SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- It all comes down to Michigan and Villanova for Monday night's NCAA men's basketball national championship game.
But while festivities are wrapping up in San Antonio, plans are already in motion for next year's Final Four event in Minneapolis.
Kate Mortenson, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Local Organizing Committee (MLOC), is in Texas with about 25 others on the planning team taking notes for next year.
"So we have public safety folks who have been embedding with the San Antonio PD. We have operations folks who have been inside the stadium—the Alamodome. Our volunteer leader has been understanding how the volunteers have been deployed here," said Mortenson.
Mortenson and her team have also been checking out all the events surrounding the games, including a music festival.
"We do expect that we'll have a significant music event in Minneapolis. In other cities it's been a free, open, public event for 20,000 or so people. Exactly what that looks like in Minneapolis is to be determined in the coming months," Mortenson explained.
The last time Minneapolis hosted the NCAA Men's Final Four was in 2001 at the Metrodome. When it comes back April 6-8, 2019, it will be at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"It is pretty incredible to consider that we're taking a venue that was built for football to accommodate 65,000 fans and we're taking it up to over 70,000 fans which I think will be the greatest attendance that we've ever seen inside U.S. Bank Stadium," Mortenson said. "So we'll build a court between the 35-yard lines and then we'll add additional seating from the court—kind of in a bowl shape around it—to bring the attendance up over 70,000."
Mortenson arrived in San Antonio on Thursday and will leave Tuesday. She said what has stuck out to her is that the Final Four festivities have gone beyond basketball.
"A Final Four is certainly about three basketball games but it's about so much more than that too that is accessible, that is free, that is available to the public, that is appropriate for all ages." Mortenson said.
She went on to say, "This event has become something that Minnesota has never seen."
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Final Four are available through a random selection process. You can find out more information, here.