March Madness: Which NCAA Tournament Top Seed Got Easiest Travel Schedule?

It’s been more than 40 years since the Purdue Boilermakers last reached the Final Four. The 1980 squad, led by then-head coach Gene Keady, reached the national semifinals. The program’s last national title came 92 years ago.

This year, Matt Painter’s bunch is the top seed in the Midwest region, a year after Purdue became the second school in NCAA Tournament history on the men’s side to lose to a 16 seed in the first round. The Boilermakers were shocked by Farleigh-Dickinson, 63-58.

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This week, Purdue will face the winner of the “First Four” showdown between Montana State and Grambling in Indianapolis, some 67 miles up I-65 from the school’s West Lafayette campus, before possibly venturing to Detroit to play whichever team advances out of the other end of the Midwest region in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

All told, Purdue faces 2,761 miles of travel (from West Lafayette to Indy, Detroit and Glendale, Ariz.) should the Boilermakers make it back to the Final Four in 2024, which ranks as the fourth-lowest total of any program seeded 1-4.

To show where Purdue stands nationally, IndianaBets.com – your source for Indiana sports betting apps - broke down the distances that schools will travel between this week’s rounds of 64 and 32 and the Final Four in the Phoenix area during the first Saturday of April.

Top 4 Seeds Mileage If They Make Final Four

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Where Purdue Ranks Nationally

Nationally, Purdue would have the fourth-shortest distance to travel from round one to the championship game, at 2,761 miles, ranking behind the Arizona Wildcats (1,394 miles), Marquette Golden Eagles (2,539 miles) and Kentucky Wildcats (2,552 miles).

That relative homecourt advantage is one of the reasons why the Boilermakers are currently No. 3 on ESPN BET Indiana’s championship odds board, at +700, ranking ahead of Kentucky (+1100) and Marquette (+2000).

For now, Painter and his staff are likely focused on Purdue’s opening-round showdown with whichever 16th seed survives their ordeal in Dayton, with the two sides meeting in the heart of Indiana on Friday evening, a figurative stone’s throw from the Boilermakers’ home campus.

Count on IndianaBets.com to cover Purdue throughout the tournament, as well as monitor any developments on online Indiana casinos.

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