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March Madness 2026 Distance Traveled for Schools to Venues for NCAA Tourney Bracket

Kristopher KnoxMar 19, 2026

The field for the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament has been set. With the First Four games in the rear view, we have our field of 64 teams. They'll compete in the opening round on Thursday and Friday.

Howard, Texas, Prairie, and Miami (OH) have advanced to the field of 64. The updated NCAA bracket can be found here.

While games will technically be played at neutral sites, some teams will get significant advantages based on travel.

Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, and San Jose will serve as host sites. Some teams will have traveled much, much further than others to reach those sites and their opening games.

Here, we'll examine the distance being traveled by every team for the opening round and how it might impact the next slate of games.

Click here to play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge.

Distance Traveled

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FlyAway Bus At Los Angeles International Airport

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East Region

St. John's: 254 miles

Duke: 260 miles

UConn: 365 miles

Siena: 371 miles

Furman: 502 miles

Michigan State: 585 miles

Ohio State: 594 miles

Louisville: 608 miles

UCF: 846 miles

Northern Iowa: 853 miles

South Florida: 919 miles

Kansas: 1,090 miles

TCU: 1,319 miles

North Dakota State: 1,351 miles

UCLA: 2,691 miles

Cal Baptist: 2,762 miles

South

Houston: 3 miles

Prairie View A&M: 47 miles

McNeese: 145 miles

Texas A&M: 364 miles

Troy: 756 miles

Vanderbilt: 775 miles

Nebraska: 830 miles

Florida: 875 miles

Clemson: 917 miles

Illinois: 942 miles

North Carolina: 1,040 miles

Iowa: 1,139 miles

VCU: 1,370 miles

Saint Mary's: 1,516 miles

Penn: 1,527 miles

Idaho: 1,777 miles

Midwest

Michigan: 243 miles

Miami (OH): 292 miles

St. Louis: 299 miles

Wright State: 304 miles

Iowa State: 343 miles

Akron: 367 miles

Kentucky: 374 miles

Tennessee State: 473 miles

Tennessee: 542 miles

Virginia: 675 miles

Alabama: 679 miles

Howard: 691 miles

Georgia: 715 miles

Hofstra: 818 miles

Texas Tach: 1,170 miles

Santa Clara: 2,166 miles

West

Arizona: 720 miles

Utah State: 797 miles

BYU: 802 miles

Gonzaga: 900 miles

Texas: 1,481 miles

Arkansas 1,923 miles

Missouri: 2,080 miles

Wisconsin: 2,110 miles

Kennesaw State: 2,170 miles

Purdue: 2,243 miles

Hawaii: 2,414 miles

Queens: 2,548 miles

Villanova: 2,564 miles

Long Island: 2,574 miles

High Point: 2,712 miles

Miami: 3,001 miles

*Per Jeff Hauser of the Sporting News

Travel Overview

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FAA Targets 40 "High-Volume" US Airports For Flight Cuts Amid Government Shutdown

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College basketball players and programs are accustomed to travel, so we're unlikely to see a massive upset due to distance. Still, travel is likely to have an impact, especially during the opening rounds.

Playing close to home increases the likelihood that fans will be in attendance. Houston, for example, is essentially playing host to the South Region—though it will still have to travel more than 400 miles to face Idaho in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

Longer travel distances increase the likelihood of delays and disruptions, which can impact pregame preparation and routines.

UMBC, for example, faced a weather delay en route to its First Four game in Dayton.

"Even though Howard is already in Dayton, we will be ready…if we ever take off," UMBC posted on social media (h/t Adam Thompson of CBS News).

The Retrievers did reach Ohio by Monday evening before losing to the Bison on Tuesday.

Travel could be particularly problematic in the West Region, where over half of the bracket has traveled more than 2,000 miles.

Will travel lead to one of the top seeds getting upset? Probably not. While all teams from last year's final four traveled less than 1,000 miles, all four were also No. 1 seeds. In the last 10 tournaments, a No. 1 seed has won eight times.