When I received my credential confirmation email from the Final Four, I meticulously read through each sentence. Before I got deep into the email, I read a line that immediately caught my attention.
The email welcomed me to the Final Four, my first ever, by calling it basketball’s “premier event.”
Obviously, it was a line meant for marketing and hype reasons but as a basketball fanatic, I take these things to heart.
My first thought was to challenge this take. My mind instantly shifted to the NBA Finals, a battle between two of the highest-level basketball teams in the world.
But then I started to wonder.
By no means am I a college basketball hater, like a vast majority of NBA fans are. I love college basketball, especially around this time of the year. I’ve watched March Madness for as long as I can remember – I’ve even won a few tournament challenges in my day. Six-time champ here.
But I’ve never considered the Final Four basketball’s premier event. But, I had never attended one either. So, as I walked into San Antonio’s Alamodome for Reese’s Final Four Friday, I started to think deeply about the meaning of basketball’s premier event.
The Final Four is a spectacle. Recently, there’s been a consistent discourse online regarding whether or not basketball games should be played in stadiums. While it doesn’t create the optimal viewing experience for basketball, The Alamodome has a capacity of 73,000 people.
It creates a basketball viewing experience like no other. On Friday, I had the opportunity to witness that for the first time. The stadium wasn’t full, but you could clearly see the vision. Fans from all four teams packed into the stadium to watch team practices and the Reese’s College All-Star game.
It was an incredible atmosphere already and that was only day one. Everything felt more important in The Alamodome. The entire stadium was decked out with college basketball garb.
Each Final Four team had their own hotel, decked out in their teams colors and filled with their teams fanbases. Each locker room was decorated with its team’s colors, a monitor showcasing their logo at all times. The outer walls of the locker rooms were painted with the colors of the team inside.
Another underrated aspect of Final Four weekend outside of viewing is the overall fan experience. There were several things to participate in throughout the city of San Antonio.
With several events such as the Final Four Fan Fest, Final Four Tip-Off Tailgate and March Madness Music Festival, fans who weren’t planning on attending the games had the chance to partake in some free fun.
The music festival in particular impressed me the most. These weren’t run-of-the-mill artists taking the stage. Big-time names such as Jelly Roll and Doechii took to the stage during the weekend to perform in front of thousands of fans.
And while this was happening, you had the main event. The Final Four and National Championship games. I’ve experienced college atmosphere before, but this was nothing like I had ever witnessed in my life.
On Saturday, with fans of all four teams in attendance, the stadium was a ruckus. The NCAA announced an attendance of a little over 66,000 people, all there to cheer on their teams. The stadium was loud, the fans were passionate, the players were emotional and intense – it was an amazing display of basketball and everything I love about the game.
It intensified when the National Championship came around on Monday. In comparison to Saturday, Houston had even more fans attend the game. Both Florida and Houston had the largest fanbases on Saturday. With the championship on the line, it was incredible watching these teams and these fanbases battle.
As the weekend came to a close, I thought back to the statement that claimed The Final Four as basketball’s premier event.
And it finally dawned on me, that the Final Four is indeed that.
It’s basketball’s grandest spectacle. It may not be the highest level of competition because it’s not the pros. However, the only thing I can think of that comes close to the Final Four is the NBA Finals.
However, you really can’t make the argument that the NBA Finals is basketball’s premier event. Unlike the Final Four, the NBA Finals spans a minimum of four games across two cities. Two cities that are likely across the country from each other.
It’s not centralized. There’s no collaborative effort between the two teams in the NBA to make the NBA Finals a spectacle beyond measure. In comparison, the NCAA hosts a centralized event. Four teams in one city, all looking to capture an elusive national championship. It’s different.
The NCAA goes out of its way to make the Final Four feel like a spectacle, all the way down to the locker rooms. It simply felt more important. When you bring basketball to your biggest stage, it should be presented as a spectacle.
The NCAA does that and then some. That’s why it is basketball’s premier event.
