What to Know
- Looking to be close to the court? Madison Square Garden is hosting the East Regional of the men’s tournament on March 23 and March 25.
- Downtown Alliance crowd-sourced the top bars in lower Manhattan through a bracket-based competition on Twitter, with Stout NYC being the favorite choice.
- Secret NYC produced a list of 15 sports bars across the five boroughs, from Break Bar & Billiards in Astoria to Smithfield Hall NYC in Chelsea.
136 teams are gearing up for the Big Dance after the NCAA released the brackets for both the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments Sunday night.
The tri-state collectively has five teams in the men’s pool, with the University of Connecticut (No. 4 seed) as the only squad of the group to receive a top-5 seed and be favored to win their matchup (they will be squaring off against fellow tri-state area representative Iona in a round of 64 matchup in Albany).
But whether you’re cheering for a local team or eyeing your bracket bets, we’ll break down how to watch these games, both in-person and on TV.
Looking to be close to the court? Madison Square Garden is hosting the finals for the East Regional of the men’s tournament on March 23 and March 25. The four top teams in the East will face off in MSG, where tickets and suites can be purchased to view the match-ups.
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If you’re on the hunt for hoops-watching spots without catching the action in-person, several sites have you covered with lists and rankings of bars and restaurants around New York City.
Local
Downtown Alliance crowd-sourced the top bars in lower Manhattan through a bracket-based competition on Twitter.
The two top choices according to this competition’s voters were Mudville 9 and Stout NYC, with the latter being crowned the champion.
The west-side Mudville 9 on Chambers Street is a family-owned American restaurant that is open for reservations throughout the March Madness season. Stout NYC has four different locations around the city and has packages available for viewing parties during the tournament season.
Secret NYC produced a list of 15 sports bars across the five boroughs, from Break Bar & Billiards in Astoria to Smithfield Hall NYC in Chelsea.
6sqft also introduced 28 bars that are great viewing spots for the games. Although some overlap from the other lists mentioned, they also give insight into other options. For example, East Village recently became home to Downtown Social, a venue equipped with frequent live music and specials throughout the week.
The city has no shortage of spots for tournament entertainment, as the first pair of games kicks off March 14 and 15.
