Odds and ends in this year's tournament
A "sold out" sign has been posted at Atlanta's Georgia Dome for a while now, demand for Final Four tickets far exceeding the supply.
Fans who refuse to listen to "no" can search out a ticket broker and plunk down $298 (for a distant-view seat) and up. They can head to Atlanta two weekends from next and see what's available from the guys holding up fingers on sidewalks.
Or at a little more cost, they can attend in style.
For $6,245 apiece, they can score tickets for the March 31 semifinals and April 2 championship game, accommodation in Atlanta's downtown Hyatt Regency hotel and hospitality amenities. That includes an upgrade to lower-level VIP seating.
That package and others are available through RazorGator Experiences, the NCAA's newly designated official ticket, hotel and hospitality package provider. The company also offers a fan-to-fan ticket exchange, which the NCAA hopes will alleviate some of the buying and selling frenzy typically surrounding its signature event.
At the same time, the new partnership cuts the NCAA in on the lucrative event-packaging market.
RazorGator spokeswoman Julie Reynolds declines to give early sales figures but says the demand for Final Four packages — starting at $1,495 if the buyer wants game tickets, not just hospitality access — "has been very strong."
So where does the Final Four rank in attractiveness to the high-end fan? For not a lot more — $7,600 — RazorGator offers a Masters package including admittance badges for all four days of golf's premier tournament, lodging (and maid service) in a private home and daily round-trip transportation.
The good, the bad ...
Rating the tournament's newsmakers and … well, the tournament itself (five hoops for the best, one for the worst):
Florida: Five stars
Three days. Three Southeastern Conference tournament routs by 17, 21 and 21 points. Any more questions about the defending NCAA champ?
Big Ten: Four stars
Would Purdue or Illinois squeeze into the field? Both did, giving the league six berths (including a No. 1 seed in Ohio State and No. 2 in Wisconsin).
Stan Heath: Three stars
Arkansas didn't win the SEC tournament, but getting to the final and muscling into the NCAA bracket quieted reports that the Razorbacks coach is on the chopping block.
Notre Dame: Two stars
Irish have four days to endure all the predictions that they're Winthrop's first upset victim. The selection committee didn't help by giving the Eagles the same seed (No. 11) it assigned George Mason last year.
The Mids: One star
Missouri State was snubbed a second year in succession. Drexel was left out. Middle-echelon conferences saw their measure of respect drop from eight at-large bids a year ago to six.
Former NBA coaches holding court in college ranks
It wasn't that long ago that Rick Pitino, John Calipari and Tim Floyd were making names for themselves in the NBA.
Not especially good names, mind you.
They're among seven current college coaches who washed out of the NBA in the last eight years and have since refound comfort and success on campus. Four of them — Louisville's Pitino, Memphis' Calipari, Southern California's Floyd and UNLV's Lon Kruger — are taking teams into the NCAA tournament.
Jeff Bzdelik and Air Force and Leonard Hamilton and Florida State were in the selection picture. And Sidney Lowe and North Carolina State mounted a late charge, carrying a 10th seed into Sunday's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final.
The seven's combined record this season: 165-64.
Their combined NBA marks: 594-1,095, including only three winning seasons among the 26 full and partial seasons they coached in the league.
Waiting in the wings: Mike Montgomery, who coached Stanford to 12 NCAA appearances and the 1998 Final Four, left in 2004 for the NBA's Golden State Warriors and was fired after going 68-96 in two years.
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