2018 NCAA Tournament

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No leniency on the rule in terms of making these decisions.  But teams can choose to bus instead of fly if it works better for them.

Like John Carroll to Augustana.  There is no great way to flight that.  You either go Cleveland to Detroit to Quad Cities, or Cleveland to Chicago and then drive 2.5 hours.  You'd actually get there faster by just getting on the bus and doing the 7:30 drive.

I know football uses charter flights but I assume that is because of the size of the travel party. Do they charter basketball teams?  If not, I'm with you on JCU to Quad Cities. That's a very incovenient flight. JCU may bus them. It'll be interesting to see what Coach Moran decides.

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No, there isn't. The 500-mile-radius rule is arbitrary -- there's no reason why the NCAA couldn't have set the radius at 510 miles, or 490 miles, when it made the rule -- but there are a lot of rules in life that are arbitrary. The point, however, is to set the marker and keep it there, so that everybody understands it and knows well ahead of time what the rule is. If you make exceptions here and there for the sake of a few miles, then the rule ceases to have any meaning. It stops being a rule altogether, and then you have the anarchy of a team complaining, "Hey, you let Team A fly last year when it was 480 miles from the site ... well, we're only 479 miles from our site, so why do we have to take the bus?"

There's no reason why JCU has to fly. Blue Streaks head coach Pete Moran, or the JCU athletic director, could opt to bus his team to Rock Island instead. It's certainly not unheard-of for teams to take the busing option even when the NCAA offers the team the opportunity to fly on the NCAA's dime. If I remember correctly, Grey Giovanine has elected to have Augustana bus to Salem, for example, for Augie's two Final Four trips over the past three seasons.

However, I don't think the reverse is true. I don't think you're allowed to fly if it's under 500 miles even if you pay for it yourself. I remember Mount getting dinged for that on their first or second Stagg Bowl trip. They flew even thought it was under 500 miles - they chartered a team flight and a fan flight. Of course, maybe the rules changed.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No, there isn't. The 500-mile-radius rule is arbitrary -- there's no reason why the NCAA couldn't have set the radius at 510 miles, or 490 miles, when it made the rule -- but there are a lot of rules in life that are arbitrary. The point, however, is to set the marker and keep it there, so that everybody understands it and knows well ahead of time what the rule is. If you make exceptions here and there for the sake of a few miles, then the rule ceases to have any meaning. It stops being a rule altogether, and then you have the anarchy of a team complaining, "Hey, you let Team A fly last year when it was 480 miles from the site ... well, we're only 479 miles from our site, so why do we have to take the bus?"

There's no reason why JCU has to fly. Blue Streaks head coach Pete Moran, or the JCU athletic director, could opt to bus his team to Rock Island instead. It's certainly not unheard-of for teams to take the busing option even when the NCAA offers the team the opportunity to fly on the NCAA's dime. If I remember correctly, Grey Giovanine has elected to have Augustana bus to Salem, for example, for Augie's two Final Four trips over the past three seasons.

However, I don't think the reverse is true. I don't think you're allowed to fly if it's under 500 miles even if you pay for it yourself. I remember Mount getting dinged for that on their first or second Stagg Bowl trip. They flew even thought it was under 500 miles - they chartered a team flight and a fan flight. Of course, maybe the rules changed.

You can pay for your own flight whenever you want, at least in basketball.  The NCAA doesn't care if you spend your own money.  They might not reimburse you for anything if you fly (like they might not give you the bus equivalent), but you can travel however you want if its on your own dime.

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No, there isn't. The 500-mile-radius rule is arbitrary -- there's no reason why the NCAA couldn't have set the radius at 510 miles, or 490 miles, when it made the rule -- but there are a lot of rules in life that are arbitrary. The point, however, is to set the marker and keep it there, so that everybody understands it and knows well ahead of time what the rule is. If you make exceptions here and there for the sake of a few miles, then the rule ceases to have any meaning. It stops being a rule altogether, and then you have the anarchy of a team complaining, "Hey, you let Team A fly last year when it was 480 miles from the site ... well, we're only 479 miles from our site, so why do we have to take the bus?"

There's no reason why JCU has to fly. Blue Streaks head coach Pete Moran, or the JCU athletic director, could opt to bus his team to Rock Island instead. It's certainly not unheard-of for teams to take the busing option even when the NCAA offers the team the opportunity to fly on the NCAA's dime. If I remember correctly, Grey Giovanine has elected to have Augustana bus to Salem, for example, for Augie's two Final Four trips over the past three seasons.

However, I don't think the reverse is true. I don't think you're allowed to fly if it's under 500 miles even if you pay for it yourself. I remember Mount getting dinged for that on their first or second Stagg Bowl trip. They flew even thought it was under 500 miles - they chartered a team flight and a fan flight. Of course, maybe the rules changed.

You can pay for your own flight whenever you want, at least in basketball.  The NCAA doesn't care if you spend your own money.  They might not reimburse you for anything if you fly (like they might not give you the bus equivalent), but you can travel however you want if its on your own dime.

Thanks Ryan, for the clarification. It's been 25 years. Maybe a I remember it wrong. That's said, I doubt Carroll will pony up for a charter flight so Coach Moran is going to have start figuring out what he wants to do.

[Greek Tragedy]

So if all 400+ schools agree to pay for their own transportation, can we have a true national tournament then? 

[Fifth and Putnam]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No leniency on the rule in terms of making these decisions.  But teams can choose to bus instead of fly if it works better for them.

Like John Carroll to Augustana.  There is no great way to flight that.  You either go Cleveland to Detroit to Quad Cities, or Cleveland to Chicago and then drive 2.5 hours.  You'd actually get there faster by just getting on the bus and doing the 7:30 drive.

I know football uses charter flights but I assume that is because of the size of the travel party. Do they charter basketball teams?  If not, I'm with you on JCU to Quad Cities. That's a very incovenient flight. JCU may bus them. It'll be interesting to see what Coach Moran decides.

Marietta made the sectional trip to the Rock Island a few years back and it was outside of the 500 mile radius. They chose to bus anyways and stopped halfway for an arranged practice at Butler University. Unless you are near an airport with a direct flight to the Quad Cities (Emory-Atlanta), it's probably more hassle to fly than bus.

[kiko]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

'Leniency' and 'NCAA'... okay, I laughed out loud at this idea...

[Riley056]

Why would you charter a flight? Unless you have a deal with an airline and purchase every seat on a specific plane, chartering is much more expensive.

UAA teams travel this way every weekend and fly commercial.

[Mr. Mo]

I assume this is also an expense thing, but why the Friday/Saturday contests (rather than Friday/Sunday)?  Last night Neb Wesleyan was the beneficiary of an Aurora team that just had nothing left in the tank. 

I apologize for being a newby, but this feels like a real competitive issue.

[Riley056]

Another issue teams are having - media timeouts

I would assume 95% of leagues in D3 do not have it - I know the WIAC does but have not heard of others.

Might be a good idea to have them in conference tournaments to get a taste of it?

[ronk]

Is there any leniency on the 500 mile rule? University Heights to Rock Island is 507 on Google maps (I know that's not what the NCAA uses). I just think they'd save a plane full of money by making JCU bus an extra 15 minutes.

No, there isn't. The 500-mile-radius rule is arbitrary -- there's no reason why the NCAA couldn't have set the radius at 510 miles, or 490 miles, when it made the rule -- but there are a lot of rules in life that are arbitrary. The point, however, is to set the marker and keep it there, so that everybody understands it and knows well ahead of time what the rule is. If you make exceptions here and there for the sake of a few miles, then the rule ceases to have any meaning. It stops being a rule altogether, and then you have the anarchy of a team complaining, "Hey, you let Team A fly last year when it was 480 miles from the site ... well, we're only 479 miles from our site, so why do we have to take the bus?"

There's no reason why JCU has to fly. Blue Streaks head coach Pete Moran, or the JCU athletic director, could opt to bus his team to Rock Island instead. It's certainly not unheard-of for teams to take the busing option even when the NCAA offers the team the opportunity to fly on the NCAA's dime. If I remember correctly, Grey Giovanine has elected to have Augustana bus to Salem, for example, for Augie's two Final Four trips over the past three seasons.

However, I don't think the reverse is true. I don't think you're allowed to fly if it's under 500 miles even if you pay for it yourself. I remember Mount getting dinged for that on their first or second Stagg Bowl trip. They flew even thought it was under 500 miles - they chartered a team flight and a fan flight. Of course, maybe the rules changed.

I think Dave McHugh tweeted that MIT flew to Johns Hopkins on their own dime for the regional there this weekend.

[Titan Q]

Why would you charter a flight? Unless you have a deal with an airline and purchase every seat on a specific plane, chartering is much more expensive.

UAA teams travel this way every weekend and fly commercial.

Because you are buying the tickets with about 4 days notice (purchase Sunday for travel Wednesday or Thursday). A) The price is crazy, and B) availability for an entire basketball traveling crew is tough to come by.

Like Emory to Quad Cities direct this week -- what are the odds the entire Emory crew can get on that Delta flight at this point?

[Titan Q]

I assume this is also an expense thing, but why the Friday/Saturday contests (rather than Friday/Sunday)?  Last night Neb Wesleyan was the beneficiary of an Aurora team that just had nothing left in the tank. 

I apologize for being a newby, but this feels like a real competitive issue.

Friday/Saturday is lot better for school purposes (attending classes Monday) than Friday/Sunday.

On the fatigue factor -- isn't that generally the same for every team? Nebraska Wesleyan played Friday too.

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Why would you charter a flight? Unless you have a deal with an airline and purchase every seat on a specific plane, chartering is much more expensive.

UAA teams travel this way every weekend and fly commercial.

Prevent the connection and reduce total travel time

[kiko]

Why would you charter a flight? Unless you have a deal with an airline and purchase every seat on a specific plane, chartering is much more expensive.

UAA teams travel this way every weekend and fly commercial.

Because you are buying the tickets with about 4 days notice (purchase Sunday for travel Wednesday or Thursday). A) The price is crazy, and B) availability for an entire basketball traveling crew is tough to come by.

Like Emory to Quad Cities direct this week -- what are the odds the entire Emory crew can get on that Delta flight at this point?

This, and also, you want your entire team on one flight.  Even if you can get ten seats on a Delta flight and twelve more on United, you don't want to go that route.

UAA teams know their schedule many months in advance and can plan/book their itinerary accordingly.  That's not an option during the tournament when the host is decided four days prior to the game.

The size of the traveling party is why football teams who travel will always charter a flight.