CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) — Monday night is set to be the biggest night in college basketball, and one Western Massachusetts bar owner is pulling for the underdog.
The calendar might say April, but at least for now, March is still on the top of everyone’s mind. The neighboring UConn Huskies will face off against the Michigan Wolverines Monday night for the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game in Indianapolis.
Western Mass News spoke with Billy Stetson, the owner of Rumbleseat Bar & Grille in Chicopee, who tells us, “It’s a day where we shut the jukebox off, turn up the volume for the NCAA tournament. It’s going to be a lot of interest here. We have half-price wings tonight as part of our NCAA. NCAA seems to like their championship games on Mondays.”
If the Huskies were to win, it’d be their third national title in four years; a feat that hasn’t been done in the men’s game since the late John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins back in 1975.
With UConn’s campus only 35 miles away, Stetson expects Husky nation to be representing throughout western Mass. Tonight, “UConn is definitely our New England team, right?.. I think it starts with the women’s team being kind of like the New England representative for 30 years. And I think it transcends into the UConn Husky men’s team.”
Stetson tells us that his business has been busy all weekend long for the men’s and women’s final four games, and he doesn’t expect that to change any time soon, “There’s a lot more interest in NCAA sports these days. I think it has something to do with sports gambling. But a lot of the numbers coming out are pretty incredible for their ratings. And it’s no different here.”
Stetson suggests anyone looking to watch Monday night’s game at the seat should pull up by 8:30 p.m. to guarantee a spot before it fills up.
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