A computing device has one or more network interface controllers (NICs). Each NIC has ports and controllers. Each port of each NIC is managed by one of the controllers of the NIC. The computing device has one or more input/output modules (IOMs). Each port of each NIC is connected to one of the IOMs. Candidate ports with which to establish a NIC teaming pair are determined for a target port, based on addresses of the ports. A selected candidate port from the candidate ports is determined, based on a priority score of each candidate port calculated based on the IOM to which the candidate port is connected, the NIC to which the candidate port is a part, and the controller that manages the candidate port. The target port is configured with the selected candidate port as the NIC teaming pair.