Today was upset Sunday at the United Center. After VCU’s dismantling of Purdue there was no way I thought Florida St. would do the same thing to Notre Dame. But, Florida St. did defeating Notre Dame 71-57 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993.
The next game between VCU and Florida St. is the first time a #11 and #10 seed have played each other in the NCAA Tournament.
Post Game Dining
By the time the game was over, Nicole was back at home and getting ready for …

To my surprise the NCAA Tournament Round 3 was not scheduled to begin until 6:10 pm. Most first Sundays for the NCAA Tournament are schedule as afternoon affairs, but today was a change to the norm which definitely worked in my favor as my babysitter could not come over until later Sunday afternoon.
Pre Game Dining
As soon as the babysitter arrived, I left the house as Nicole was still working on her dissertation on Northwestern’s campus. I went to Billy Goat Tavern for a pre-game burger and beer.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
Most …

The last game of the day was definitely the best game. VCU trounced Georgetown 74-56. VCU was the controversial entry to the NCAA Tournament but proved they belong with this blowout. This was the third year in a row that Georgetown lost to a #10 seed or higher in the first round.

As I exited the arena, I began asking for extra tickets from the Purdue fans that were lined up at the gate to enter the arena. As I asked for extra tickets one young man said he had an extra and handed me the ticket. Since he was young, I was 1) surprised he had an extra ticket and 2) that he was giving it away for free. Turns out he worked for somebody at the Chicago Board of Trade who gave him the tickets. So he to giveaway the …

The second game of the session was more exciting than the first as Florida St. defeated Texas A&M 57-50 to advance in the tournament for the first time since 1998.
The last time I attended the NCAA Tournament at the United Center was in 2002. That day, we had at least two hours in between sessions so my friend and I walked over to Cheli’s Chili Bar to hang out. However, for some reason there was no time in between sessions this year. In fact, not only was there no time, …

I had waited for this weekend for awhile. I had two days where I could get out of the house, without Dylan, for the NCAA Tournament. The first game on Friday was scheduled for 12:40 pm so I left the house as soon as I could to get down for the first game.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
I walked in front of Gate 3 and found a family who had an extra ticket. I offered $20 for the $80 face value ticket and held firm on my price point. I told them …

As is the case with most rounds of the NCAA tournament, two games are included in the purchase price of the ticket. Obviously, the second game of the day was between West Virginia and Duke which was relatively uneventful. Duke took an early lead and continued to extend the lead throughout the game. They defeated West Virginia convincingly 78-57.

Even though we did not take advantage of it, fans should consider buying tickets in the upper deck at the Final Four and then sneak into the fans section of the teams …

One perk of having tickets before you arrive in Indianapolis is that you do not have to deal with scalping tickets before the event. Instead you can just figure out the other joys of attending a sporting event – parking and where to eat before or after the game.
Parking
When we arrived in Indianapolis, we drove straight to the parking lot that cost $3 before the Colts divisional playoff game versus the Ravens and the Big Ten Tournament. Today it was $10, but the parking lot across the street was only …

On Friday night I wrote that I would wait to buy tickets to the Final Four semifinals until you are outside of Lucas Oil Stadium. Some people might be nervous about this strategy given 1) you are traveling to Indianapolis without the 100% guarantee of already having tickets in hand and 2) buying tickets from StubHub or a ticket broker guarantees you the tickets are legit.
This morning I almost bought tickets to the Final Four before driving down to Indianapolis. The cheapest tickets for last night’s games have hovered around …

Are you planning to buy tickets for the Final Four tomorrow in Indianapolis? Currently ticket prices are higher than I expected – especially for the semifinals tomorrow night. There are two ways to buy tickets to the Final Four through the primary market. First, you can buy tickets through the lottery the NCAA holds one year in advance. Second, you can buy tickets from a school. However, both methods require fans to buy “the strip” which includes one ticket to Saturday night’s semifinal games and …