Visitor Appeal-March Madness Opening Weekend Cities (living, state, places, cons)

[theurbanfiles]

So Consider:
-Albany (Times Union Center)
-Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse)
-Greensboro (Greensboro Coliseum)
-Omaha (CHI Health Center)
-Sacramento (Golden 1 Center)
-Saint Louis (Enterprise Center)
-Spokane (Spokane Arena)
-Tampa (Amalie Arena)

Since this is more basketball focused (and ignoring ticket prices and the fact we don't quite know matchups yet)-which would you choose considering the following:

-Other attractions in said cities
-Basketball/Sports/Fan Culture
-Food and Drink Scene
-Venues
-Downtown/Walkability
Anything else you might consider along the way!

Edit: For some reason, I clicked poll and it didn't go through still. Ah well. I actually prefer lively discussion to a popularity contest anyways.

[The_General]

In order of places I'd want to visit

St Louis
Cleveland
Tampa
Spokane

Sacramento
Omaha
Albany
Greensboro

In terms of college basketball fan culture I would guess Greensboro and Omaha run away with it.

[Enean]

None of the cities would be a draw, for me. If the games are televised, I'd watch. Otherwise, I'd look at the scores on the Internet at the end of the day.

[po-boy]

Overall Tampa is the most appealing of those places for me to visit, probably followed by Spokane.



For basketball culture I think Greensboro runs away with it with the ACC history there.

[march2]

In order of places I'd prefer to visit:

Tampa
St. Louis
Cleveland
Spokane
Omaha
Greensboro
Sacramento
Albany

Basketball culture, Greensboro.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by po-boy

Overall Tampa is the most appealing of those places for me to visit, probably followed by Spokane.

Have you ever been to Spokane? I thought the same before I went there for the first time last year. I was wrong.

[mhays25]

I've toured Spokane once in any depth. It's pretty legit, with a real downtown and a fantastic setting. The waterfalls alongside Downtown area pretty epic. It's small and not exciting, but you can enjoy a few days easily. There's a ton of recreation nearby. One factor: this is the dry side of the state.

[Mutiny77]

Tampa and St. Louis, followed by Cleveland and Sacramento for me.

[mjtinmemphis]

Given what I know about the cities and experience living in St. Louis, I would say Cleveland and St. Louis due to walkabilit, food and drink. My personal choice would Spokane because its different and interesting.

[Johnhw2]

Go to Vegas for the first four days of March Madness if you have not done so before. I am not a big gambler but watching the each game with a die hard crowd of fans was a trip.