Marshall’s Cinderella-like win over fourth seed Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last week was a validating moment for head coach Dan D’Antoni. With the team’s first ticket to the big dance since 1987, the tshirt-and-blazer-clad D’Antoni led Marshall to its first tournament win in program history by practicing what he’s […]
The 2013 Final Four begins on Saturday, but the four schools participating are already active on social media.
The Final Four is not just a showcase of the best college basketball players in the country. It is also a one-week golden opportunity for the participating schools to showcase their athletic department and university to the entire sports world watching. SportTechie’s Ben Glidden takes a look at how each school is taking advantage of the extra attention this week and breaking down their social media strategy.
Michigan. Louisville. Wichita State. Syracuse.
These four universities have punched their tickets and are heading down to Atlanta for the Final Four. Michigan hasn’t advanced this far in the Big Dance since a team dubbed the Fab Five. Louisville is making consecutive trips after participating last year in New Orleans. Wichita State, the lone Cinderella remaining, follows the trend of a ninth seed or higher reaching the national semifinals within the last three seasons. And a decade has gone by from the time when Syracuse’s last appearance led by someone named Carmelo Anthony.
Florida Gulf Coast’s #DunkCity and Wichita State’s Final Four appearance have surely taken the nation by storm these last few weeks. Both Cinderella runs benefited from the advances in technology, be it social media and mobile. George Mason’s historic trip in 2006 seems like a distant memory that one has to check YouTube for any remnants. I’m sure they wish their Big Dance story was talked about then through the sundry of outlets available at that time. In fact, Twitter’s Founder, Jack Dorsey, sent out his first tweet during March Madness seven years ago and now half of the 165 million users access the platform via mobile; and there’s about 3 billion more mobile phones by comparison today as noted...
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