The University of Connecticut tried to get ahead of the madness.
UConn has both its men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four this weekend, and the school took precautions to ensure the safety of those who will be celebrating on its campus — after last year’s mayhem when the men’s basketball team won the 2023 NCAA title.
The university has removed light poles from its Storrs, Conn., campus and replaced them with alternative lights, a UConn spokesperson told TMZ.
Last year’s championship celebration included students ripping light poles out of the ground and ramming them through buildings on campus, as seen in videos of the melee.
“Given the prevalence of damage to the aluminum campus light poles along Fairfield Way last year, the University is temporarily removing them and has installed wall lights in that area,” a UConn spokesperson said. “They provide the same amount of illumination without being vulnerable to being removed and misused, as occurred last year.”
There will not be alcohol served at Gampel Pavilion — the Huskies’ on-campus arena — where the University has planned watch parties for the men’s and women’s Final Four contests.
The watch parties will only be open to UConn students and require separate tickets for the men’s and women’s games, where no re-entry will be allowed, according to the university website.
More than 7,000 people gathered inside Gampel Pavilion for the 2023 title game.
This is the fifth time the Huskies have put both the men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four in the same year, and they are both seeking to win national titles in the same season for the third time.
This year also marks the first time two schools have sent their men’s and women’s programs to the Final Four in the same year, with NC State achieving the same honor.
The No. 3 seed UConn women’s basketball team will play in its 23rd Final Four — the most of all time — against the No. 1 seed Iowa Hawkeyes — and Caitlin Clark — on April 5 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Top-seeded South Carolina and No. 3 seed NC State clash in the first women’s game, which tips off Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
The UConn men’s basketball team — participating in its second straight and seventh overall Final Four — will face No. 4 seed Alabama on April 6 at 8:49 p.m. ET.
No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 11 seed NC State battle in the first men’s game at 6:09 p.m. ET.
