I got to go on a tour of the arena last night. It was really cool to see it empty and you realize how tiny a basketball court is compared to a football field. I got lucky that the locker room we got to see was the Huskies. No pictures allowed unfortunately -- they want the players to see it in person not social media. It's pretty cool how quickly all the branding was done. A few things that I found really interesting that others probably won't, but what the heck.
The court is elevated 29 inches. Any more and they would need a handrail for OSHA. When they first started doing the final four on a raised platform, they used the regular baskets that they use for the tournament, but they were actually suffering some vibrations. Now, they cut hole in the deck and the baskets are weighted down on the ground, not the platform, with 2200 pound supports. Each team's locker room is massive. It is half of an NFL locker room with a temporary wall. They are organized so that the teams playing each other on Saturday are not in the same locker room. So, it's UConn Purdue and Alabama NC State. There will actually be some overlap after the first game where the winning and losing team will return to the locker room with the teams about to play the next game on the other side of a rather flimsy wall. If the final is UConn Purdue, or Alabama NC State, they will completely move one of the locker rooms before the teams come to practice on Sunday, which is quite a bit of effort, given how much branding there is in each room. The teams' logos and stuff, and huge wall murals of pictures from the regional finals, are all set up and have to move. It's pretty massive operation. We also got to see the press room. I was shocked at how massive it is. They say for the Super Bowl it's like five times the size though. It is in a cavernous area under the stands. The number of temporary seats installed, including ones that overlay the standard seats for football games, is about 18,000. So, nearly an entire basketball arena of temporary seats.
I took lots of pictures but many are embargoed. Here are a couple that are not.
Three pointer:
Slam: