Supporters of 68 universities enjoyed finding out on Sunday when their men’s basketball team will begin its journey in search of a national championship.
But many of those schools are located in states that don’t have legal sports betting yet. Stranger still, 17 of them offer legal sports betting — but not for games involving an in-state school.
And for backers of two others in Illinois, a legal bet is an option in the state, but only at its brick-and-mortar casinos.
So we at Sports Handle have evaluated the degree of difficulty for an on-campus resident, teacher, or other interested party in seeking to place a legal bet elsewhere.
The journeys range from a brief jaunt to a long, long ride.
The least difficult trips
No campus fans have it easier in solving this issue than those New Jersey-based bettors at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City. A ride across the Hudson River — a common event for students there — of not even 10 miles takes the traveler into Manhattan, or they can take a PATH train for a couple of dollars and be in the Big Apple in just over 20 minutes. Make the bet, and head back home — or first enjoy time in the city.
Loyola of Illinois advocates don’t have to leave the state to bet, but they do have to head to a casino. Rivers Casino Des Plaines is only a dozen miles from campus.
Seton Hall supporters in South Orange, N.J., would be best served taking a train about 20 miles east to Manhattan.
Delaware fans on the Newark campus have as their best bet a trip of just over 20 miles to a Maryland casino in Perryville. And by next year, Maryland should have mobile sports betting launched right near the border of the two states.
Backers of both Providence and Bryant in Rhode Island will want to head west to the Connecticut border about 25 miles away.
But fans of UConn in northeast Connecticut should go east to the Rhode Island border 30 miles or so away.
More than 30 miles
Virginia Tech is based in the southwest portion of the state, so a trip of 35 miles or so to West Virginia is the best option.
Rutgers backers in New Brunswick, N.J., likely want to drive west to the Pennsylvania town of New Hope about 40 miles away.
Marquette followers in Milwaukee will head south to the Illinois border to make their legal bets about 50 miles from home.
Yale is located in south-central Connecticut, so we recommend going west to the New York town of White Plains — about a 55-mile ride by car.
Elmore James, Fleetwood Mac, George Thorogood, and others have sung about the “Madison Blues,” but campus dwellers at the University of Wisconsin can simply drive south into Illinois to place a bet in a manageable 60 miles or so.
For University of Illinois fans, the play is to drive east about the same distance, 60 miles — but to the Indiana border for a mobile bet, since there are no Illinois casinos closer to the Urbana-Champaign campus.
More than 60 miles — road trip!
For those near Colgate’s campus in Hamilton, N.Y., you’ll want to drive about 80 miles south to wager in Pennsylvania.
Fans of the surprising Richmond Spiders likely will look almost 100 miles northeast to the Maryland border to lay down some money legally on the home team.
South Dakota State fans on the Brookings campus aren’t far from the Minnesota border — but there is no legal betting in that state. Instead, pack up the car and head almost 100 miles southeast to Iowa to place your wager.
As for No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, as nearby Idaho has no sports betting, and Oregon doesn’t allow betting on college sports, Zags fans have to head to a SportBet Montana kiosk at the Nugget Lounge in Superior, Mont., which is 138 miles away. Unless you count other countries, in which case British Columbia is actually closer at just 106 miles away.
Norfolk State backers in southeastern Virginia aren’t far from North Carolina — but are many hours away from the legal tribal casinos in the far-west portion of the state. So we’ll send you to a casino in Maryland about 140 miles north instead.
And the biggest hike of all: Longwood College is in central Virginia, so the best we can offer is a 150-mile trek across the West Virginia border.
