The NCAA Tournament provides weeks of entertainment for avid college basketball fans every year. With the development of technology, viewers can now catch tournament action on multiple television channels as well as on computers and smart phones. Being able to watch all the action at home as it unfolds is thrilling, but there’s something about the atmosphere and feeling of viewing a game in person that can’t be matched. What if you had the opportunity to go on a journey filled with the ultimate college basketball action, fine dining, and luxurious hotel living at absolutely no expense? Crazy, right? Well, this once in a lifetime experience is happening now. And since the tournament is almost completely in hindsight, it’ll be even easier to play out what would’ve been the perfect trip for this NCAA tournament. Keep in mind that throughout this jaunt, money is no object, time tables are flexible, and flight times occur whenever you need them to. Let’s get this 2014 tourney experience started!
For the sake of this imaginary, unbelievable trip, we’ll make the starting point Little Rock, Arkansas on the morning of March 20. The first stop on the itinerary is Buffalo, New York. The flight from Clinton National Airport leaves at 6 a.m. CT and arrives in Buffalo at 9:30 a.m. ET. Before the game, a solid option for lunch would be Buffalo’s own Seabar. It’s a highly regarded sushi bar where most recommend the fish tacos. Our first tournament game is Dayton vs. (6) Ohio State in the Niagara Center at 12:15 pm ET. The arena is buzzing because this is the first game of the NCAA tournament. Implications are high in this matchup as both teams are from the state of Ohio, and everyone knows Dayton is coming in with a chip on its shoulder. The first game ends up being one of the best as Dayton upsets Ohio State 60-59 on a late runner by the Flyer’s Vee Sanford. If this game is a representation of the rest of the tournament, we’re in for a wild ride.
After the game we immediately take a 1 hour and 25 minute flight to Milwaukee, WI. Arriving at 4:25 pm CT and with four hours to spare, an excellent dining venue is Bartoletto’s Lake Park Bistro, rated 4.5 stars online. After dinner, it’s onto the BMO Bradley Harris Center to watch (10) Arizona State take on (7) Texas. The Texas Longhorns always seem to be a team with a ton of talent, but they tend to underachieve on the big stage.
Going into the game, both the Longhorns and Sun Devils have awful road records and rely heavily on forcing turnovers to score points. After almost 40 minutes, the teams seem to be as evenly matched on the court as they appeared on paper. The game is tied at 85 as Texas puts up a long 3-point shot which clangs off the rim. Just as every spectator begins to expect overtime, Texas big man Cameron Ridley gets an offensive rebound and a put back at the buzzer. Elation for the Longhorns, devastation for the Sun Devils. It’s hard to believe that some-one could witness two games of that magnitude in one day, and that was just the first day of the tournament. The Pfister, a historic luxury hotel in downtown Milwaukee, would be a smart place to stay the night.
The next morning, March 21, continues with 2nd round match-ups. A two hour flight at 8:00 am CT will put us in Raleigh, NC at about 11 a.m. ET. The next battle we’re about to witness doesn’t appear to be a good matchup as (3) Duke is playing (14) Mercer, but we should take into consideration that Duke lost to Lehigh in the first round as a two-seed recently. Plus, You never truly know what upsets might occur in the NCAA Tournament. The experience of Mercer proves too much for Jabari Parker and the Blue Devils as the Bears shock the world by beating Duke 78-71. I hope you aren’t tired of flying because now we have a five hour flight from Raleigh to San Diego, California. With the three hour time difference, our California arrival time is 5:30 pm PT. At this point, there’s good and bad news. The bad news is, the next game has already started and we can only make it for the second half. The good news is the end of the game is the best part. (5) VCU had (12) Stephen F. Austin on the ropes and were up by 10 points with only about three and a half minutes remaining. The Lumberjacks of SF Austin were able to chisel the deficit down to four points and with 3.6 seconds left, something incredible happened. The Lumberjacks’ Desmond Haymond drains a 3, gets fouled, and hits his free throw sending the game into overtime. In extra minutes, Haymond strikes again with another huge jumper and is able to lead Stephen F. Austin to a 77-75 upset victory. The 2014 2nd round was one of the best in recent history and had the most overtime games of any tournament.
After staying in San Diego’s world renown Grand del Mar, we catch a flight back to Buffalo, New York to watch the (11) Dayton Flyers on a quest for another upset bid. This time they have (3) Syracuse and its daunting 2-3 zone in their way. Somehow, the Flyers solved the Orange’s defense and were able to keep Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis from hitting a last second 3-pointer. Dayton’s 55-53 win puts them in the sweet sixteen, a rare feat for an Atlantic 10 team. Because of the lengthy flight and late tip off time, we’re only able to see one game on March 22, but it was by far the best game. We then stay the night in the White Oaks Resort and Spa.
March 23 brings an 8 a.m. ET flight to St. Louis, Missouri where we’ll arrive at 9 a.m. CT. Our first stop in St. Louie is the Boardwalk Cafe for brunch. This little venue is known for huge portions, low prices, and quick service. The first game of the day is (10) Stanford vs. (2) Kansas in the Scottrade Center at 11:15 a.m. CT. In the second round, Kansas held off (15) Eastern Kentucky and Stanford defeated (7) New Mexico in a closely-contested matchup. Little did we know that we would be watching Kansas Freshman Andrew Wiggins last collegiate outing as his Jayhawks were eliminated by the Cardinal 60-57. Luckily, the next best game of the day just so happens to be in the same arena immediately after. Next, (8) Kentucky takes the floor to battle (1) Wichita State. Many are skeptical of the undefeated Shockers because of their low strength of schedule, but others don’t believe that Kentucky can win starting five freshman. In a game for the ages, both sides fight extremely hard, but the youthful Wildcats come out on top, 78-76. This concludes the third round as we head home until March 27.
The first Sweet Sixteen matchup is within driving distance, so we hop in the car and head to Memphis, Tennessee. Since we left at 12:30 p.m. CT, we’ll make it to Memphis by 3:30 p.m. This gives us just enough time to order some delicious ribs at Rendezvous. Entering the FedEx Forum, you may be surprised to see that we’re watching Dayton and Stanford both play again. Most didn’t expect either of these teams to make it this far and with an Elite Eight bid on the line, tensions are high. Dayton head coach Archie Miller and his Flyers continue their Cinderella run by beating Stanford 82-72. Like the round before, we luck out and the other great game of the day is directly after this one. It’s our first glance at both of these teams as the (1)Florida Gators play against the (4) UCLA Bruins. The Gators are a senior laden team led by SEC Player of the Year, Scottie Wilbekin, while the Bruins rely more heavily on underclassmen skill. As in the majority of cases in the tournament, Florida’s experience leads them to a 79-68 win. By now, it’s about 11:15 p.m. CT, so we head to our room at The Peabody Memphis. I can’t wait to ride the elevators and watch the ducks walk down the red carpet.
The Sweet Sixteen games on March 28 cause a problem. The best four games of the round occurred that same night and the same time. So, we decide to fly from Memphis to Indianapolis, IN to watch the Midwest Regional matchups, but not until we’ve eaten lunch at Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken and spent a few hours at the Memphis Zoo. You can’t leave Memphis without riding a camel. Since we drove to Memphis and left our car at the airport, Enterprise will have to hook us up with a rental in Indiana. We arrive at 6:30 p.m. ET which is enough time to make it to the tip off of (11) Tennessee vs. (2) Michigan. The Tennessee Volunteers are a surprise Sweet Sixteen team since they started out playing in the First Four. But after defeating Iowa and dominating Mercer, the Vols look like a potential serious contender. On the flip side, Michigan is coming off two fairly easy victories against Wofford and Texas. The Wolverines lead most of the game, but the Volunteers make a run at the end. Tennessee has possession of the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Junior Jarnell Stokes is called for a debatable charge, basically icing the victory for Michigan. You can’t have a tournament without at least some controversial officiating! Next up (8) Kentucky looks to continue its run against (4)Louisville. Like the 2nd round matchup of Dayton and Ohio State, both of these teams are from the same state and have a lot of bad blood between each other. Despite the fact that Kentucky had already beaten Louisville by seven earlier in the season, most experts thought Louisville would win. They were wrong in December and they were wrong again this time. Kentucky made big plays late and Louisville chances of victory diminished quickly when its go-to post player, Montrezl Harrell, fouled out on a questionable call in the second half. Kentucky’s win made it two SEC teams in the Elite Eight which was surprising because most of the pundits talked all season about how down the conference was this year. The Westin Indianapolis is our place of residence for the night.
The next day, we decide to spend the morning at the Indianapolis Museum of Art before taking a four hour flight to Anaheim, California. We show up in Cali at 3 p.m. PT and grab some hot dogs at the Little Red Wagon. The game of the day is (2) Wisconsin vs. (1) Arizona in the Honda Center at 5:49 p.m. PT. The Badgers and Wildcats were both heavily favored to make it to this point, and both showed why in this game. Forty minutes wasn’t enough to decide the outcome as Wisconsin defeats Arizona 64-63 in OT on the back of Frank Kaminsky’s 28 points and 11 rebounds. That night we decide to revert back to our childhood and stay the night at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. Don’t lie, everyone loves anything that has to do with Disney.
The Elite Eight continues on March 30, so we head to Indianapolis, Indiana and arrive at4 p.m. ET. Once again, we’ve chosen to check out the Kentucky Wildcats as they take on the Michigan Wolverines. The Wildcats start five freshmen and play two more off the bench. The Wolverines are also surprisingly young, ranking in the 300’s in the nation in experience. The surprise of the game comes from Kentucky freshman, Marcus Lee. Lee had only scored 9 points since January, but somehow scores 10 points off the bench in a 75-72 Wildcat win. The SEC somehow has two teams in the Final Four, fueling the flame for Southeastern Conference enthusiasts who already have plenty of ammo from college football. The Kentucky victory marks the end of the tournament games that have already happened, so we fly back to Memphis, pick up our car, and drive home to Arkadelphia.
While the next three games have yet to be played, they’re still definitely on the agenda. The Final Four always seems to bring out the best in teams and some of the best games in tournament history have happened in this round. On April 5, we’ll drive to Arlington, Texas to watch suprise (7)UCONN battle (1) Florida and then (8) Kentucky take on (2) Wisconsin. Connecticut and Wisconsin are the only two teams who have beaten Florida this season, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Gators can get revenge. On the other hand, Florida is 3-0 vs. Kentucky this year and will be favored if a Gator/Wildcat Championship happens. After spending April 6 at Six Flags over Texas, my favorite amusement park, we’ll head back to AT&T Stadium to see who will claim the crown in 2014. Personally, I don’t see anyone beating the Florida Gators.
So, there you have it. After traveling 12, 679 miles to watch over 10 combined hours of college basketball, we’ve completed the greatest NCAA tournament experience ever. We witnessed buzzer beaters, upsets, Cinderella stories, and just solid overall action. On top of that, we got to eat at some of the nation’s best restaurants and stay at luxury hotels across America. I know what you’re thinking: there’s no way this could never happen in the real world,and to that I say, they don’t call it March Madness for nothing.
By: Tyler Davis
