City in top 10 for college hoops fans

Fans and teams competing in the NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament in Milwaukee this weekend are in a great city for college hoops. Milwaukee was ranked the eighthbest large city for college basketball fans by WalletHub.

The city ranked 40th overall among 291 cities, with Chapel Hill, N.C. — home to the South Regional No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels — claiming the list’s top spot.

Irish Madtown

From March Madness in Milwaukee to St. Patrick’s Day in Madison, it’s a party weekend in Wisconsin. The state capital was named the second-best city for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations by WalletHub.

The website ranked cities on 16 factors including Irish pubs and restaurants per capita, percentage of Irish population, average beer price and weather forecast. Buffalo was ranked as the best city for St. Patrick’s Day festivities, while Boston came in at No. 3. Milwaukee ranked 36th out of 200 cities.

Beer here

Whether you’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or watching basketball, you’re probably doing it with a beer in hand.

Hopefully, it’s not a green beer. Maybe it’s something from Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe, New Glarus Brewing Co. or Stevens Point Brewery: All three made the Brewers Association’s ranking of the top 50 craft breweries in American in 2016, based on beer sales volume.

The breweries ranked No. 12, 16 and 23, respectively, on the nonprofit trade group’s list.

Among all breweries in the United States, Minhas was 21st, New Glarus was 25th and Stevens Point was 32nd. MillerCoors — which is headquartered in Chicago, but whose Miller branch is in Milwaukee — was second on the overall list. Anheuser-Busch topped the overall list while Yuengling was No. 1 on the craft brewery list.