The University of Connecticut’s campus in Storrs is buzzing as students gear up to watch the men’s basketball team face San Diego State in the NCAA Championship.
Gampel Pavillion will be the epicenter for fans. The arena will be filled with the roar of cheers as 10,000 people root for the UConn Huskies at the sold-out watch party.
“Basketball Capital of the World! You gotta be in Gampel. Anybody who’s anybody is going to be in Gampel tonight,” UConn senior Matt Correia said.
“Front row of the student section,” UConn senior Aidan Maloney said. “You’ll probably see me on TV in my white overalls, I’ll be sporting them tonight.”
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With huge monitors showing the championship game, the atmosphere in Gampel Pavilion will almost feel like a real game.
“We went on Saturday, and it felt like they were still there. It was really cool how they set it up,” UConn senior Alyssa Smart said. “We all just feel like a team ourselves, just because we’re all together.”
With a fight song blaring, supplies on deck and a two-TV setup, a group of housemates are prepped to cheer on the Huskies with a watch party at their home.
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“There’s three people that live here right now, and we’re all inviting friends from home, from all over Connecticut to come here,” UConn senior Chris DePinto said.
As seniors, they say a men’s NCAA victory would cap off their college careers.
“It would just be incredible,” DePinto said. “COVID kind of took out part of our college experience. So it would be awesome just to get together as one big group, one big school, root for the same thing. Just be in one big group environment. It would just mean the world.”
The party doesn’t stop there. Local bars are also hosting huge viewing parties.
“I feel very confident right now. UConn is playing at the highest level they’ve played at in a long time,” Chris Byrka, of South Windsor, said.
Byrka was one of the first at Ted’s Restaurant and Bar, gearing up for the big game.
“We haven’t been in this situation in a long time, it’s been like nine years,” Byrka said.
It is all-hands-on-deck for bar staff, as they prepare for a full house tonight. The watch party is sold out, with just a few walk-in tickets left at the door.
“There’s going to be a ton of people here,” Ryan Steinman, Ted’s Restaurant and Bar managing partner, said. “Once game time comes, we’ll have a projector outside, every TV obviously, surround sound.”
For Steinman, rooting for the Huskies hits close to home.
“I grew up 30 minutes from here, I used to work for the basketball team myself, so this has like really come full circle,” he said.
As the competitive fire is lit, students are grateful to join together.
“I think it’s just given everybody a lot of strength, a lot of unity,” UConn junior Jean Oros said.
When it comes to standing behind the Huskies, the energy on campus is palpable as the men take their shots at a march to victory.
“To see them over my four years just rise back up to almost the peak of the mountaintop, is just crazy,” Maloney said. “I can’t even put into words how amped and excited I am. I’m just, it’s like my hands have been shaking since 8 a.m. I got like two hours of sleep last night, just lying in bed, thinking about how awesome this could be.”
The doors to Gampel Pavilion open at 8 p.m., before tipoff at 9:20 p.m.
