What's the point of going 30-something and 2 in one of the tougher conferences in the land, being #1 in the country and the overall #1 team in the tourney if it doesn't give you some kind of an advantage?

They earned it, get over it. Fans do not win and lose games. If you want to talk about NCAA mess ups how can the best conference according to the RPI only get 4 teams and the 4th best conference according to the get 8 teams?

Think about the University of Kentucky. The fanbase doesn't specifically come from Lexington, it is the ENTIRE state. If UK played a NCAA game in Louisville the fan base wouldn't all drive an hour to get there from Lexington... the fan base IS THERE.

 

Charlotte has an extremely high population of UNC alumni and fans who all live within 20 minutes of the arena. In NCAA games the walk-up attendance makes up a fairly substantial portion of the total attendance. When your walk-up attendance is exclusively from one particular school, and that school already has a large fan following, it can and will play a difference.

 

It may not make a 10 point difference, but it definately is enough to create enough momentum, or give an additional edge to make up a couple baskets over the course of a game. When you talk 1 vs. 2, those couple baskets may be the difference between winning and losing.

 

The bolded is not true. I disagree, that if UK was playing 200 miles to the north in Columbus, UK would have nearly the same number of fans there as they would in Louisville. Same goes for UNC playing in Richmond instead of Charlotte. These fan bases will support their teams in large numbers if it is within a 2.5 to 3 hour drive.

The bolded is not true. I disagree, that if UK was playing 200 miles to the north in Columbus, UK would have nearly the same number of fans there as they would in Louisville. Same goes for UNC playing in Richmond instead of Charlotte. These fan bases will support their teams in large numbers if it is within a 2.5 to 3 hour drive.

Watch Kentucky Thursday, perhaps the best traveling school in the country, and tell me if you think their fan base is comparable to if they were playing in Indianapolis or Memphis. It will be a nice crowd Thursday but nowhere near what it would be playing a state away.

You think UNC has it nice? Look at Texas...

 

:thumb:

 

I have no problem with the #1 overall seed getting a favorable location, but I don't think a #2 seed should get the advantage over a #1 seed in that regard. I think scenarios like this should be considered...a #1 seed like Memphis should not be placed in a situation where they're playing a road game against a lower seed...similar to the year UK was the #1 overall and had to play Wisconsin and Marquette close to their home.

 

But, ultimately, you still have to win the games. If you're good enough, then I say play ball and take care of business. I don't agree with it, but it's not that big of a deal to me.

 

No way everyone is going to be satisfied when you're trying to pick 65 teams, seed them and decided where they'll play. It's just not happening.

Watch Kentucky Thursday, perhaps the best traveling school in the country, and tell me if you think their fan base is comparable to if they were playing in Indianapolis or Memphis. It will be a nice crowd Thursday but nowhere near what it would be playing a state away.

 

That is not my argument. The argument that is being made against mine is that playing a state away, 200 miles, is going to drastically diminish the crowd vs. playing 25 miles away. I do not think it will. Yes I agree that playing many states, or 1000's of miles away will have an effect, but as one of the top seeds I think UNC should get to play closer to home and that means in state or even in Virginia, they would still have a very large crowd.

I think I read a quote from the committee saying they only protect the top 4 seeds as far as keeping them local.