Four Cities, No Sleep: Inside Howard’s whirlwind First Four journey

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

To kick off the men’s NCAA tournament, we’re hosting a bracket challenge with Extra Points, thanks to our pals at Short Courts.

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Here are the details:

• The Bracket Challenge is open to ALL Extra Points and NIL Wire readers, not just premium subscribers. If we’ve got your email, you’re welcome to enter the challenge.

• Simply fill out your bracket here. Limit one per person.

• The winner of the bracket challenge will get their very own Short Court of the team of their choice, along with some additional Extra Points and NIL Wire prizes. The second and third place winners will also get free Extra Points and NIL Wire Premium subscriptions. Winners will be notified shortly after the championship game.

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Good luck!

— Kyle

Planes, Buses and Brackets.

Ever wonder about the logistics and whirlwind adventure First Four teams experience? How one goes from campus to Dayton to somewhere else, all while tying to scout multiple opponents, in a matter of days?

The Howard men’s basketball team has spent the night in four different cities since Saturday — Norfolk, Washington, D.C., Dayton and Buffalo. It’s meant sleepless nights for general manager Daniel Marks, director of basketball operations Talin Lewis and the team’s managers. But WE SLEEP IN MAY! 

“It’s just been a lot of moving and trying to get the guys as hydrated and recovered as possible,” an out-of-breath Marks said while jogging on a treadmill in his Dayton hotel. “The adrenaline helps. You’re just running on fumes. But it’s so exciting because this is what you play for.”

The coordination for all of this actually began back in February. In an effort to streamline the travel and logistics process, the NCAA requires every Division I program to complete a series of forms a month before the tournament. The real chaos began after the Bison won the MEAC championship on Saturday afternoon. After cutting down the nets, the team decided to stay and watch the women’s team play for its own title. They won, too.

Then came the hard part.

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