This weekend, the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will be decided on courts in cities across the country. Earlier this week, however, Kaid Benfield crowned his own champion - based on walkability.
For the third year running, Benfield took the 16 teams remaining in the tournament and used Walk Scores for the arenas where they play their home games to determine the winners in head-to-head match-ups based on the actual Sweet Sixteen bracket.
And in a surprisingly close final, "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."
"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."
See Benfield's column for the full results and his prizes for the worst and best named arenas.
FULL STORY: Madness: the NCAA Sweet Sixteen decided by Walk Score!
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