The positive feedback the city has received “should give New Orleans a leg up on securing its sixth Final Four when the next round of events, starting with the 2017 Final Four, are awarded, probably two years from now,” according to Ted Lewis of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. NCAA D-I Men’s Basketball Committee Chair Jeff Hathaway said, “No doubt fans love coming here. … The Superdome was magnificent.” Tulane AD Rick Dickson, whose school served as host institution, said that ’18 “is the preferred target date because that year is the city’s tricentennial.” Hathaway said that he believes New Orleans “is in good shape to get a spot in the next rotation.” Lewis notes there were “no worries about attendance for the Final Four, which was sold out a year in advance.” But in addition to the game, local officials “estimated more than 43,000 fans visited Bracket Town, more than 11,000 were at Friday’s open practices, more than 26,000 were at Saturday’s pregame activities in Champion’s Square and more than 130,000 turned out for the Big Dance concert series” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/4). SPORTSNOLA.com’s Ken Trahan wrote New Orleans “did an outstanding job of hosting the Final Four.” There were “more good seats than the last time the event was here in 2003.” And there was “more intimacy, more of a basketball feel in a non-basketball building.” Any concerns “about the city being back fully from the events of 2005 have been erased” (SPORTSNOLA.com, 4/3)
