Smith Center Big Screen Welcomes Fans for Final Four

Area fans are invited to cheer together for the men’s basketball team Saturday, viewing the NCAA semifinals broadcast from the Alamodome in San Antonio on the Tar Heels’ home court, the Dean E. Smith Center.

The UNC Department of Athletics, Division of Student Affairs and Rams Club will sponsor a 15-by-20-foot screen and open 15,000 seats in the Smith Center for free viewing of Final Four festivities.

Carolina students, faculty and staff with University IDs will be admitted first, at 5 p.m. Doors will open to everyone else at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s first semifinal, matching Memphis and UCLA, is scheduled to begin at 6:07 p.m. Carolina will play Kansas in the second game, set to tip 40 minutes after the first game concludes.

Fans are to enter at Entrance A. Once inside the Smith Center, fans are encouraged to remain, as there will not be re-entry for anyone leaving the building.

Should the Tar Heels advance to the national championship game, scheduled to tip off at 9:21 p.m. Monday, big-screen viewing at the Smith Center will be offered. Students, faculty and staff with University IDs will be admitted at 8 p.m. and everyone else at 8:30 p.m.

Concessions will be sold at the Smith Center. Free parking will be available at the Smith Center, off Bowles Drive, and in the nearby Kenan-Flagler Business School deck. More information on parking and transportation is available online.

Large televisions in lounges of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union also will show the games.

Alcohol is not sold at the Smith Center, and patrons may not bring alcoholic beverages with them to the arena. Other prohibited items include backpacks or other large bags of any kind, bottles or thermoses, coolers, food, drugs, fireworks, weapons of any kind, noise makers, signs, flags, banners, laser pointers, video equipment and any other items deemed inappropriate by Smith Center personnel. A complete rundown of entry policies for Smith Center events is available online.

Related coverage is available online:

• Carolina Basketball | March Madness: Bookmark alumni.unc.edu/marchmadness where you’ll find all the postseason tournament fan information. Find out how you can support the Tar Heels through the NCAA brackets. Information about fan gatherings, send-offs from Chapel Hill and from host hotels will be updated regularly.
• Final Four Web site