Both the Men’s and Women’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Basketball Tournaments will be played at the Greensboro Coliseum the first two weeks of March.
Usually, the Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament coming to Greensboro is a cause for celebration. Not only is it one of the best college basketball tournaments in the country, it also fills hotels and restaurants in Tournament Town for four days, which is a boon to the economy.
The 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament was also at the Greensboro Coliseum, but play was stopped on Thursday, March 12, and everything including the Coliseum has been pretty much closed down ever since.
When it was announced in November that the ACC basketball tournaments would be played in Greensboro in 2021, there were high hopes that the country would be in better shape by March and some accommodation could be made for spectators.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The Coliseum’s announcement states, “Based on current North Carolina state regulations, no public tickets will be available for the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.”
It continues, “Admission to each game of the event will be limited to family and guests of team personnel.”
However, you can still watch the games. The ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament first round on Wednesday, March 3, second round on Thursday, March 4 and quarterfinals on Friday, March 5 will be broadcast on the Regional Sports Networks. The semifinals on Saturday, March 6 will be broadcast on the ACC network and the championship game on Sunday, March 7 will be televised on ESPN2.
All Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament games from Tuesday, March 9 through Saturday, March 13 will be broadcast either on the ACC Network or ESPN/ESPN2.
With COVID-19 numbers continuing on a downward trend there is always a chance that Gov. Roy Cooper will let bars start serving inside before the tournaments start. If not, during March you never know what the weather will bring, so there is also a chance that outdoor viewing could be an option.