For years there were two things you could count on if you advanced to the quarterfinals of a state basketball tournament. You’d be playing at a neutral site and it would be somewhat centrally located.

Saturday’s Class I girls quarterfinals will demonstrate why playing the semifinal at the home of the top seed is a bad idea.

Kennett of Conway finished 14-4, tied for fourth with Souhegan. They didn’t play head-to-head, so the tiebreaker was based on strength of schedule, something neither team has any control over. Kennett lost and should both teams advance through Wednesday’s preliminary round, Kennett comes all the way to Amherst on Saturday.

Other potential quarterfinal games have good teams forced to take long bus rides. If the top seeds win on Wednesday Portsmouth goes all the way to Hanover and Coe-Brown Northwood Academy buses to Lebanon.

Before the NHIAA decided to go to the new tournament format, all four games would have been played at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.

Can’t wait to see the potential crazy bus rides when the Class S and Class M tournament pairings are announced.