I believe that PBA and Lincoln would do an excellent job in hosting the opening rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Lincoln bids for hosting March Madness
- Thread starter SickOfPractice
- Start date
Hmmm. Not going to look it up, but does Lincoln have at least 8 3+ star hotels? I believe the NCAA wants separate team hotels for each visiting team, not sure. I believe WSU had to stay at Regency Marriott for the recent Omaha games so not all teams get to stay right across the street from the arena.
Downtown/Haymarket you've got:
Hyatt, Courtyard, Holiday Inn (2-star), Kindler, Embassy, Graduate, Hilton, then the Scarlet isn't too far away. Stayed at the Embassy a month ago, what a dump. They ARE renovating but it looks like they waited 8 years too long. It's straight out of 2005.
Definitely seems like lodging could be the weak point, but I'm sure they're building 1-2 more as we speak.
Can pinnacle actually handle the concessions correctly? I have heard nothing but bad stuff about operations at games.
Nebraska hosted a woman’s in 2014 , Nebraska also hosted men’s at Devaney a couple of times the last in 1984 .
When there are 50+ cities without the need to put people on busses for an hour, yes it is
You forgot the Cornhusker in that list . And as you say 2 more are going up lodging is not an issue
I should correct myself, as most teams are on charters the service to Lincoln is not an issue. Fans who travel to games are use to the occasional inconvenience but they still go.
The airport might be an issue the teams obviously charter. But they geographically set the rounds now anyway so it not like you have to have fans of all 8 teams flying in. The hotels and capacity of PBA is not an issue. PBA will sell out like Omaha. I was in Memphis and I guarantee you there was more fans at the Purdue-Nebraska game in PBA then at the Nebraska A&M game .
I knew I'd forget one. Haven't been inside that place in 20 years. I wonder if it's an outdated relic? The Embassy smells permanently of bean dip farts from tailgating, so I hope they address that in the renovation.
Lincoln actually has 19 3* hotels. I think there are 5 within a pretty short drive and even walk from PBA.
Hyatt
Hilton Garden Inn
Courtyard
Embassy
Cornhusker
Kindler and Scarlet are two other options.
I tend to agree that Lincoln feels like a long shot, but who knows? Good that they are putting in the effort to make a bid. I remember when they had a regional at Devaney in '88! I didn't get to go but one of my friends did, I think I remember that he watched Michigan State and Steve Smith!
Like you said who knows. Agree glad they are taking the shot. But Lincoln is better than that dump( Memphis) I just came from. It’s not good when you after leaving the arena you are subject to a metal detector to get back on the street to walk to your hotel.
They want ones with full service on site, meaning restaurant, though as article had said there have been a couple of hotels used where they cater in.
Wichita Is hosting next year. I can’t imagine they would be any better than Lincoln in that regard.
Just Google "NCAA tournament host requirements" not that hard...
Wichita is 100,000 more people, but it could be similar situation on hotels. If they want to they could let Lincoln work it out. Kansas and Creighton would love for Lincoln to host.
Yep an I am assuming Lincoln would know all this before submitting a bid to host .
Not that it’s an issue , we stayed at the Peabody in Memphis. Houston was staying there. They had all their brought in for their players: I talked to one of their managers.
Wichita has a nice arena but the surrounded area was horrible as of 5-6 years ago when I went to a concert there. There was minimal places to grab food and have a beer. Our hotel was over a mile away and most of the people staying there walked to the show. Maybe it's different now but Lincoln is set up so much better.
I just don't see the point. So what does that do for the regional? I used to drive through Wichita a few times a year. Not once was I tempted to stop. Then again I stopped at a restaurant in a small town on the side of the interstate in Oklahoma. It was pretty close to deliverance. Everyone had a lazy eye and a stiff legged walk, missing teeth, the whole nine yards. I didn't care how many people showed up in their census.
I think he was saying a higher population might mean Witchita has more hotels than Lincoln.
The point is with more population comes more of the hotels that are preferred. Does that make sense to you?
Correct. Crazy that people don’t realize the connection between population and what is available.
No teams don’t walk . Hotel rooms are not an issue otherwise Lincoln wouldn’t waste a time with a bid. And FYI . Lincoln has more motels within3 blocks of PBA than Memphis did from Fed Ex forum.