March Madness has finally arrived
After further review … It’s March Madness time again and, indeed, the prominent word is “Madness!”
After further review … It’s March Madness time again and, indeed, the prominent word is “Madness!” With our country’s pandemic still in place as we try to safely open schools and with sports opportunities becoming more prevalent, will this year’s March Madness operate as it did in years past? It probably won’t. Of course, there is a plan in place, but the real question is will they be able to make it happen? Stay tuned!
The present NCAA plan is to hold this tournament in Indiana with many games, including the Final Four in Indianapolis.
The plan that has been in operation in “normal” times is that selected teams would play their first game in the higher-seeded team’s arena. As the tournament progresses the winning teams would play in divisional tournaments with the winners moving on to the next round and ultimately going on to the Final Four, usually played on Saturday with the two winners playing for the NCAA championship the following Monday night.
At this writing, all 64 teams will be in or near Indianapolis with Lucas Stadium (home of the NFL Colts) being the site of the Final Four. Those Saturday semifinal games would split Lucas in half. The question: is what is the process of even getting to Lucas? Like the guy asking: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is “Practice! Practice! Practice!” The question here is, ”How do you get to Lucas?” The answer is: “Win! Win! WIN!” In past years it was easily determined with the higher seed being at their home arena. But for 2021, various arenas in and around the Indianapolis complex had to be secured. Incidentally, ALL players, coaches, 96 officials, and media will be housed in and about the city of Indianapolis. Let’s look at those playing locations.
Indiana University in Bloomington is some 54 miles (1 hour + driving) from Indianapolis, Purdue University is 65 miles (1 hour+ driving), Butler University
near downtown Indianapolis, Bankers Life Fieldhouse is just minutes away from central Indianapolis, Indianapolis State Fairgrounds is near the city and Lucas Stadium will have two courts available, but will only use one at a time — these six courts will be available throughout the tournament with play scheduled morning, afternoon, and evening. All of the above is tentative at this writing. It will be an interesting tournament.
Will you be watching CBS, TBS, TNT, Tru throughout the tournament Thursday—April 5?