March Madness returns to Columbus Friday, as Nationwide Arena hosts four NCAA men’s basketball tournament games. The first game tips off at 12:15 p.m. and feature Iowa versus Cincinnati. Other Friday contests include Colgate vs. Tennessee, Washington vs. Utah State, and Iona vs. North Carolina.
The four winners take the court in Nationwide again on Sunday.
This is Columbus' fifth time hosting part of the men’s tournament. Nationwide Arena hosted the NCAA women’s basketball Final Four last year.
About 25,000 people were expected to travel to Central Ohio for this weekend’s games.
“Usually there's like a lot of game winners in these tournaments, and I'd like to see one of those,” said Eli Tucker, who traveled from West Virginia with his dad to watch tournament games.
Ohio State plays Iowa State at 9:45pm Friday evening in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The National Championship is April 8 in Minneapolis.
