The road can be rattling. (Rack To Rack).

When the NCAA Tournament starts, there will not be any talk of which teams are "struggling" on the road. By then it will be a most point--but rest assured that "road resumes" will be closely scrutinized as the at-large bids are handed out.

A number of factors make road wins hard to come by. In some cases, the home team simply is better than the road team. But what about Penn State beating Wisconsin last week? Florida lost at West Virginia earlier this year, and Seton Hall has knocked off both Notre Dame and Pittsburgh at home. My intention is not to disparage these winning teams--they deserved the wins. However, on a neutral floor, some of these results may have been different. With that said, let me try to explain the dynamics of the difficulty of the road in college hoops.

In a game played by emotional and developing young men, a loud crowd certainly can rattle a visiting team. But I also think that coaches are less conservative at home than on the road, which helps the home team perform at a higher level. Another factor that influences road success is experience. With more and more underclassmen having significant roles, immaturity coupled with inexperience ...