The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Gonzaga in the NCAA championship game more than 2,000 miles from home. While some of their Carolina Blue-clad fans were able to make the trek to Phoenix, it was cost prohibitive for many – especially students.
So when the North Carolina student section looked a little washed out with white T-shirts flanking and crowding in behind the blue, some might have raised their eyebrows and wondered where those extra fans came from.
The NCAA offers about 700 student-section tickets to universities who make it to the final rounds. But it turns out thta when university teams play thousands of miles from home and plane tickets there and back cost a minimum of $1,200, plus $250 per hotel night stay, those tickets are a harder sell.