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Some things I've been wondering and I bet others have too:

1) any idea of the dates of the tournament? Will it be a Wed to Sat schedule?
2) what was the past cost of ticket packages? Can they be purchased single game or all-session only?
3) where is MSG in relation to other sights in NYC? Sorry, I don't have any idea of the geography in New York
4) best airport to fly into and best location to stay

I'm really looking forward to making the trip but it's going to require a fair amount more planning this year than in year's past.

Omaha1 wrote:Some things I've been wondering and I bet others have too:

1) any idea of the dates of the tournament? Will it be a Wed to Sat schedule?
2) what was the past cost of ticket packages? Can they be purchased single game or all-session only?
3) where is MSG in relation to other sights in NYC? Sorry, I don't have any idea of the geography in New York
4) best airport to fly into and best location to stay

I'm really looking forward to making the trip but it's going to require a fair amount more planning this year than in year's past.

This would be good info, I plan on making it to MSG next year.

Omaha1 wrote:Some things I've been wondering and I bet others have too:

1) any idea of the dates of the tournament? Will it be a Wed to Sat schedule?
2) what was the past cost of ticket packages? Can they be purchased single game or all-session only?
3) where is MSG in relation to other sights in NYC? Sorry, I don't have any idea of the geography in New York
4) best airport to fly into and best location to stay

I'm really looking forward to making the trip but it's going to require a fair amount more planning this year than in year's past.

I'll try and answer some of your questions......

1) Haven't seen anything regarding the dates
2)In the past, the tickets never went on sale to the general public, all of the schools would buy them up. Then the schools turn around and offer them to their season ticket holders, etc, only in packages for the whole tournament. I doubt all the schools will buy them up, so I'd imagine they will go on sale by session.
3) Everything is easily in walking distance of MSG. Hotels, theater district, Times Square, Empire State Building, etc.
4) I'd say Newark airport then take the short hop on the train into the city

Omaha1 wrote:Some things I've been wondering and I bet others have too:

1) any idea of the dates of the tournament? Will it be a Wed to Sat schedule?
2) what was the past cost of ticket packages? Can they be purchased single game or all-session only?
3) where is MSG in relation to other sights in NYC? Sorry, I don't have any idea of the geography in New York
4) best airport to fly into and best location to stay

I'm really looking forward to making the trip but it's going to require a fair amount more planning this year than in year's past.

1. Whatever Fox tells us the dates will be.
2. Since the last Big East expansion in 2006 tickets were only officially sold as expensive full-tournament packages. Single-session tickets available on StubHub cheap. Really cheap. Like 2 bucks for Day 1 this year. With the loss of the huge Cuse/UConn fanbases I wouldn't be surprised to see them reevaluate the full package setup.
3. MSG is right in the heart of everything. Famous flagship Macy's store across the street. 2 blocks to Empire State building. A few more blocks to Times Square and theater district. Central Park, St. Patrick's, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center all walkable from MSG if you're in decent shape. If you don't want to walk it subway can have you to any of those places in 5 minutes. Subway to Lower Manhattan (World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, seaport, City Hall) an easy hop.
4. Newark Airport most convenient to midtown NYC. No need to deal with traffic coming into the city from JFK or LaGuardia if you can help it. Hotels depend on what you want to spend. Manhattan is pricey obviously. Plenty of cheaper options on the Jersey side that are a 15-20 minute train ride to MSG. Literally right to MSG, NJ Transit (from Newark) train station is under the arena, PATH (from Hoboken, Jersey City) drops you off a block away from the Garden.

1. Most likely Wed to Sat. 2 sessions on wed and thurs, 1 session on Friday and Saturday.

2. All tix will be sold to the schools, ticket costs will be determined through your school. Most offer up to highest paying doners.

3. MSG is like 15 blocks south of Time Square / right next to Empire State Building. About 15 min subway from Wall Street, Central Park, and the UN. Although they are in 3 different directions. It sits above penn station so it's pretty east to get anywhere in Manhattan.

4. Airport, Newark is a 25 min train ride to right under MSG.

4. Hotels, too many to count. See what hotel your school is staying with.

I am hoping to make the trip over also. I'd like to see them make the tickets affordable as I am sure they will want to show a full house on TV.

How about someone who is driving to NY? Is it the cheapest to just drive to Newark airport, park your car there and take a shuttle to a hotel around there that is close to the subway?

Jet915 wrote:How about someone who is driving to NY? Is it the cheapest to just drive to Newark airport, park your car there and take a shuttle to a hotel around there that is close to the subway?

Don't know for sure what the cheapest option would be but I'm pretty sure dumping your car at Newark Airport for the better part of a week would NOT be it.

I'll only charge 5 bucks a day to let you park in front of my house.

Jet915 wrote:How about someone who is driving to NY? Is it the cheapest to just drive to Newark airport, park your car there and take a shuttle to a hotel around there that is close to the subway?

Fortunately you've got plenty of time to plan. Here's a few things that might help.
Newark is definitely the preferred airport. The subway doesn't come into play until you are in NYC.
You could leave the car @ a secure off-site facility for around $8/day w/ free shuttle to airport.
Fare is $5 to take the train to Newark Penn Station fr/ the airport. @ Newark Penn Station you can board NJ Transit or PATH light rail trains to NYC.
NJT trains go to New York Penn Station ($5), directly underneath MSG. PATH trains ($2.25) go to either 33rd St. (2 blocks fr/ MSG) or World trade Center.
NJ Transit: http://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo
PATH: http://www.panynj.gov/path/maps.html
Subways: http://new.mta.info/
*** NOTE: Subways & PATH trains run 24 hrs. The last NJT train out of NYC is approx. 1am.
*** As confusing as it sounds, both the Newark & NYC train stations are "Penn Station". You don't ever want "Newark Broad Street".
*** MetroCards work on either the subway or PATH.

JohnT wrote:I am hoping to make the trip over also. I'd like to see them make the tickets affordable as I am sure they will want to show a full house on TV.

Old Big East required every school to buy an allotment of tickets. If they do that, every school has to buy about 2000 packages (20k seating / 10 teams). The schools usually offered the packages, covering all sessions of the tourny, to their season ticket holders - I think the packages were costing $750-ish. Also, Villanova (don't know about others) used to require an additional donation to the school on top of the ticket package price. Once individuals got the packages you'd see them sell individual session tickets to the tourney on StubHub/ebay/craigslist. Early rounds tickets could/can be cheap. Quality of the league's play, I'm assuming, will dictate how much of this carries forward.