Could Crisler ever host NCAA Tournament games?
i see other schools like Kentucky, Louisville, OSU etc. host NCAA first and second round games at their arenas. Point blank: could that ever be done at Crisler?
It's a world class arena that is a great place to watch a basketball game. A thousand times better than Big Lots Arena in Columbus.
February 24th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
If the basketball hosting requirements are anything like the hockey tournament, Crisler might also a couple locker rooms short, even with the PDC next door.
February 24th, 2015 at 7:48 PM ^
To get a rough idea of the general requirements (this list seems typical of the sites usually selected), the host locations for this year (per an ESPN article from November):
First Round March 17-18
UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)
Second-Third Rounds March 19, 21
Veterans Memorial Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
KFC Yum! Center (Louisville)
Consol Energy Center (Pittsburgh)
Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.)
March 20, 22
Time Warner Cable Arena (Charlotte, N.C.)
Nationwide Arena (Columbus, Ohio)
CenturyLink Center (Omaha, Neb.)
KeyArena (Seattle)
Midwest Regional March 26, 28
Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland)
West Regional March 26, 28
Staples Center (Los Angeles)
South Regional March 27, 29
NRG Stadium (Houston)
East Regional March 27, 29
Carrier Dome (Syracuse)
National Semifinals April 4
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
Championship Game April 6
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
February 24th, 2015 at 8:15 PM ^
February 24th, 2015 at 8:30 PM ^
We could host women's NCAA tournament games though...
February 24th, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^
Probably not. Most of those other stadiums are near-NBA sized (Rupp can handle 23k+, and even Value Center is over 18k. Crisler is pushing it at 13k, and I just don't see the appeal of putting it there if Breslin is only an hour away a 2k bigger. If they cared about actually rewarding #1 seeds with local games, sure. But if they are going to treat it like a mini NBA event, they might as well put them in those types of arenas.