1 seed Michigan plays on Saturday at 3pm at Mackey arena
March 14th, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
Info courtesy of Dylan Burkhardt
March 14th, 2021 at 10:54 PM ^
Thank you!!!
Very happy it's in an actual basketball arena. I'm hoping to go and really didn't want to go to Lucas Oil Stadium and sitting so far away from the action that I would need binoculars.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:58 PM ^
Mackey is awesome - one of the best arenas I have been to in any sport.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:09 PM ^
I was at Lucas Oil yesterday and didn’t know what to expect from the set up. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Pretty fan friendly as far as seating and sight lines, at least the way the Big Ten did it.
March 15th, 2021 at 12:19 AM ^
Here's an IndyStar article listing the limitations on attendance:
25% of capacity at all Indianapolis area arenas, but only 12% (1850 fans) at Mackey Arena and just 500 fans at Assembly Hall.
I went to the Regional there in 2014 (where we beat Syracuse and lost in Regional Finals to Kentucky), and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. The regional semi between Kentucky and Louisville (after our game) was an incredible atmosphere.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:53 PM ^
Glad they don’t have to wait around all day.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:55 PM ^
Thurs/Fri/Sat TIP TIMES! pic.twitter.com/kh2eTuGwLI
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) March 15, 2021
March 14th, 2021 at 10:56 PM ^
Glad I don't have to stay up all night. There was one year where they always seemed to put us in the final time slot.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:59 PM ^
2018 maybe? Round of 32 game against Houston didn’t start until after 10pm eastern time.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:01 PM ^
Yeah - and if you went to bed on that one too early... ouch!
March 14th, 2021 at 11:04 PM ^
I stayed up for that one
March 14th, 2021 at 11:05 PM ^
For the record, I never doubted you
March 15th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
My son went to bed and was just drifting off to sleep when I went and got him up in time to see The Shot. Everyone else was sleeping so we had to celebrate with silent screams of joy.
March 15th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
Silent screams of joy? Not in my house, my wife freaked out and called me (we live in a two story house and I was in the basement).....
Noting subtly about that celebration....
It was also St. Patrick's Day, so yeah, I don't remember much of the game except the final shot.
The Thursday night game vs Montana was the 4th game of the day and a post-9 pm start too.
In the regional, I think the TAMU and FSU games were both later too, I remember watching Thursday both at the bar at night.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:01 PM ^
Looks like my two random 1st round game tickets will be Loyola vs. Georgia Tech and Georgetown vs. Colorado. Should be two pretty good games, lucked out a bit.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
Hoya Saxa!
March 15th, 2021 at 12:34 AM ^
Are they really doing a lottery for ticket slots?
First round presale was last Tuesday. Second round last Thursday. I was able to snag those two pairs of tickets for 1st round then all three second round games at Bankers next Monday. There's a chance Michigan would play at Bankers next Monday which would be lucky for me.
March 15th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
Are there sessions or is each individual game sold individually?
Looking for tickets on stubhub it looks like there are no back to back games. Each game has it's own ticket.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:04 PM ^
Announcers are Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Jamie Erdahl
March 14th, 2021 at 11:49 PM ^
Who are the officials?
March 15th, 2021 at 12:13 AM ^
I think Eagle/Spanarkel have been partnered up for over 20 years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
March 15th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
Spanarkel is one of my favorite names. Good announcer too.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:05 PM ^
Have a funeral to attend at that time. Was hoping for a night tip
Priorities, amirite?
March 14th, 2021 at 11:07 PM ^
Thank god for no late night games.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:45 PM ^
Lucky me. My one day off and about the time I wake up.
March 15th, 2021 at 12:18 AM ^
It's interesting that they did not keep teams in the same bracket in the same arena. Michigan is playing in Mackay Arena while the LSU/St Bonaventure game is at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. I would have thought they would have put the top seeds at the sites that are going to be used for the second round games as well.
Maryland also plays on Saturday at Mackay Arena in the game following Michigan. Awkward? LOL
March 15th, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
The plan (everything is a bit more unpredictable this year, of course) is for all "Round of 32" games to be in Indianapolis, but with nobody playing at the same venue as a previous game.
If I remember right, teams play games around the same time as teams they may play in the next round or 2. So the 2/15 game and 7/10 game happens around the same time. Obviously then they can't play in the same arena. LSU tips off only about an hour before us.
It seems weird they would change that for this year even with all the games in Indianapolis. I think it would be a much bigger advantage having played in the same arena previously, rather than having an extra two or three hours. Maybe they will have all the teams play in different arenas for the second round games, but I think it would have been more fair to have all the teams in a pod play at the same site for both games in one weekend.
March 15th, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
EDIT: Removed. Leaders and Best asked the same thing.
I really wish they weren’t utilizing Lucas Oil Stadium until the Final Four. Teams that get a chance to play there in the early rounds have an advantage over those that are playing in other actual basketball gyms. I also think it should be reserved for the Final Four, which makes it special. If you’ve already played there 2-3 times by the time you get to the Final Four it kind of takes away from the atmosphere. There was always something neat about knowing where the Final Four was gonna be and then making it there. The Bigten teams were fortunate to have been able to have the tournament there this year though.
I believe two courts there. Must have needed the courts throughout
I prefer on-campus locations for the Final Fours, it's just a better atmosphere than any of the big football stadiums. One that always stood out to me was the 1983 FF at The Pit, in Albuquerque. That's the one Valvano won with NC St over Phi Slamma Jamma. What an atmosphere that little arena has...
This is the least amount of basketball they have played since having to sit those three weeks.
I'm hoping this adequately recharges their batteries for a good run and possibly get Livers back!
If somebody would have told me after the lows in football on Nov 22, 2020 - - -
Michigan will win the Big Ten in basketball & be a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney & Coach Howard will have this team in a great position for 2022 -- all the while staee (Izzo - "the shame of iron mountain") looked tired, bloated and old -- I would have said - "you're crazy".
Yet, here we are.
Go Blue.
I hope we can survive the first weekend and get Livers back for the Sweet 16. My glass half full perspective is that Terrance Williams gets enough run this weekend to prove his Top-100 ranking and we have a deeper, more confident team going into the second weekend.
Planned on making the trip this weekend but they’re selling upper deck tickets for $250 for the Michigan game.
Likewise, but with the veeeeerrry limited availability of tickets (particularly at the campus arenas), I'm not optimistic about scoring any tickets without trading a month's worth of salary. That being said, I hope every available ticket goes to fellow UofM fans.
Rest up boys, polish the rough edges that showed up last week and ......
GO BLUE
May the ghost of 2013 Tourney Edition Mitch McGary possess several members of our bench this week.
Is every single NCAA tournament game in Indiana? Am I reading that correctly?
March 15th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
Yes, you're reading that correctly. The hub is Indianapolis, and the spokes are all within a two hour drive.
March 15th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
What a year for the Hoosiers to miss the tournament.
March 15th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
so basically everyone is in the Mid West bracket.
well, not really, but kinda
March 15th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
So wait, why didn't IU, Purdue, Ball State, Indiana State, IUPUI, Purdue-Fort Wayne, Evansville, Butler, Valpo, and Notre Dame get automatic bids?
/worldcup
The Olympics does that too. Probably every international competition does.