COLUMBIA, S.C. — Colonial Life Arena is officially ready for the NCAA Tournament.
Crews spent Tuesday installing the new floor for the two-day event. The fersh, new hardwood floor sports a mixture of blue and green and the official NCAA March Madness logo.
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The process took about four hours, with crews beginning their work around 8 a.m. They brought in all the pieces and snapped them together, sort of like putting together puzzle pieces.
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The last piece was put in just after noon.
The inside of the Gamecock arena will look a bit different to regular fans. In addition to the new floor, there will be new signage and banners throughout the building and new graphics have been loaded into the video board.
The arena is hosting the first two rounds of the tournament. The games will be played on Friday, March 22 and Sunday, March 24. Open practices for all participating teams will take place on Thursday.
Columbia is the only host city that will have two number one seeds (Duke, Virginia) in the same grouping. This is the first time in 49 years that Columbia has hosted the tournament.