The college basketball season is a constant parade of home games during conference play, but in the first month and a half of each season, teams play neutral-court games, either in early-season tournaments or in made-for-TV games, sometimes as part of a same-site doubleheader as seen in Indianapolis, when Notre Dame, Butler, Indiana and Purdue play two games in some combination. The NCAA Tournament is a return to neutral-site games, but there are some instances in which a team could get a large dose of home cooking. Here are some examples:
East Region: South Carolina
This is a case in which a number seven seed is staying home. The South Carolina Gamecocks were a seven seed, but they were sent to the Greenville, South Carolina, opening-weekend pod of games. The Gamecocks could wind up hosting Duke in the second round. Duke is the likely opponent for South Carolina in round two if the Gamecocks can get by Marquette in round one. The fact that South Carolina could play a red-hot Duke team in round two is a bad break, but being able to play that game in their home state could give the Gamecocks an unexpected lift. This is one of the more intriguing hypotheticals anyone will find anywhere on the bracket.
West Region: Arizona
This is the team which could have home-court advantage at the Final Four. For the first time since Seattle in 1995, the Final Four will be hosted by a city (Glendale / suburban Phoenix) in the Pacific time zone. Arizona does not play games in its home state in the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament, but if the Wildcats earn a Final Four bid, they will play that event in Phoenix in front of a rabidly partisan group of Arizona backers. That is something to watch or down the line, just not right away.
A lot of people feel that the Wildcats are built for a long run in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see if that’s the case. They shouldn’t be scared by anyone in their region including Gonzaga, who happened to beat them once this season. The Wildcats have been a completely different team with Allonzo Trier back in the lineup and their 21-3 with him back. They’ll be a popular pick to go a long way.
South Region: Dayton
The Flyers, based in Ohio, won’t play in their home state, but they’ll be close. Dayton plays in Indianapolis the opening weekend of the tournament, and then if the Flyers are good enough to make it to the Sweet 16, they would play in Memphis, a city not too far from UD’s home base. It’s not a perfect connection and correlation, but it’s something, and the Flyers hope it will work to their advantage in the coming days.
Midwest Region: Kansas
This is the easiest call alongside South Carolina. The Jayhawks play in the opening rounds in Tulsa this coming weekend, which is a very short commute from the Kansas campus. Then in the Sweet 16 for the Midwest Regional, the Jayhawks would stay in Kansas City, an extremely short hop and a return to the spot of the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas plays games in the Sprint Center of Kansas City all the time. Being able to return there for the Sweet 16 and possibly the Elite Eight as well would give KU more familiarity than it usually enjoys from a game site (location) during March Madness.
When taking a look at their opening round opponents, we still don’t know who Kansas might face in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament because we still have more play-in games to go through. However, their region appears to be one of the easiest as they may encounter No. 2 Louisville, who has been inconsistent this year, No. 3 Oregon, who has lost a double-digit scorer for the season (Chris Boucher), and if they happen to play the No. 5 seed Iowa State, they’ve already defeated them once this season. They appear to be in good shape to go to the Sweet 16 and beyond.
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