March Madness: 5 advantages Vols have in South Region of the Sweet 16

5. Knoxville’s close proximity to Louisville could give the Vols a crowd advantage.

The University of Tennessee is the second closest campus to Louisville, where the Sweet 16 games in the South Region of March Madness are being played. Knoxville is 245 miles from the arena, or just over a three and a half hour drive.

Meanwhile, the University of Virginia is over seven and a half hours from Louisville, and the University of Oregon is, well, ridiculously far away. You don’t have to be an expert in geography to know that.

It is true the Purdue Boilermakers are closer. West Lafayette, Ind. is only 180 miles from Louisville and under three hours. It’s nearly an hour shorter drive for Purdue than it is for Knoxville. But there are a few other structural things related to both regions that nobody takes into account.

For starters, Purdue does not dominate the Indiana market the way the Vols dominate the Tennessee market outside of Memphis. People around the region could be Indiana Hoosiers fans, and that’s in fact more likely than it is for them to be Purdue fans.

So based on market reach, it’s hard to say that hour difference is a major factor in Purdue’s favor. However, they both have a major advantage over whomever plays Oregon or Virginia, and that’s why it’s on the list. We’ll admit it would be higher if Purdue weren’t so close. It just doesn’t seem like the difference, given the markets, will significantly favor them.