Deciding the Sweet Sixteen by Walk Score

If the NCAA men's Division 1 basketball championship were decided on walkability, the Marquette Golden Eagles would be our winner, edging out in-state rival Wisconsin-Madison 95-91 in the final.

In the spirit of continuing what is becoming a tradition (see the versions I did for and ), I took the 16 teams remaining in the tournament and obtained for the arenas where they play their home games.  And I played out the matchups, as you see above.  The game of the tournament would be an epic national semifinal between the Kentucky Wildcats and Marquette, won by the Golden Eagles by one point, 95-94.  In my imagination, I like to think the game went to overtime, and Kentucky had a one-point lead with 2.1 seconds left.  Marquette ball.  Jae Crowder throws a full-court bullet pass to Darius Johnson-Odom, waiting at the top of the key.  DJO dribbles once, turns, and swishes a jumper for the win as time expires.

Anyway, Marquette wins because the Bradley Center, where they play, is a downtown arena with a "walker's paradise" Walk Score score of 95.  Wisconsin's and Kentucky's arenas are also located in "walker's paradises."  NC State and Baylor, not so much.  Here's the complete breakdown, in alphabetic order:

Baylor Bears - Ferrell Center, Waco, TX

Cincinnati Bearcats - Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati

Florida Gators - O'Connell Center, Gainesville

Indiana Hoosiers - Assembly Hall, Bloomington

Kansas Jayhawks - Phogg Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence

Kentucky Wildcats - Rupp Arena, Lexington

Louisville Cardinals - KFC Yum! Center

Marquette Golden Eagles - Bradley Center, Milwaukee

Michigan State Spartans - Breslin Center, East Lansing

North Carolina Tar Heels - Dean E. Smith Center ("the DeanDome"), Chapel Hill

North Carolina State Wolfpack - PNC Arena

Ohio University Bobcats - Convocation Center, Athens

Ohio State Buckeyes - Value City Arena

Syracuse University Orange - Carrier Dome

Wisconsin Badgers - Kohl Center, Madison

Xavier Musketeers - Cintas Center, Cincinnati

Note that some of the Walk Scores include transit information.  My understanding is that depends on available data.

Walk Score summary:

"Walker's Paradise":  Marquette, Kentucky, Wisconsin

"Very Walkable":  Cincinnati, Syracuse, Louisville, Ohio University

"Somewhat Walkable":  Xavier, Michigan State, Florida, Ohio State, UNC, Kansas

"Car-dependent":  Indiana, NC State, Baylor

Worst named arenas:  KFC Yum! Center; Fifth Third Arena; "Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center."

Best named:  Phogg Allen Fieldhouse; Assembly Hall.

Kaid Benfield is director of sustainable communities at in Washington, DC. This blog also appears on  where Kaid writes (almost) daily about community, development, and the environment