Best Cities for College Basketball
March is the most exciting time of the year for NCAA basketball fans, as it marks the start of the notorious March Madness tournament. Each year, the 68 best college basketball teams across the country compete in a single-elimination bracket, with the winners claiming the national championship for the season. With its potential for shocking upsets, and its popularity with sports bettors, the March Madness Finals often draw in more fans than the NBA Grand Finals.
Division I of the NCAA has a total of 352 schools competing, meaning some cities’ schools get lost in the shuffle, but some areas have carved a name out for themselves as college basketball hotspots. We conducted a study to find out which American cities are actually the best for the sport, ranking each of them on statistics like their number of March Madness appearances, their average game attendance figures, and their popularity online. We used these stats to score each city out of 10, with the highest scoring areas taking the top spots of our list.
Want to see where your city ranks, or just looking for a great spot to visit for game day? Here’s our list of the best college basketball cities in the USA:
#1. Philadelphia, PA
The City of Brotherly Love tops our list of the best spots for college basketball in America. Philly is known for the “Philadelphia Big Five”, a group of local schools with a strong basketball rivalry which, ironically, now features six teams.
These teams have a staggering 136 March Madness appearances between them, making Philadelphia the most represented city in the tournament’s history. With three championships to their name, the Villanova Wildcats are the most successful team in the city, while the La Salle Explorers brought the title to their city once in 1954.
Philadelphia also ranks as the city with the fifth highest search volume for March Madness in our findings (36,200 searches in one year), and 57,220 mentions of their teams on social media in the last 12 months solidifying the online popularity of college basketball in the city. With an index score of 5.04, it claims the #1 spot with a 0.26-point lead.
#2. New York City, NY
Another city with plenty of competing colleges to choose from, New York City has 5 teams who have appeared in March Madness tournaments 52 times between them. Chief among them are the St John’s Red Storm, who have entered the bracket 30 times since the tournament began.
NYC also boasts the largest online interest from college basketball fans, with the highest number of searches for March Madness of any city we researched: 141,260 people in the city looked the tournament up on Google across a 12-month period.
Despite scoring strongly in plenty of important categories, NYC surprisingly has the third lowest average attendance figures of any US city we studied, with its teams typically drawing 2,785 fans per game. This gives it an index score of 4.78, and a second-place finish in our rankings.
#3. Los Angeles, CA
March Madness fans are bound to be familiar with Los Angeles’ history in the tournament, with its biggest team – the UCLA Bruins – leading the league with 11 championships in their trophy cabinet. The USC Trojans, Pepperdine Waves, and Loyola Marymount Lions have all made names for themselves in the tournament as well, bringing LA’s total teams to 4 and total appearances to 91.
The city has also proven to be a hit among online fans, with the third-highest Google search volume for March Madness in the country – 63,740 searches in 12 months – and the third-largest social media presence – 158,660 mentions in the same period of time.
Its index score of 4.67 gives LA a bronze medal finish on our rankings of the best college basketball cities, and it’s hard to argue with its track record!
#4. Boston, MA
Not only is it the home of the reigning NBA champions, the Celtics, but Boston is also a popular city for NCAA action. Its three teams – Northeastern University, Boston College and Boston University – share 34 March Madness appearances between them.
Boston also has the biggest social media presence of any college basketball city, with 329,780 total mentions of their teams online over the past 12 months according to our data. With 41,800 online searches for ‘March Madness’ in the same time – the third-most in the USA – it ranks similarly well in other online metrics.
Unfortunately, recording the lowest average attendance of the top 25 (2,426) brings Boston’s index score down to a 3.99, giving them a fourth-place finish.
#5. Lexington, KY
Lexington is the highest ranked city on our list to only have one NCAA Men’s Basketball team. But if you’re only going to have one, you might as well make it the team with the best record in the league! The Kentucky Wildcats are a dominant force in college basketball, with 8 championships, and hold records for both the highest win percentage and total wins in league history.
The Wildcats have appeared in March Madness 62 times, and their record-breaking reputation has given Lexington the second-highest average attendance in our rankings – a typical game draws in 19,928 fans.
With 134,000 social media mentions over the last 12 months, they’re also the fifth-most discussed college team online. Scoring 3.70 on our index overall, they round out the top 5 of our best college basketball cities.
#6. Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill is home to the North Carolina Tar Heels – one of college basketball’s most consistent high-level teams. They’ve reached a record 21 Final Fours at March Madness tournaments, and have reached the National Championship game for 9 decades running (the longest streak of any college basketball team).
The Tar Heels also give Chapel Hill the highest average attendance of any city in the league, with a typical game welcoming 20,593 fans to the Dean Smith Center. They also rank 8th in the league for social media mentions, being referenced 102,840 times over the last 12 months.
With an index score of 3.44 on our rankings, Chapel Hill narrowly misses out on top 5 positioning, but still finishes at a respectable spot in the top 10.
#7. Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. is home to four NCAA Men’s Basketball teams – the Georgetown Hoyas, American University Eagles, George Washington University, and Howard Bison University – with a total 49 March Madness appearances between them. The Hoyas are the only team in the city to have actually won a championship, in 1984, and have the most appearances of the four with 31.
The capital also ranks fourth across both our online metrics, with 37,300 local Google searches of ‘March Madness’ and 141,320 social media mentions in the last 12 months.
Its index score of 3.43 makes it the last city on our list to break the 3-point threshold, and lands it a seventh-place finish.
H2 – #8. Storrs, CT
With a population of just over 15,000, Storrs is a village that hosts the University of Connecticut, which in turn hosts the reigning NCAA Champions – the UConn Huskies. Having won their sixth title in 2024, the Huskies are now tied with the University of North Carolina for the most championships in the league’s history.
The university proves to be popular with fans too, as the average UConn game is attended by 12,733 people – more than 2,000 above the league average. The Huskies are also the second-most mentioned team on social media, with 202,600 posts in reference to them over the last year.
Its index score of 2.99 gives it an eighth-place finish, with its small size making it an underdog choice when it comes to college basketball cities.
#9. Lawrence, KS
The University of Kansas, and the Jayhawks, make their home in the state’s sixth-largest city, Lawrence. Having won their most recent championship in 2022, they’ve now secured four tournament wins in 52 March Madness appearances.
Lawrence’s average game attendance of 16,300 fans is the fourth highest of any city in NCAA Men’s Basketball; but it also has the lowest search volume of the top 25, with only 6,830 searches for March Madness in the last 12 months.
These balance out to give an index score of 2.77, and a final placement at #9 on our list of the best cities for the NCAA.
#9. Bloomington, IN
Out of their 41 appearances in March Madness tournaments throughout the years, Bloomington’s Indiana Hoosiers have taken home five NCAA Championships, tying with the Duke Blue Devils as the fifth most successful team in the tournament’s history.
The Hoosiers give Bloomington an average attendance of 16,939 fans per game, which is the third-highest figure of any city in our rankings. The city’s online rankings bring its score down, though, with a below-average search volume of 10,780 queries in 12 months, and 79,760 social media mentions in the same time.
Finishing with an index score of 2.77, Bloomington ties with Lawrence to round out the top 10 of our best cities for college basketball.
#11. Cincinnati, OH
With two college teams competing in men’s basketball, Cincinnati has been represented in March Madness a total of 62 times. Although the Xavier Musketeers are yet to win a title, the Cincinnati Bearcats have brought two championships home for the city in the past.
While its average attendance of 9,975 and its search volume of 23,280/year are both respectable, they fall just short of the league averages, giving Cincinnati a finishing position of #11 and an index score of 2.75.
#12. West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette is the hometown of Purdue University, and their Big Ten founding team, the Purdue Boilermakers. Although they’re yet to win a championship at March Madness, they’ve appeared in the bracket 35 times.
With the ninth most social media mentions on our rankings (100,740/year), and the seventh-highest average attendance with 14,876 fans per game, West Lafayette and the Boilermakers score 2.66 overall on our index and finish in 12th place.
#13. Tucson, AZ
Having won the title in 1997, Tucson’s Arizona Wildcats have played in March Madness 38 times. They have the ninth highest average attendance in our rankings, with 14,392 fans per game played.
However, their online fandom sees 78,980 social media mentions in the last year, and 18,670 March Madness searches in the same time frame. While these stats seem impressive, they’re below the rest of the top 25’s average in these categories, bringing Tucson’s score to 2.58, for a finishing position of #13 on our list.
#14. Raleigh, NC
Raleigh is the home turf of the two-time champion NC State Wolfpack, who’ve made 29 total appearances in March Madness tournaments. They boast a dedicated fanbase, with an average attendance of 13,491 fans per game, and the fifth highest search volume in the league (27,490 queries in 12 months).
Their popularity doesn’t translate over to social media mentions, however, with just 63,200 posts discussing the Wolfpack online in the last year. That takes Raleigh’s index score down to 2.39 for a joint 14th place finish.
#14. Columbus, OH
Columbus scores a total of 2.39 on our rankings – the same as Raleigh, NC – to round out the top 15 best cities for college basketball in America. Columbus’ Ohio State Buckeyes have won a championship title in their 35 March Madness appearances, and also record the seventh highest league search volume (27,290 searches/year) and the 10th biggest social media presence (91,180 mentions/year).
However, their average attendance of 10,938 only just breaks the league average, giving them a lower standing than some of the bigger cities on our rankings.
#16 to #25
Durham, NC, East Lansing, MI, and Milwaukee, WI just miss out on a top 15 finish, marking our 16th through 18th places. Despite finishing in the top 5 for best average attendance, Provo, UT only takes the #19 spot, landing 0.01 points ahead of Champaign, IL at #20.
While Omaha, NE places ninth in search volume – with 25,330 Google searches for March Madness in a year – it only finishes at #21 on our rankings. The LSU Tigers and Southern Jaguars were mentioned 122,420 times on social media in the last year, but they could only secure Baton Rouge, LA a 22nd place finish.
Ames, IA places at #23, followed by Louisville, KY at #24, and despite having three basketball teams who’ve appeared in March Madness, Indianapolis, IN rounds out our top 25 with 1.97 points on our index.
Wanting to try your luck betting on this year’s tournament? Vegas Insider has all the latest March Madness odds for the bracket, so you can get the run-down of every single matchup. Take a look today and see for yourself!