Sweet 16 Road Trips_ Meet Me in St. Louis

In an amazing coincidence, both the North Carolina Tarheels men's basketball and women's gymnastics teams are going to be traveling to many miles to either meet up with or potentially meet up with (they have to beat Kansas first) their rivals the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Both schools' basketball teams are headed to St.Louis for the NCAA Sweet 16 regional; both schools' gymnastics teams are heading to Pittsburgh for the EAGL championships.

The UNC men's basketball team will face the Ohio Bobcats (pictured, the image is of player D.J. Cooper) while the Wolfpack basketball team faces Kansas in the Arch City.

The Sweet 16 also has a pair of at least one set of brothers as senior Tyler Zeller will lead the 'Heels, and his freshman brother Cody Zeller will try to help the Indiana Hoosiers upset top-seed Kentucky.

So, with all these things in mind, we decided to mapquest some miles and figure how long it will take a dedicated to drive or arrive by bus; yes, we realize many will probably opt for a Delta Airlines flight.

Here, we go:

1,115- Miles between Raleigh and Lawrence, Kan., where the Kansas Jayhawks are based.

836- Miles betwen Raleigh and St. Louis, where the two teams will actually play.

806- Miles between Chapel Hill and St. Louis

641- Miles between Chapel Hill and Bloomington, Ind., where Cody Zeller plays.

505-Miles between Raleigh and Pittsburgh, should the Wolfpack's gymnastics fans choose to go Greyhound.

500- Miles between St. Louis and Athens, Ohio, where the Ohio Bobcats play.

476- Miles between Chapel Hill and Pittsburgh, should the Tarheels's gymnastics fans decide to go Greyhound.

380- Miles between Chapel Hill and Athens, Ohio.

284- Miles between St. Louis and Lawrence, Kan.

32- Miles between Chapel Hill and downtown Raleigh.

For this survey, we choose the following seven places:

1. Aya Sofia Cuisine, a Turkish restaurant in St. Louis

2. August Wilson Center, an arts venue in Pittsburgh

3. Irish Lion, an Irish pub in Bloomington, Ind.

4. The Raven Bookstore, Lawrence, Kan.

5. Internationalist Books- Chapel Hill, NC

6. The Pit, a barbecue diner in downtown Raleigh, NC

7. Jackie O's Pub and Brewery, Athens, Ohio.