Overlapping NC State games in NCAA Tournament has fans and sports bars in a quandary
NC State fans, ecstatic over having both their men’s and women’s basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, will face a quandary on Friday.
So could the sports bars and restaurants in the area.
The Wolfpack men, the 2024 ACC champions, face Marquette in Dallas in an NCAA South Region game slated to begin at 7:09 p.m. and televised by CBS.
The Wolfpack women, after two NCAA wins at home, will be in Portland, Oregon, for a game against Stanford with a 7:30 p.m. start on ESPN.
Many Wolfpack fans have turned to social media Tuesday to vent their frustrations with the overlap in TV scheduling and the NCAA. N.C. State is one of four schools with both teams advancing to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, UConn and Gonzaga.
The Duke men’s team also is in Dallas and plays Friday against Houston at 9:39 p.m. The Duke women face UConn at 8 p.m. Saturday.
David Harris is the majority owner of both Sammy’s Tap & Grill and Amedeo’s Italian Restaurant, two Wolfpack gathering spots close to campus. Like most owners, it would be advantageous for Harris for the games to be on differing nights. Not the case, though.
“I guess in a way it’s kinda nice that you can move around and easily flip back and forth between games,” Harris said Tuesday. “If one team isn’t doing all that well you can easily check on the other. Hopefully, both will be playing well.”
Harris said Sammy’s had to “turn away” customers in the Pack’s recent run through the ACC Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament, winning seven straight games in 12 days. He expects the same kind of turnout Friday.
This story was originally published March 26, 2024 at 4:00 PM.
