As the clock ticks down to Monday night’s national championship NCAA basketball game, Kansas University officials, Jayhawk fans and local media are getting ready for the 8:18 p.m. tipoff.

KU officials announced Monday afternoon that Memorial Stadium will be open for fans to join the Pep Band, Baby Jay and the dance team to watch the KU-Syracuse national title game on the stadium’s videoboard. The game is being broadcast by CBS television from New Orleans.

KU students from left, Beth Hickey, 21, from Portcoleorne, Ontario, Canada, studies as a friend, Colin Dutton, a junior from Lawrence, wait Monday morning along with others in front of Jefferson's Restaurant at 743 Mass. St. They had been waiting since 7 a.m to get a place inside near a TV for Monday night's NCAA men's basketball championship game, as the Jayhawks play Syracuse in New Orleans.

Matt Sayers, 6News meteorologist, said the earlier chance for rain has dropped to about zero for the evening. But it will be chilly, he said.

“Take a blanket. Take a stocking cap. It will be cold, he said. Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 30s for the evening, Sayers said.

The stadium’s south gates would be opened at 7 p.m. Parking and admission are free. Pre-game festivities will include a Family Funzone, Mardi Gras beads and music by Lawrence’s KLZR 105.9 The Lazer. Concession stands and restrooms will be open on the stadium’s west side only.

¢KU fans chat with James Sido¢KUSports.com LIVE game updates¢Lawrence.com LIVE Web cams¢Check out the Mass Street party from the Marquette blow out!

No alcohol will be allowed during the event on campus. Also, KU will not allow vehicle access into the central campus area during and after the game. Law enforcement will be stepped up on campus after the game, KU officials announced.

The street closures are designed to protect pedestrians and KU’s central
campus. The following streets will be closed:

• Jayhawk Boulevard, east- and westbound, from the Chi Omega fountain on
  West Campus Road to Oread Avenue and 13th Street.
• Sunflower Road, both directions, from Sunnyside Avenue to Memorial Drive.
• Mississippi Street, southbound, from the entrance to the stadium parking
  lots to the parking garage entrance.
• Mississippi Street, both directions, from the parking garage entrance to
  Memorial Drive.
• Memorial Drive, both directions, from Mississippi Street to West Campus
  Road.

See a map of the street closures

Surface parking lots and parking garages will be open and free. To access
the parking garage north of the Kansas Union, enter from Oread Avenue.
Vehicles may exit but not enter the garage from Mississippi Street.

Getting good seats

Some fans were also getting ready by lining up early at local sports bars to get good seats for the game.

Lines started forming early Monday morning at downtown establishments, including at Jefferson’s Restaurant, 743 Mass., It’s Brothers Bar & Grill, 1105 Mass., and Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Mass. (Get more bar info at lawrence.com)

By 10 a.m., about a dozen people were waiting outside It’s Brothers Bar & Grill, 1105 Mass, even though the bar wouldn’t open for another two hours.

Pete Cridland, 23, was first in line. He got there around 8 a.m.– a full half a day before tip-off.
“I’m going to sit and drink all afternoon,” said Cridland, a KU senior from Chicago. “You have to kind of ration yourself and not pound them before the game starts.”

A few feet behind him were Rachel Adams, 22, a senior from Shawnee, and friend Jen Lewan, 22, a senior from Denver, who was sitting on the ground with a sleeping bag and a cup of hot chocolate.
“We wanted to be on Mass. Street,” Adams said. “This is the place to be. All of our friends will be here before the doors open.”
Asked what they would do when the doors opened, Adams and Cridland both said the same thing: “Run.”

Live reports from 6News and live Web cams

6News plans to have live reports at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. from the stadium and from Lawrence’s downtown on Sunflower Broadband’s cable Channel 6.

When the game ends, 6News plans to have a post-game program that will include game highlights, live reports from the downtown and the stadium and video of what’s happening on the main campus.

That program will also include the live post-game press conference featuring Roy Williams.

6News will also do spot checks of downtown post-game activity from the Team One TowerCam on Lawrence’s city hall. A microphone will pick up audio from the Seventh and Massachusetts streets area.

You can also watch what’s happening in downtown Lawrence on the lawrence.com Web cams at Ninth and Massachusetts streets and at Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

KUSports.com will also have live updates during the game, post game audio from the coach’s press conference and post-game photos.

The Journal-World’s Tuesday edition will have extensive comprehensive coverage of the game, with stories, analysis, and photos of the game and the post-game activities in Lawrence and New Orleans.

Welcoming the ‘Hawks home

The team will be welcomed back during a program at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The event is free and open to the public.

If the team wins the national championship, the welcome-home event will be at Memorial Stadium. Otherwise, the event will take place in Allen Fieldhouse. The public can start entering the welcome-home event at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. All parking is free. Concession stands will not be open.

At Memorial Stadium, seating will be on the east side. North and east side gates will be open. The south gates will not be open.

If the weather is too cold or rainy (or if the Jayhawks lose), the event will be moved to Allen Fieldhouse. A decision will be made by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The welcoming event will incude the KU Pep Band, mascots, cheerleaders and the dance team and a presentation on the stadium’s videoboard. The KU student group, Random Harmony, will sing the alma mater to conclude the program.

Parade set for April 17

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a parade honoring the KU men’s basketball team next week through downtown Lawrence.

The parade, featuring players and coaches in convertibles, accompanied by floats, fire truck and the Pep Band, will begin at 4 p.m. at Seventh and Massachusetts streets. The parade will move south along Massachusetts Street to South Park near 11th and Massachusetts.

For more information, contact Peggy Johnson at (785) 841-2985 or Meredithe
McCormick at (785) 865-4421.