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The website WalletHub Monday published its annual NCAA Tournament Fun Facts and their report on 2017’s Best and Worst Cities for College Basketball Fans. Presumably these are also the best and worst places if you happen to be a bookie.
To find 2017’s top spots for NCAA hoops, WalletHub crunched the numbers on 291 U.S. cities using seven key metrics. They range from the number of teams per city and the winning percentage of each to stadium capacity and social-media engagement.
Best Cities for College Hoops Fans Worst Cities for College Hoops Fans
1 Chapel Hill, NC 282 Ithaca, NY
2 Los Angeles, CA 283 Poughkeepsie, NY
3 Durham, NC 284 Lynchburg, VA
4 Bloomington, IN 285 Riverside, CA
5 Philadelphia, PA 286 Hackensack, NJ
6 East Lansing, MI 287 Clinton, SC
7 Lawrence, KS 288 Daytona Beach, FL
8 Lexington, KY 289 Peoria, IL
9 Storrs, CT 290 Tampa, FL
10 Cullowhee, NC 291 New Britain, CT
March Madness Fun Facts
$7.3 Million - Annual salary of Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski (6X more than Duke's president), making him the highest paid college basketball coach.
17X - Difference between the average NBA rookie's salary ($1.99M) and the average value of a college basketball player's tuition, room and board ($120K).
$8.9 Billion - Estimated amount wagered illegally on the 2016 NCAA basketball tournament.
3.5 Million - Extra barrels of American beer are produced each March.
$66+ Million - Tournament's impact on Dayton, Ohio's economy since 2001.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
