For anyone who was at the game last night

[rthomas]

Is this true?

"Two legendary coaches, two historic franchises in a marquee NCAA tournament game, and at least 20,000 people who paid March Madness prices have decided to leave a one-point game at halftime to go home and go to bed."

I find the bolded part hard to believe, but my wife did ask me during second half, why Lucas Oil Stadium looked empty.


http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Couch-crowd-bolts-early-as-duke-coach-K-bounce-izzo-michigan-state-033013

[BD80]

Is this true?

"Two legendary coaches, two historic franchises in a marquee NCAA tournament game, and at least 20,000 people who paid March Madness prices have decided to leave a one-point game at halftime to go home and go to bed."

I find the bolded part hard to believe, but my wife did ask me during second half, why Lucas Oil Stadium looked empty.


http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Couch-crowd-bolts-early-as-duke-coach-K-bounce-izzo-michigan-state-033013

I bet a lot of fans were from Ky, and were not staying the night in Indy.

[Olympic Fan]

I was there and this is an exaggeration.

About two-thirds of 35,500 fans in attendance were Louisville fans (Louisville is barely 90 miles away, a straight shot down I-65).

A fair number of them did leave by halftime of the second game, but the place was nowhere near half filled for the second half of Duke-MSU.

But the situation here does point to one factor for the Duke-Louisville game -- the crowd Sunday will be as partisan as the crowds that Duke faced against Baylor and Butler in 2010.

[BigWayne]

But the situation here does point to one factor for the Duke-Louisville game -- the crowd Sunday will be as partisan as the crowds that Duke faced against Baylor and Butler in 2010.

Added incentive. Makes it sweeter if you can pull out the win.

[killerleft]

I don't blame the Louisville fans for leaving. Even at the Greensboro Coliseum, the nosebleed seats leave one feeling "left out". I can only imagine what it must be like to watch two teams who aren't yours play from a quarter-mile away. How many Coliseums could fit inside that place, four? Six?

Maybe one day fans will rebel. "Being There" was a great Peter Sellars movie. I'll never go to a basketball game at a MegaStadium to watch a glorified ant farm. Got a big screen at home, hot dogs are slightly more reasonably priced.

[DavidBenAkiva]

My father, brother, a friend and I were at the game last night. My dad had attended the final four in 2010, and he brought with three sets of binoculars just to be prepared for game last night. I hardly needed them. He was prepared for dealing with nosebleed seats, but we had a great view of the action. In 2010, the court was aligned with the football field. My parents were in the upper-upper deck, which gave them a limited view of the action. They were really in nosebleed seats, but the atmosphere made it worth it.

This year, we were in the 500 section (there are six seating sections), in the corner opposite the Duke bench, and the front row. The court was basically where the endzone of the Colts field is located with huge black drapes cutting off the other half of the stadium. The views were fantastic. We had a great angle to see the game.

The Duke - MSU game tipped at 10 PM Eastern, so half or more of the Louisville fans had left by halftime. I really don't blame them. The crowd got pretty loud there at the end of the game, with maybe 17,000 fans still in attendance. Frankly, the place never really got all that loud for either game. Maybe the drapes or venue just swallowed the sound. Still, it was awesome to see the game live and I hope to make it to the Elite 8 game tomorrow!

[uh_no]

My father, brother, a friend and I were at the game last night. My dad had attended the final four in 2010, and he brought with three sets of binoculars just to be prepared for game last night. I hardly needed them. He was prepared for dealing with nosebleed seats, but we had a great view of the action. In 2010, the court was aligned with the football field. My parents were in the upper-upper deck, which gave them a limited view of the action. They were really in nosebleed seats, but the atmosphere made it worth it.

This year, we were in the 500 section (there are six seating sections), in the corner opposite the Duke bench, and the front row. The court was basically where the endzone of the Colts field is located with huge black drapes cutting off the other half of the stadium. The views were fantastic. We had a great angle to see the game.

The Duke - MSU game tipped at 10 PM Eastern, so half or more of the Louisville fans had left by halftime. I really don't blame them. The crowd got pretty loud there at the end of the game, with maybe 17,000 fans still in attendance. Frankly, the place never really got all that loud for either game. Maybe the drapes or venue just swallowed the sound. Still, it was awesome to see the game live and I hope to make it to the Elite 8 game tomorrow!

yeah front of 500 didn't seem so bad, but if you walked up to the top of the 600 section, heaven help you!

i walked around most of the stadium before the game, and it's like ants from up there...not to mention a workout....those seats are way up...in other news, duke was screwed in their seating....MSU and Oregon were mid court on the sidelines, and duke was stuck on the end line with the backboard in the way....why don't the top seeds get the sideline seats?