Big Ten Board (Beta)

Yes, a lot of OSU fans used to go to the bowl games every year as part of their vacation. But now that they play some of them after Jan. 1, they can't swing it any more. They are back on their work schedule after Jan. 1.

Back to my initial premise on traveling to neutral sites on short notice ...

Ohio State had very little support at the Final Four in New Orleans. A lot of it had to do with the cost of airfare. It was well over $500 per person and closer to $1,000 if you waited until after they had clinched it.

Kentucky and Kansas fans -- who granted, that's their big thing -- had planned ahead in anticipation their team was going to make it and they were there in full force.

My guess was probably 20,000 Ky fans, 15,000 for Kansas and maybe 5000 each for OSU and Louisville.

This just illustrates how soft the travel can be when you have to make a costly decision on 6 or 7 days notice. It rules out 3/4 of a team's fan base. Maybe more.

Let's say they do neutral site semifinals ....

By their very nature (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3) they can't slot Ohio State or a Big Ten champ into one or the other until the final standings are in. Maybe they'll do one site with a doubleheader or games on successive nights. That would solve that issue so that if your team is down to the end of season in the top 5 or 6, you could book it and hope for the best.

Just some things they need to think about.

At least with the NCAA tourn, I could buy New Orleans months in advance and I could buy the Boston regional on a 10-day advance.