Final Four News, NCAA Tournament Bracket, News and hubbub

November a Time to Feast for Some D-1 Programs

The month of November means a change in weather, Thanksgiving Holiday, an extra 10 lbs. and for some major D-1 programs, cupcakes. When it comes to scheduling in November, many universities associate the term feast with their early season competition.

Scheduling nine or ten home games before conference and playing teams from conferences better associated with their marching bands can generate excitement around a program and have fans searching NCAA Final Four tickets in November. And while this strategy assures a team of a winning pre-conference record, it may prove damaging once conference play arrives and winning on the road could mean the difference between an NCAA Tournament invitation or settling for an NIT berth.
Jim Boeheim and his Syracuse Orangemen are perennial offenders; the ‘Cuse play 14 pre-conference games this year, with 12 such games played at the spacious Carrier Dome. Jimmy B and his boys won’t play a game outside the State of New York until they travel to Marquette on January 7. And while the ‘Cuse is always competitive in the Big East and NCAA Tournament, you have to wonder how much better they would be if they were road-tested early in the year.

Schools that pack their bags and hit the road in November and December may enter conference play void of a sterling record, but they are always the teams no one wants to play come tournament time. Why? Because they’ve been on the road, in the hostile environments; learning how to win when the fans are screaming at you and the refs aren’t giving you any love. Teams that win on the road are teams that win National Championships.

The Final Four is college athletics’ answer to the Olympics; a spectators sport like no other. You’ve always said you’d like to go to the Final Four; now is your chance. Go to StubHub, where you’ll find the largest selection of Final Four tickets on the Internet.

Gators and Buckeyes Could Meet in Atlanta

Now that the madness has begun, it’s time to take a look at two storylines to follow during the 2006-2007 college basketball season.

1. Florida
Can the Gators repeat as national champions? Florida is absolutely loaded, returning its top-six players from a team that steamrolled through the NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to watch how Florida plays with a bulls-eye on its back and the inevitable complacency that comes with reaching the summit. Billy Donovan and his staff will be challenged to maintain the teams focus and keep everyone satisfied with his touches. If this team demonstrates the selflessness and commitment to defense it displayed during last year’s NCAA Tournament, they should cut down the nets in Atlanta on April 2nd.

2. Ohio State
Will Ohio State make a splash on the national scene? Coming off a conference championship and a 20-win season, the Buckeyes are poised to return to the national conscience and they have just the man to help them get there, national high school player-of-the-year, Greg Oden. This is likely the first and only season Oden will play for free. He’s projected as a potential number one pick in next year’s draft, if he elects to leave after his freshman season. Coach Thad Matta has made basketball matter again in Columbus. He returns just one starter off last year’s team, but has added a top recruiting class, including the ultra-talented Oden. If Oden is as good as advertised and he recovers fully from wrist surgery, expect the Buckeyes to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t risk the chance of getting shut-out at the Georgia Dome this year. Go to StubHub right now and secure your 2007 NCAA Final Four tickets. It’s easier than you think to get great tickets to the biggest basketball event of the year.

Final Four Always Unpredictable

The NCAA Men’s Final Four is the culmination of the three best weeks of the sporting year, March Madness. For those of us that prefer to overindulge in college basketball year-round, spending three weeks watching games, listening to analysts such as Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps, and tracking our tournament bracket is nothing if not blissful. The only thing predictable about the NCAA Tournament is that it’s unpredictable. How may people outside of Philly had Villanova beating Georgetown in the 1985 national championship game, or what percentage of brackets displayed George Mason picking-off national powers, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Michigan State, on the way to its first-ever Final Four appearance? The upsets and the surprises are not simply reserved for the first four rounds of the tournament; in fact, the Final Four has a history of lower seeds beating higher seeds. For example, four seed Arizona beating one seed Kentucky in the ’97 National Championship or six seed Kansas, lead by Danny Manning, breaking the hearts of Sooner nation by defeating top-seeded Oklahoma in the ’88 national title game in Kansas City.

The Final Four embodies the essence of what makes college athletics great. The passion from players is rivaled only by the enthusiasm from fans, all hoping to earn the right to refer to themselves as national champions. The NCAA Tournament and the Final Four draws the interest of even non-basketball fans, intrigued by the excitement swirling around the event and the tournament’s win-or-go-home format. Unbridled passion…boundless excitement…pageantry…tradition. Make plans now to attend the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta, March 31 – April 2. And visit StubHub for all your NCAA Final Four tickets.

 

Gators looking to defend title in Georgia Dome in 2007

The University of Florida Gators look to defend its national championship, when the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four returns to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, March 31 thru April 2. Last year, Head Coach Billy Donovan and his young Gators marched to the national championship by winning its six NCAA Tournament games by an average margin of 16 points, culminating in a 73-57 victory over UCLA in Indianapolis.

The Gators are looking to become just the sixth school in NCAA history to capture back-to-back NCAA Men’s Basketball national championships. With the return of all five starters off last year’s 33-6 team, expectations in Gainesville are understandably high. While Florida is the team to beat entering the 2006-2007 season, the road to Atlanta is paved with teams looking to dethrone the Gators and cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome on April 2. Keep an eye on North Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio State, as the biggest threats to Florida’s quest for a repeat.

Don’t miss the chance to watch your favorite college team cut down the nets at the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta. StubHub is your source for NCAA Final Four tickets, college basketball’s biggest event.  

Permalink - Posted in General on October 17, 2006 - Post a comment

NCAA Final Four Tickets: What’s all the hubbub at StubHub?

What’s all the hubbub about NCAA final four tickets? Okay, the Final Four is a term that immediately sparks memories in the mind of every sports fan. A Final Four ticket is a memento in and of itself, and it should come as no surprise that they are extremely difficult to locate. In the world of NCAA basketball tickets, nothing comes close to matching the demand of 2007 Final Four tickets, since no one knows who will be playing until the previous week.

Even though the site of the Final Four changes every year, thousands of fans are ready to make the trip at a moment’s notice. NCAA basketball tickets are unique in that the fan base consists of both alumni and general sports fans, so the demand is only greater for college basketball tickets.

That’s why we’ve launched this Final Four blog to give you and other fans, buddies, couples, families, students and alumni the latest news and information about NCAA basketball ticket sales. Who are we? According to William Grimes of The New York Times, “To anyone surfing the Web, StubHub looks like a ticket brokerage. It’s not. The company, founded (in 2000) by a couple of Stanford Business School students, is a kind of stock market where the only shares traded are tickets to live events….Buyers and sellers mingle in the marketplace and, through free negotiation, arrive at a price that reflects the true value of a commodity.”

Now that we’ve disclosed our transparent biases, may we offer a suggestion? If you want to buy NCAA final four tickets, it would be wise to get them as soon as possible. Last week, ticket prices ranged from $549 to $7,059. And the best tickets for the best seats will go faster than you can say, “A Cinderella story.”

StubHub is your source for the best NCAA Final Four tickets, college basketball’s biggest event.

Permalink - Posted in General on September 28, 2006 - Post a comment

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