In the immortal words of Dorothy, "there's no place like home."
Just ask St. John's. The Red Storm has finally brought the magic back to Madison Square Garden, where it has knocked off No. 1 Duke, No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 11 Georgetown and No. 14 UConn — a murderer's row of college basketball squads. Its performance has landed the team in the top 25 for the first time in over a decade and all but locked up its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002.
Unfortunately for the Red Storms of the world, however, winning at home can only get you so far. While St. John's has two home games left — and even gets to play its conference tournament on its home court — to win it all, a team has to be able to take care of business on the road as well, as it takes six (or seven) straight victories on neutral courts to take home the title come March.
As March Madness approaches and you get ready to fill out your brackets, just remember: What matters is not just who a team beats, but also where they did it.
So which teams just below the top tier are poised to dominate away from home, and which are likely to fall? The Daily breaks it down for you:
Road Warriors
No. 13 Florida (RPI: 13, SOS: 12, Away/Neutral Record: 9-2)
The Gators are sitting pretty at the top of a strong SEC thanks to an extremely impressive road record that includes non-conference road victories over Florida State, Kansas State and No. 25 Xavier, as well as SEC wins against Tennessee and Georgia. The team gets strong production from all five starters, with four players averaging double-digit points. Leading the team is junior guard Erving Walker, who averages 14.8 points and 3.3 assists per game.
But what allows the Gators to excel on the road is their post play. Senior center Vernon Macklin — a transfer from Georgetown — and classmates Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus are incredibly adept at finding high-percentage shots, the type not easily affected by an opposing crowd. As a group, they are averaging 30.9 points per game on 51 percent shooting, which is much of the reason Florida has the third-best field-goal percentage in the SEC.
Finally, the Gators are dominant in clutch situations thanks to a veteran starting lineup that includes three seniors and a junior. Florida has gone to overtime twice away from home in key SEC matchups, and twice it has come away with the victory. Do not expect this team to ever be rattled in March.
No. 14 Connecticut (RPI: 15, SOS: 13, Away/Neutral Record: 7-4)
While the Huskies' road record may not seem so impressive, the quality of their wins is. UConn swept through the Maui Invitational with wins over Wichita State, Michigan State and No. 22 Kentucky. It then took down No. 5 Texas in overtime in the Frank Erwin Center. Since starting conference play, away wins have been harder to come by, although the Huskies nearly pulled out a win at Notre Dame, falling 73-70.
Undoubtedly the force behind UConn's potent road presence is future lottery pick and dominant junior guard Kemba Walker. Walker averaged 30 points a game in Maui, hit a 30-foot 3-pointer and a game-winning jumper against Texas, and has continued to average 22.9 points per game through the season. Teams need stars like Walker to get wins deep into March Madness.
Beyond Walker, the Huskies — much like the Gators — excel on the boards. Led by sophomore Alex Oriakhi's 8.5 rebounds per game, UConn is ninth in the country in rebounds per game and seventh in offensive rebounds per game. They also average 6.3 blocks, the fifth best in the country. Nothing takes the air out of an opposing crowd quite like a dominant block.
UConn has a lot to worry about, including Walker's attitude, head coach Jim Calhoun's three-game suspension and its shooting woes. But if the team can get it together, UConn might be cutting down the nets.
Homebodies
No. 20 Missouri (RPI: 29, SOS: 69, Away/Neutral Record: 5-6)
Do not let the record fool you — things are much worse here than they look. The Tigers are 1-5 on the road in Big 12 play. The team lost to Colorado by double digits. It beat Oregon (RPI: 124) and Iowa State (RPI: 147) by just a combined nine points.
There is no doubt that Missouri has a potent offense. Led by junior guard Marcus Denmon's 16.6 points per game, a host of other players in double digits and an up-tempo attack, the Tigers are fifth in the nation in points scored.
But with the quick style of play come some problems. Often looking to get into a transition offense, Missouri instead finds itself losing the battles on the boards. The team is 87th in the country at rebounding and plays just two forwards, both of whom are only 6-foot-8. The second-chance points allow other teams to keep up with the Tigers' high scoring. Kansas dropped 103 points on them, for example, while Texas A&M had 91.
The team also struggles in the turnover department, its high paced offense leading to mistakes and handing the opposition opportunities to fire up its crowd and take the Tigers out of the game.
The Tigers have still yet to lose at Mizzou Arena, a perfect 16-0. But they will not be playing in the Arena come March; in fact, if they cannot turn it around, they will not be playing anywhere.
No. 12 Wisconsin (RPI: 18, SOS: 30, Away/Neutral Record: 5-6)
The whole country knows Wisconsin was the team able to rally back from 15 down in the second half to upend the undefeated Ohio State. But that was in front of its home crowd, a crowd that may or may not have spit on Buckeye freshman Jared Sullinger.
On the road, the Badgers are a bit of a different story. They have given just about every Big 10 bubble squad a quality win, with losses to Penn State, Michigan State and Illinois. They also lost to UNLV and missed a great opportunity to get a quality win of their own by falling to Notre Dame on a neutral court. Most recently, Iowa (RPI: 166) took them to overtime before they managed to pull it out.
On paper, Wisconsin seems like it would make a great road team. The Badgers have the nation's second-best scoring defense and lead the country in points per possession, free-throw percentage and turnovers per game.
But in their road losses, they simply have not been able to shoot the ball at a high percentage. In the six defeats, they have shot only 37.9 percent as a team. Senior Jon Leuer and junior Jordan Taylor, the Badgers' leading scorers, have continued to produce points in these games, but have done so by taking a lot of shots.
Despite its shooting problems, Wisconsin still managed to have a lead in the second half of four of their six losses. But its defense — the backbone of Badger basketball — has faltered. In the second halves of their defeats, the Badgers have given up an average of eight more points than they did in the first half, allowing multiple teams to make comebacks.
Obviously, the Badgers have a lot of the qualities of a team that can make a deep run into the tournament. But without a true star, they may not be shining for very long.
