For students hoping to attend their school’s NCAA Tournament regional games, location is everything.

Each season, four cities host the Regionals, the third and fourth rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. With sites spread throughout the country, fans of the 16 teams still alive hope to see their team within driving distance of their home campus. Some teams are lucky, and some are not.

This year, Syracuse, Texas, Marquette, Wisconsin and Arizona are the only five of the 16 schools left within a six-hour drive of their site.

Programs like Kentucky — which will play its regional games in Minneapolis — usually send hundreds of students to the Regionals. This year, UK is seeing huge drops in ticket sales among students because of the distance between the campus and the regional site, Kentucky ticket seller Brian Rudd said.

‘We didn’t have any requests from students at all,’ Rudd said. ‘Minnesota is so far away, and the students just got off Spring Break. But we didn’t expect zero requests.’

Rudd said Kentucky usually needs a lottery to disperse its tickets.

‘Many students went to the first games in Nashville,’ Rudd said. ‘Now I guess they are just waiting to see if we make it to New Orleans.’

Notre Dame made it to the Sweet 16 by winning two games in its home state of Indiana’s RCA Dome. Now, the Fighting Irish must travel 2,089 miles to Anaheim, Calif., to play in the West Regional.

Josh Berlo, Notre Dame’s director of ticketing, said there wasn’t enough demand to set up special arrangements for a student-ticket sale for the games.

Berlo said the situation would have been different if the Regional, rather than the first two rounds, was being played in Indianapolis, just a three-hour drive from Notre Dame. Demand would have been greater, and Notre Dame would make more tickets available for students.

While he said supply probably would not have met the student demand, Berlo said as many students as possible would be offered tickets through a sale set up by the Notre Dame Office of Student Affairs.

‘The University is here for the students,’ Berlo said. ‘We try and remember that.’

Auburn sits 1,117 miles from Albany, 972 miles further from the East Regional site than its third-round opponent, Syracuse.

Auburn ticket seller Bob Whittenburg said though Auburn’s allotment of 1,250 tickets sold out in less than two days, few went to students. Whittenburg said this was because of the distance and because Auburn students were on Spring Break.

Wisconsin advanced to the Midwest Regional, which is played in Minneapolis, a four-hour drive from its campus in Madison.

Chris Schappel, Wisconsin’s associate director of ticketing, said though Wisconsin held a lottery to hand out its allotment of floor seats to students, no student who wants to go to the Regional will have trouble getting tickets.

‘Because of the size of the building,’ Schappel said, ‘plenty of seats are still available at the Metrodome.’

With a basketball capacity of more than 40,000, the Metrodome is the largest venue of the four regional sites. Albany’s Pepsi Arena is the smallest with a capacity of 15,500.

DUKE (+3) VS. KANSAS

TODAY, 9:57 P.M. CBS

In its sixth consecutive third-round visit, Duke finds itself in a rare situation — an underdog. The young Blue Devils are led by the shooting of freshman J.J. Redick but will face an experienced Kansas team in Anaheim.

Kansas features senior leadership at center (Nick Collison) and point guard (Kirk Hinrich), and it has the chance to change its recent history of tournament losses with a win over a national powerhouse.

Kansas coach Roy Williams tries once again to change his reputation, and this time he will. Look for the Jayhawks to pull off the win and once again have a chance to play in the Final Four.

PICK: KANSAS 84, DUKE 79

AUBURN (+5) VS. SYRACUSE

FRIDAY, 9:40 P.M. CBS

Playing two hours away in Albany, Syracuse will have a partisan crowd in its favor as the Orangemen attempt to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1996.

Standing in SU’s way is an athletic Auburn team that upset No. 2-seeded Wake Forest to reach the Sweet 16.

Forward Marquis Daniels scored 18 points last round and will need to play the game of his life to outduel Carmelo Anthony and the Orangemen.

The Orangemen face a strong challenge against an SEC opponent but will come through with the victory.

PICK: SYRACUSE 74, AUBURN 68

BUTLER (+7.5) VS. OKLAHOMA

FRIDAY, 7:10 P.M. CBS

No. 12 Butler, one of the last teams to get into the tournament, is now the worst-seeded team still alive. Behind the clutch shooting of Darnell Archey, Butler defeated Louisville to advance.

Oklahoma went to the Final Four last season. Powered by senior point guard Hollis Price, the Sooners have the talent to make it back.

Butler’s Cinderella run will end in Albany, outmuscled by a stronger Oklahoma team.

PICK: OKLAHOMA 69, BUTLER 61

CONNECTICUT (+3) VS. TEXAS

FRIDAY, 7:27 P.M. CBS

Of the four Big East teams remaining, Connecticut may be the most dangerous. Anchored in the middle by Emeka Okafor, the nation’s leading shot-blocker, UConn can beat any team in the nation.

The Huskies will face Big 12-powerhouse Texas in San Antonio, only 70 miles from the Longhorns’ campus in Austin.

The Longhorns thrive on the play of first-team All-America selection T.J. Ford and their toughness inside.

Head coach Rick Barnes looks to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time but will be slowed by the fast-break game plan of Jim Calhoun. The first No. 1 seed finally goes down.

PICK: CONNECTICUT 67, TEXAS 65

MICHIGAN STATE (+3.5) VS. MARYLAND

FRIDAY, 9:57 P.M. CBS

Two of the last three national champions meet in San Antonio after each pulled off an upset.

The Spartans dominated No. 2-seeded Florida to advance, and Maryland defeated USBWA Player of the Year David West and Xavier.

Maryland returns starting point guard Steve Blake from last season’s national championship team to lead the Terps against a Spartan team that underachieved all season.

After defeating Kentucky on the road, Michigan State’s season crumbled and it barely made the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Spartans have been one of the few teams to win both their games in blowout fashion. They will carry the momentum to Texas.

PICK: MICHIGAN STATE 65, MARYLAND 64

Published on March 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm