The Wolverines missed their final eight shots, including a 3-pointer by Mike Smith with a couple of seconds left and another by Franz Wagner at the buzzer that sent the Bruins (22-9) flying off the bench in a wild celebration.
Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Fast moving and free flowing, the ultra-efficient Zags have steamrolled everyone in their way, winning a Division I-record 27 straight games by double digits.
March Madness is taking on a whole new meaning for athletes, coaches and support staff, who are largely cooped up for the duration of the tournament, which ends with the championship game April 5.
Social isolation effects will be compounded by an isolation bubble with a reduced number of fans, restricted zones of access and restricted contact with family, friends and spectators.
The NCAA is giving fans an opportunity to buy cardboard cutouts of themselves to be sent to the games at a cost of $100 apiece, with a portion of the purchase price going to the United Way of Central Indiana’s COVID-19 relief effort.
Forty-six teams had arrived in Indianapolis for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament by late Sunday, and each was given a COVID-19 test upon arrival.
The media landscape is in the throes of dramatic change that creates uncertainty but also adds to the value of events like the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that attract huge live audiences.
The NCAA, Indiana Sports Corp. and Visit Indy are developing a program to help match teams with restaurants that are prepared to deliver.
Over the past few weeks, Jennifer Pope Baker has spent pretty much every waking moment overseeing Indy’s effort to host this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
It’s taken thousands of Hoosier residents willing to put community first in order to take Indy’s success to the next level.
Other than a few facilities that will be COVID testing sites, team lounges or overflow areas, most event spaces that usually glean revenue from tournament gatherings could be left out in the cold.
The city will host an unprecedented number of games with the entire tournament being played in Indiana. But the pandemic will limit capacity at both games and restaurants.
Even after the NCAA said Feb. 19 that some spectators will be allowed at the games, local tourism officials and economists are still tempering their financial expectations.
A huge event that kicks off next month is hanging like a plum: the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Coverage from Selection Sunday on March 14 to the championship April 5 should bring an enormous payoff to Indiana, which will host all 67 games, and to Indianapolis specifically, which will host 55 of them.
The pandemic that landed March Madness in Indianapolis is also the complication that will strip some of the tournament’s ambience, but local officials are organizing safe activities.
Local officials are scheduling neighborhood cleanups, public art initiatives and a slew of other efforts to help the city put its best foot forward when March Madness takes over downtown next month.
Five of the city’s most prominent hotels, accounting for more than 2,800 rooms, will house the 68 teams in the three-week NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament that tips off March 18.
The logistics needed to pull off the entire NCAA tournament are incredible. But Indianapolis officials tell IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey they are up to the task. So podcast host Mason King talks with Shuey about what he’s learned and what’s left to figure out.
The herculean effort over the next 2-1/2 months will involve city and state officials, tourism and civic leaders, and likely thousands of volunteers.
