SPOKANE, Wash. — After the heartbreaking cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19, Gonzaga basketball fans' favorite contest of the season is making a comeback. But COVID-19 precautions in place will likely make it difficult to secure a ticket.
The NCAA Tournament will be held entirely in Indianapolis this year. Fans can attend games but each venue will only operate at a maximum of 25% capacity. Players, coaches and staff members can have up to six family members attend games.
With these limits, the NCAA is allocating Gonzaga and other participating schools a total of 350 tickets for opening rounds of the tournament. This applies to every venue apart from the one in Bloomington, Indiana, Gonzaga Associate Athletic Director Chris Johnson said. The allotments includes tickets for the families and guests of student-athletes and coaches.
Gonzaga will then use a Priority Point system to offer leftover tickets to benefactors until the allotment is exhausted, Johnson said.
General public tickets for the First Four are no longer available, according to the NCAA website. There are only two venues in the first round that still have general public tickets available as of Friday, March 12. General public tickets are available for a handful of venues in the second round and Sweet 16.
Fans can also sign up on the NCAA website to receive ticket information and announcements on public sales.
March Madness kicks off with Selection Sunday on March 14. Fans can watch it at 3 p.m. on KREM 2.
Here is the rest of the March Madness schedule as it stands right now:
- First Four — Thursday, March 18 beginning at 1 p.m. on truTV and TBS.
- First round — Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20 beginning at 9 a.m. on KREM, TBS, TNT, and truTV.
- Second round — Sunday, March 21, and Monday, March 22 beginning at 9 a.m. on KREM, TBS, TNT, and truTV.
- Sweet 16 — Saturday, March 27 games will be played at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday, March 28 games will be played at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. KREM will air the early games both days while TBS will air the afternoon games.
- Elite Eight — Monday, March 29 games will begin at 4 p.m. on KREM. Tuesday, March 30 games will begin at 3 p.m. on TBS.
- Final Four — Saturday, April 3 beginning at 2 p.m. on KREM.
- NCAA championship game — Monday, April 5 at 6 p.m. on KREM.