winning the A-10 Championship on Sunday. A #6 seed in generous for a BYU squad that was only 10-8 in Big XII play and only had one top 50 win out of conference way back in early November and having a full week turnaround ahead of this game where the Cougars will be well-supported in Omaha sets up a favorable draw. 

(14) Akron vs. (3) Creighton – Pittsburgh, PA

Akron won the MAC tournament title in dramatic fashion last week and will only have to travel just over 100 miles to Pittsburgh despite being a #14 seed. While Omaha was off the table for Creighton as its home site, preferable placements in Memphis or Indianapolis were available instead of an over 900 mile trip east to Pittsburgh, in a venue that could be dominated by Kentucky fans. 

(1) North Carolina vs. (16) First Four Winner – Charlotte, NC

The Tar Heels didn’t have a slam dunk case to be a #1 seed after losing to NC State last weekend. In addition to that loss the Tar Heels have three other losses to teams that didn’t make the tournament. Not only did North Carolina earn the fourth #1 seed, they landed in a comfortable venue in Charlotte. North Carolina is in the West region with Arizona as the #2 seed plus with Saint Mary’s lurking as a potential Sweet 16 foe as the location edge may shift later in the tournament for the Tar Heels. 

Also in Charlotte, if (10) Virginia is able to win Tuesday’s First Four game with Colorado State, they would be in appealing location with an ACC crowd against (7) Texas. 

(5) Gonzaga vs. (12) McNeese – Salt Lake City, UT

Gonzaga doesn’t have the credentials of most of the Bulldogs teams of the past decade, but this year’s team wound up with a #5 seed and in the most appealing venue they could have hoped for given that the home site of Spokane was off the table. It is still 700 miles from Spokane to Salt Lake City, but it is a familiar trip for Gonzaga fans and the Bulldogs were also granted a night game. McNeese is a 30-win team but will make a long trip for a night game at altitude to perhaps quell some of the upset potential for the Cowboys. 

(10) Drake vs. (7) Washington State – Omaha, NE

Despite being the lesser seed, Drake landed with one of the most preferable location edges of the entire field, playing just a two-hour drive on I-80 away from campus. Omaha would have been a decent venue for teams like Texas and Dayton on the #7 line, but Drake landed Washington State who certainly would have preferred to be in Spokane or Salt Lake City. A consolation for the Cougars is that the tip will be the last one of the entire schedule on Thursday, in a normal game time for Washington State and a very late start for the Bulldogs.