The Consol Energy Center will be a host for the first and second rounds of both the Midwest and East regions of the NCAA Tournament, and included in the six games that will be played there is the No. 1 seed Villanova Wildcats.
According to SeatSmart.com, the first session of NCAA Tournament tickets with Villanova, Lafayette, NC State and LSU have an average ticket price of $200.92 with a walk-in price of $56. The other session, with tickets for Notre Dame, Northeastern, Butler and Texas have an average ticket price of $111.19 with a walk-in price of $35.
Villanova finished the regular season with a Big East tournament championship and a 32-2 overall record (both losses coming in conference). Villanova’s balance is something teams have a tough time guarding, as you can’t focus to shut down just one gay. Their second round matchup against Lafayette should be a breeze, where they would go on to play the winner between North Carolina State and LSU.
The Wolfpack came in as an at-large bid from the ACC behind the play of Trevor Lacey, who averages just fewer than 16 points per game, and Ralston Turner. North Carolina was a borderline team to make the NCAA Tournament but wins in the latter stretch of the season against some quality teams in the ACC got them in. LSU is an at-large bid from the SEC conference. The offense goes from inside to out, as LSU has two forwards that average 16 points per game, Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin.
From the Midwest side of the bracket, Butler and Texas square off at 2:45 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh. The Bulldogs recovered nicely from their first losing season since the 2004-05 season last year, as head coach Chris Holtmann turned around the program from a 14-17 finish last season. On the bubble seemingly all season long, the Longhorns are happy to be members from the Big 12 conference. Forward Jonathan Holmes, who recently moved into 24th place on UT’s all-time scoring list (1,151 points), and Isaiah Taylor stir the drink for Texas.
In the earlier game (12:15 p.m. ET), Notre Dame should have no problem handling Northeastern. Notre Dame defeated Duke and UNC en route to an ACC tournament championship and has made the tournament five consecutive times. Northeastern’s last tournament appearance was in 1991.
It should be a good slate of games for fans attending Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA. There’s a good combination of brand names, (Notre Dame, Texas), upset possibilities (Texas), a 50/50 No. 8 seed against a No. 9 seed game, and a No. 1 seed all involved.
