2019 NCAA Tournament Map

[pfrduke]

We did this last year (although due to scheduling issues I likely will not be able to do game-by-game updates this season). The more detailed explanation is in last year's thread, but the general principle is that each county in the country is assigned to the 68 NCAA tournament teams by geographic proximity (distance from home arena to geographic center of the county) and then the map consolidates as the games are played (winning team takes losing team's land). Here's the starting map for 2019. Duke has the smallest area by population and third smallest (ahead of only Iona and St. John's) by land area and number of counties - only means there's a lot of land out there for the taking.

[Acymetric]

Is Duke the smallest starting territory? Are there any teams with no​ counties due to their proximity to multiple other local schools?

[Wahoo2000]

Is St. Mary's really closer to Hawaii than UC Irvine? Seems counter-intuitive.

[pfrduke]

Is St. Mary's really closer to Hawaii than UC Irvine? Seems counter-intuitive.

By about 130 miles. Hawaii is actually more relatively west than south from the California coast, so the fact that St. Mary's starts so much further west makes the difference.

[Acymetric]

Is St. Mary's really closer to Hawaii than UC Irvine? Seems counter-intuitive.

PVAMU/Houston also feels strange to me. I suspect it would make more sense if I bothered to understand great circle distance (which is used to calculate who "owns" each county) fully which is probably the cause for the "weirdness".

[pfrduke]

PVAMU/Houston also feels strange to me. I suspect it would make more sense if I bothered to understand great circle distance (which is used to calculate who "owns" each county) fully which is probably the cause for the "weirdness".

Great Circle distance is just as the crow flies, but accounting for the curve of the earth.

[Acymetric]

Great Circle distance is just as the crow flies, but accounting for the curve of the earth.

Now that I've actually bothered to see where PVAMU is located on a map that one makes more sense now. Seeing the island of red at the southern tip just felt weird at first but of course it is because it is further west (towards Houston).

[DukieInKansas]

I'm surprised the NCCU gets more territory than Duke. But, if they are taking area away from unc, I'm ok with that.

[devildeac]

I'm surprised the NCCU gets more territory than Duke. But, if they are taking area away from unc, I'm ok with that.

I'm surprised the cheats don't own at least some property in the 48169 zip code.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan

[BD80]

I'm surprised the cheats don't own at least some property in the 48169 zip code.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan

Where in Hell is the 48169 zip code?

[devildeac]

Where in Hell is the 48169 zip code?

Yes.

250px-NWS_Hell_MI.jpg

[uh_no]

I'm surprised the NCCU gets more territory than Duke. But, if they are taking area away from unc, I'm ok with that.

such is the problem when you're sandwiched between two other schools.

Is duke the only school which doesn't control the land in which it exists (or more generally, are duke and NCCU the only schools which come from the same county?)

[pfrduke]

such is the problem when you're sandwiched between two other schools.

Is duke the only school which doesn't control the land in which it exists (or more generally, are duke and NCCU the only schools which come from the same county?)

UNC does not own Orange County - Cameron is slightly closer to its center than the Dean Dome.

[Reilly]

UNC does not own Orange County ...

I believe whoever bought the right to collect PJ Hairston's unpaid parking tickets actually owns Orange County -- or at least has the most money on paper.

[pfrduke]

such is the problem when you're sandwiched between two other schools.

Is duke the only school which doesn't control the land in which it exists (or more generally, are duke and NCCU the only schools which come from the same county?)

Also, Temple and Villanova are both in Philadelphia County, and Temple controls that one.

[Turk]

Also, Temple and Villanova are both in Philadelphia County, and Temple controls that one.

Minor clarification: Villanova is in suburban Delaware County, about 5 miles outside the Philly city limits, and is the only one of the Big Five (six if you count Drexel, also D-1) not located within the city proper.

[pfrduke]

Minor clarification: Villanova is in suburban Delaware County, about 5 miles outside the Philly city limits, and is the only one of the Big Five (six if you count Drexel, also D-1) not located within the city proper.

Ah yes, right you are. Last year when the Pavilion was under construction and they played all home games in the Wells Fargo Center, I had them in mind as a truly in-Philadelphia team. But since they were back in the Pavilion as their main home* this season, they moved back out of the county.

*11 home games at the Pavilion vs. 5 at Wells Fargo

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Minor clarification: Villanova is in suburban Delaware County, about 5 miles outside the Philly city limits, and is the only one of the Big Five (six if you count Drexel, also D-1) not located within the city proper.

You are correct about this though I think St Joe’s is split fairly evenly between Philly and Lower Merion, which is Montgomery County. I think the Philly side is considered the heart of campus so it is considered a Philly school. And I think the basketball arena is in Philly but I’m not sure. All of this is moot this year but who can resist a discussion of Philly geography?

[BD80]

Minor clarification: Villanova is in suburban Delaware County, about 5 miles outside the Philly city limits, and is the only one of the Big Five (six if you count Drexel, also D-1) not located within the city proper.

You rarely hear the word "proper" used in reference to Philadelphia, and never correctly.

[pfrduke]

Fairleigh extends into the Texas prairie