FanPost

A Geographical Analysis of Potential B1G Tournament Host Cities

So, there’s been some discussion in the last few days about our very own change agent (Delany) screwing with the tried and true formula of the Chicago/Indy B1G tournament rotation. Specifically, our Nation’s Capital has been mentioned as a possible tournament location (presumably to shamelessly pander to our two newest members, and I suppose to introduce the conference to the East Coast as well).

Now, this isn’t sitting well with the majority of the B1G fans…as the East Coast is considered a geographical outlier and nothing more than a poorly veiled money grab for the conference, with two non-B1G caliber schools. As it appears as though the East Coast will be shoved down our throat (for TV purposes)...and we like to debate shit that other schools’ blogs wouldn’t even waste 10 seconds on, I felt it only appropriate that we take an in-depth analysis at the geographical feasibility of the most likely cities capable of hosting a B1G tournament.

My Criteria/Methodology: While I had no hard and fast rules to determine these host-worthy cities, I generally looked at the 9 most likely urban centers capable of hosting a tournament within or near the B1G footprint that aren’t already located within a B1G school’s home city (Chicago notwithstanding). I tried to create some spread between the cities as well, which is why places like Omaha, Milwaukee & Cincinnati were excluded. I used Rand McNally’s online distance calculator to determine distance between B1G cities and potential host cities. Then, I calculated the total sum distance for all 14 member institutions in relation to those cities, and then I took the standard deviation of these sums in order to determine the theoretical best ‘hub cities’, i.e. those potential host cities which have the highest concentration of B1G cities within their reach (or, in other words: the cities that provide the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak).

Of course, this is purely a geographical discussion, and doesn’t take into account the likability or culture or facilities of a potential host city. For Example: while I found it surprising that Detroit ranked quite high in geographical desirability, I think nearly everybody would agree that Indy would be a far superior host city. At any rate, as it seems like every time I do something like this, there will probably be some errors (unintentional) and somebody will probably take issue with my methodology (tough shit). To the rest…happy analyzing.

Note: all distances are listed as driving distances in miles, as a tourney location needs to be accessible by the majority of the fanbase.

TOTALS - Established 11

Chicago

Indy

KC

Des Moines

Pittsburgh

Detroit

St. Louis

DC

NYC

Established 11

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/purdue-boilermakers'>Purdue Boilermakers</a> Team Page

123

70

518

436

426

337

278

666

793

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/indiana-hoosiers'>Indiana Hoosiers</a> Team Page

232

54

467

520

408

360

227

650

775

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/iowa-hawkeyes'>Iowa Hawkeyes</a> Team Page

222

366

307

115

667

486

261

910

995

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/michigan-st-spartans'>Michigan State Spartans</a> Team Page

227

258

731

538

356

94

490

598

683

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/michigan-wolverines'>Michigan Wolverines</a> Team Page

246

277

748

557

296

42

508

538

632

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/illinois-fighting-illini'>Illinois Fighting Illini</a> Team Page

135

128

395

353

489

386

179

730

856

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/ohio-st-buckeyes'>Ohio State Buckeyes</a> Team Page

356

175

658

655

185

204

418

422

552

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/northwestern-wildcats'>Northwestern Wildcats</a> Team Page

20

205

537

344

480

306

315

723

808

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/wisconsin-badgers'>Wisconsin Badgers</a> Team Page

146

331

487

294

606

431

358

848

934

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/minnesota-golden-gophers'>Minnesota Golden Gophers</a> Team Page

407

595

436

243

877

700

625

1119

1205

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/penn-st-nittany-lions'>Penn State Nittany Lions</a> Team Page

695

639

1124

1012

314

520

881

235

133

SUM

2809

3098

6408

5067

5104

3866

4540

7439

8366

STDEV

173

184

215

230

185

181

196

228

262


TOTALS - With Outliers

Chicago

Indy

KC

Des Moines

Pittsburgh

Detroit

St. Louis

DC

NYC

Outliers

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/nebraska-cornhuskers'>Nebraska Cornhuskers</a> Team Page

521

667

193

189

967

786

442

1209

1294

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/rutgers-scarlet-knights'>Rutgers Scarlet Knights</a> Team Page

813

696

1187

1129

358

637

944

204

35

Team Front - <a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/maryland-terrapins'>Maryland Terrapins</a> Team Page

698

590

1113

1015

243

523

864

14

219

SUM

4841

5051

8901

7400

6672

5812

6790

8866

9914

STDEV

238

224

301

310

222

208

244

326

361


THE RANKINGS (Total Miles - Lowest to Highest)

Established 11

All 14 Members

Chicago

2809

Chicago

4841

Indianapolis

3098

Indianapolis

5051

Detroit

3866

Detroit

5812

St. Louis

4540

Pittsburgh

6672

Des Moines

5067

St. Louis

6790

Pittsburgh

5104

Des Moines

7400

Kansas City

6408

DC

8866

DC

7439

Kansas City

8901

NYC

8366

NYC

9914


THE RANKINGS (STDEV - Lowest to Highest)

Established 11 'Hub' Cities

All 14 member 'Hub' cities

Chicago

173

Detroit

208

Detroit

181

Pittsburgh

222

Indianapolis

184

Indianapolis

224

Pittsburgh

185

Chicago

238

St. Louis

196

St. Louis

244

Kansas City

215

Kansas City

301

DC

228

Des Moines

310

Des Moines

230

DC

326

NYC

262

NYC

361















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