The Big Dance is back in Utah this week, with six games being held at the Jazz’s Delta Center on Thursday and Saturday.
Powerhouse programs Arizona, Kansas and Gonzaga will be featured, in the tournament’s first time back in Salt Lake City since 2019. It’ll be the 17th time the city has hosted games, with its most memorable one being the Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird national championship back in 1979.
Arizona, the two seed in the west bracket, will kick things off Thursday at noon against Long Beach State. Dayton versus Nevada, also in the west, will follow at 2:30 p.m., then Gonzaga will face McNeese State at 5:25 p.m., followed lastly by Kansas versus Samford at 7:55 p.m. The winners of the earlier games and later games will face each other Saturday in the second round, for which times have yet to be set.
Those three powerhouses are all looking to right their ships and make a run through the postseason, following tough conference tournament losses. Arizona and Gonzaga have extensive experience in Salt Lake, each having played here six times before.
Gonzaga assistant athletic director Barrett Henderson said this experience, combined with staying in Salt Lake when facing BYU in the Western Coast Conference, has his team feeling ready to go. The Zags have gone 8-3 previously in Salt Lake, Arizona 9-2. Gonzaga arrived in town Tuesday, and have since been enjoying the downtown area and the Delta Center.
“Salt Lake has kinda been a home away from home for Gonzaga,” said Henderson. “We spend a ton of time here in Salt Lake City, and we’ve really enjoyed it.”
Henderson said the Delta Center and University of Utah are great hosts who make everything seamless for the participating teams. He doesn’t anticipate his team being rattled by the NBA-sized stadium, having played in large venues, as usual, throughout their season.
Tickets for Thursday and Saturday’s games are still available on third party resale sites like Stubhub, Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. Thursday’s tickets are the most affordable, with session one featuring Arizona going for the least.
For further information relating to March Madness, see the NCAA’s website: ncaa.com/march-madness-live/watch. The men’s tournament will host 67 games in 14 different cities around the country, and the women’s tournament will be running on a near-simultaneous timeline. Utah programs BYU and Utah State will be taking on Duquesne and TCU on Thursday morning and Friday night, respectively.