March Madness is upon us, and there’s a plethora of storylines in this years’ NCAA Tournament. Can Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin finally win it all for the first time in 70 years? Will freshman phenoms Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones steal the show? Will John Calipari’s Wildcats become the first team to go 40-0?
The Tourney starts on Tuesday, but the Final Four and the National Championship Game will be held on April 4th and 6th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It’s not a basketball stadium, but only a stadium like Lucas Oil is big enough to host the Final Four, and therefore, the National Championship.
In 2009, the NCAA changed the rules regarding which stadiums can host the Final Four. That year, the Association raised the minimum capacity for Final Four host stadiums to 70 thousand people. The HKS-designed Lucas Oil Stadium, which opened in 2008 as the home of the Indianapolis Colts, holds about 67 thousand fans for typical football games and can hold over 70 thousand for special events such as the Final Four.
Because of the existing rule that Final Four games must be played indoors, Lucas Oil is one of only eight current stadiums that can host Final Fours and National Championships. So far, the venue hosted NCAA Regionals in 2009, 2013, and 2014, and the Final Four in 2010.
Until 2009, Final Four courts were typically located in the corner of a football stadium’s field. In order to satisfy the new capacity requirement, courts are now placed in the middle of the field. This is great for the representing teams’ student sections, which are given a certain amount of tickets courtside, but it’s bad for many other fans that go to the game. Even though the court can be raised up to 29.5 inches to improve sightlines, the new configuration makes visibility very problematic for fans in far away sections.
Luckily, industry giant Daktronics built two massive scoreboards in Lucas Oil Stadium. One is in the northwest corner of the stadium, and the other is in the southeast corner. Each scoreboard has a 97-foot by 37-foot screen, which are some of the largest scoreboards in the NFL. Each screen is five times larger than the single screen at the RCA Dome, the Colts’ former home.
Yet, the scoreboards aren’t even the most impressive technological feature at Lucas Oil. According to the stadium’s website, the Uni-Systems-designed retractable roof is the largest in the NFL, with an opening area of over 176 thousand square feet. It’s also unique because its two gabled glass panels meet at a peak in the middle and slide from sideline to sideline, as opposed to endzone to endzone. Nothing gets Colts fans as riled up as when the team opened the roof for the first time:
The roof is operated by a cable drum that contains 32 cables. These cables drive the two glass panels completely up or down in as fast as nine minutes. While the roof will be closed for the Final Four, this not-so-funny local news anchor uncovers some of the mechanics behind how the roof works:
There is also a movable window wall on the north end of the stadium, which allows for natural light and heating during the winter and circulation during the warmer months. It is made of six glass panels that ride on steel wheels. Together, the panels are over 17 thousand square feet, combining for one of the biggest movable glass walls in the world.
Whether we see the Badgers, Blue Devils, or Wildcats at the Final Four this year, one thing is for certain; when the last four teams left standing in the NCAA Tournament fight for a chance to go to the National Championship, Lucas Oil Stadium will be a worthy, battle-tested venue.