Mike Abegg writes:
-Three of the 4 teams are not at all strangers to the finals, so there's
no pressing urgency to go "this year".  Yes it's a drive from the Forks or
Twin Cities but not unrealistic - MSP-Columbus is comparable to 1991 when
we rode on a bus from Boston to Detroit because it was the first time in
over a decade BU had been to the finals.
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Travel time according to Yahoo! maps:

Boston to Detroit:  11:08
Minneapolis to Columbus:  12:30
Grand Forks to Columbus: 17:20
Boston to Columbus: 12:57

for completeness:
Colorado Springs to Columbus: 19:07
Denver to Columbus: 19:24

Your comparison of a Boston to Detroit bus ride to Mpls to Columbus is perhaps fair, but Grand Forks to Columbus is 50% longer yet, and more in a league with Colorado.

Also, I don't think it helps that it's not a major air-traffic city (read:  airline competition).  One older Gopher fan (self-proclaimed as too old for road-tripping) was selling game tickets after finding $400 airfares.

-Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!!!