By David Barron
Imagine, if you will, the entire NCAA Tournament unfolding in Houston and environs.
Jim Nantz can see it happening.
Based on this year’s Tournament, which will take place in Indianapolis plus the home courts of Indiana and Purdue, the longtime CBS Sports anchor thinks a centralized March Madness could be a viable alternative even in the post-COVID-19 era of sports.
His Houston model, for example, would have the Final Four at NRG Stadium and first-round games through the regional finals at NRG or Toyota Center, the University of Houston’s Fertitta Center and other venues such as Rice University’s Autry Court, Texas Southern University’s H&PE Arena and arenas at Texas A&M or the University of Texas.
Nantz’s suggestion came during a Monday video conference call with CBS Sports and Turner Sports analysts and announcers to discuss the return of March Madness, which will be staged entirely in Indiana, after last year’s COVID postponement.
“COVID has brought a new way of business in a lot of different industries,” he said. “I think this might be a model, a template, for the NCAA Tournament down the road.”
In support of a central group of venues, Nantz cited the previously vexing tendency of coast-to-cost subregional sites requiring the NCAA to send some schools to far-flung locations, such as Georgetown going to Boise, Idaho, or Maryland to Spokane.
“I think this has legs. I think this has a future with the NCAA if they want to go this way,” he said.
Nantz, who worked the 2002 Winter Olympics in Nagano for CBS, cited the Olympics as an example of potential benefits both for fans and players.
“You wash away all the crazy of figuring out how to travel a team from here to there – after winning two games at Salt Lake City, do they go back east only to return to Anaheim?,” he said. “All of that goes away.”
Such a revolutionary schedule change would take time to implement, since sites already have been established for the 2022 Tournament. But Nantz said he can envision it for future years, based on the upcoming Final Four markets of Houston (2023), Phoenix (2024), San Antonio (2025) and Indianapolis once again in 2026.
“It could be a very exciting option for the NCAA down the road,” he said. “I’m not sure if it doesn’t make it even a little bit better of an event, having people drop into a city and saying, ‘Can we try to get tickets today to Hinkle Fieldhouse? Son, do you want to go to Assembly Hall? Do you want to go to Bloomington?’
“It would be a phenomenal scene to see all those fans and teams in one city down the road.”
At first glance, and perhaps even second and third glances, Nantz’s plan sounds like a longshot. But it’s a good way to wile away time on a Monday afternoon, imagining the possibilities.
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