College Basketball's Best on Interstate 40

Four of the top six ranked teams in the nation have one thing in common: Interstate 40.

You can get to the universities of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Duke (Durham), Tennessee (Knoxville) and Memphis using the interstate. Three of those schools have been #1 for most of the year ... with Duke hitting as high as #2.

Oh, and these schools have wore a path on I-40. Tennessee (well, they flew) and Memphis faced off in a #1 vs #2 battle that the Vols won. Duke and UNC played earlier this month (a #2 vs #3 game), with their next meeting coming on March 8th.

Don't forget about Vanderbilt (Nashville) who is 24-4, ranked #14 and just knocked off #1 Tennessee. Wake Forest (Winston-Salem) and New Mexico (Albuquerque) are bubble teams hunting for an at-large bid.

You also have UNC Asheville, who at 20-8 is the biggest threat to unseat Winthrop in the Big South Conference. They also have some talking point of a 7-9 center, Kenny George. UNC Wilmington (third in the Colonial) and Arkansas-Little Rock (second in the Sun Belt West division) could make the NCAA tournament if they get some good fortune in their conference tournaments.

I-40 will be represented in the tournament as well. Raleigh and Little Rock will be pod sites for the NCAAs. Plus, the Big South, Conference USA, Mid-Eastern Athletic and Ohio Valley conferences will hold at least part of their conference tournaments in cities along the interstate.

Plus Tennessee and North Carolina's women's hoops teams are among the favorites to win the championship (Duke isn't bad, either).

All that adds up to some great basketball played on a stretch of interstate that can get you from the beaches of the Atlantic, through Tobacco Road, the Appalachian mountains, Music City, the Ozarks and the west.