Final Four Dreaming Starts Tonight !

We are not mentioning any names. We don't want to jinx anyone. You know who you are and that  two wins will put your team  into the final four. This article will tell you how you can go on the cheap (more or less) at the last minute and in a manner the missus or in this day and age the Mr.(if he isn't allowed to go with girls) will approve of of.

Tickets ? Stub Hub, Prime Sports official NCAA re-seller, and Razor Gator for starters. For the three game package $200 (Nosebleed) to $500 front row nosebleed or mezzanine. As the seats get better the prices is go into the stratosphere.That's the per person rate.Want the best seat in the house ?  Don't go and watch inton TV. What can you do to lower ticket prices ? Root against number one seeds. No North Carolina, Kentucky, or Kansas please ! How about the Mid American entry the Ohio University Bobcats ?Last year in Houston, Virginia Commonwealth and Butler produced "No reasonable offer refused" game night ticket prices. Kentucky's loss to Butler also insured great rates for the Monday night Final.

Accommodations ?  Forget New Orleans. Forget MSY (The New Orleans airport code). Think alternate City. Think Baton Rouge BTR . It's the state Capital and home of  Louisiana State University. You are  seventy miles north of New Orleans and the freeway from NOLA(New Orleans Louisiana) will take you directly to the Superdome.  You can visit the LSU Campus, visit the state capitol (a big tower) see a half dozen statutes of  Huey Long ( Get the movie All The Kings Men with Sean Penn or the 1949  Broadrick Crawford which won the  1949 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture and Best Actor) and even stand on the exact spot where Huey was assassinated . Students of Literature can also read the book by the same tittle  by Robert Penn Warren on which the movies are based. There is also the Nursery Rhyme  about Humpty Dumpty who suffered a great fall. After which none of the Kings' men were able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again

On top of the state capitol square tower you will get an excellent view of the City. LSU is to your south, The Mississippi is river to the west, Petro Chemical complexes as far as the eye can see to the north. Suburbia replete with malls and Best Buys are due due east. $52   you can get a nice room at a Days Inn, or the Sleep Inn  above for $79 Both are on the south side of town by LSU and the freeway to sthe Superdome.. In New Orleans he rate for similar properties in suburbs including distant Slidell the same properties will be fetching $100 to $150 A Choice Hotel  in the Nola Garden District if availablestill  was $329 last time I looked. Compare the local hotel web sight rates versus the 1-800 rates for chains. Use the local rate (if it is better to negotiate with the 1-800 national number. Then Book with 1-800 national who should provide no questions asked up to 6pm day of arrival  cancellation. Got that ?  Call Joe's Comfort Inn Baton Rouge or Biloxi with your free cell phone after 7pm minutes. They say there rate is $59. Two weeks cancellation notice which is over so  No cancellations. Hang up and call 1-800-Comfort. They say the rate is $75.  You say the wife heard the rate is $59. They say they can do $63. You say the cancellation rate is full refund if you cancel before 6pm of the day of arrival,They say that's right. Book the room on your credit card.

Getting there ? Got frequent flyer miles ? Delta will take you to Cincinnati, Lexington Kentucky,  Atlanta , and Baton Rouge in more or less that order, due to the late date,if available, for points that might be better spent going to Europe. Paying ? Check out flights to Houston  which has two airports. George Bush (IAH) and Hobby (HOU). Hobby is often but not always cheaper Houston and NOLA are separated by 278 miles ,There is also  Gulf Port Mississippi  (GPT)(50 miles). You could also drive and tell yourself that  Detroit to New Orleans  is the same distance as New Orleans to Miami which is also true.

Timing ? If your team plays tonight your team can clinch on Saturday which gives you a one day jump. Only two schools will know they are in and if you call Saturday night or Sunday before the games start you will be a head  on travel plans and prices.

There is also another option to consider. The Final Four is fun if your team wins on Saturday Night If they lose you will have to sit through 48 hours of University of Kentucky-University of North Carolina Game of the Millennium Hype which will be irritating . A nerves of steel, speed dial alternative would be for you to see the Saturday game at home on TV  and depart on Sunday or even Monday to see your team in the Championship game.Tickets for that game are usually available because two fan bases have been eliminated but are not not always cheap. If your doing frequent flyer miles and your team duds  you may have to pay $150 to put your miles back. A hotel reservation Baton Rouge may not even be necessary. In Nola the hotels demand a four night final four stays  but some not so cheap rooms may come available.

So good luck too your team  or teams. Oh and by the way, our local  by tradition drop all coverage of the Final Four when the Michigan teams are eliminated. For those who went to school outside the state of  Michigan or enjoy stories like this one which provides never before revealed facts on the Tournament rest assured. We will not sign off on the Final Four until Midnight Monday April  2nd when the 2012 Trophy is officially re-awarded somewhere in NOLA. Where exactly is yet to be determined but when we know. You'll Know!