NBA Finals Odds

2021 NBA Championship Odds
Phoenix Suns    -170    
Milwaukee Bucks    +150

First game: Tuesday at Phoenix.

Navigate This: Obstacle Course Stolen

Phoenix police are investigating the theft of a large multicolored inflatable obstacle course.

What it Costs to go to the Final Four and Travel Tips

The road to the Final Four ends in Phoenix with college basketball fans from across the country traveling to Arizona for the final March Madness showdown, beginning on Saturday, April 1 and culminating on Monday, April 3 with the National Championship. With over 70,000 seats to fill at the University of Phoenix Stadium, there’s plenty of room to welcome fans from across the country. However, travel prices are climbing and hotels will go fast in the days leading up to the weekend of games. Orbitz.com takes a look.

AIRFARE PRICES

Fans traveling to witness basketball history in hot and sunny Phoenix from the Pacific Northwest and the Carolinas will see airfare at the following1:

·        University of South Carolina (Columbia to Phoenix) – roundtrip flights starting at $1,185 on Orbitz.com

·        Gonzaga University (Spokane to Phoenix) – roundtrip flights starting at $1,413 on Orbitz.com

·        University of Oregon (Eugene to Phoenix) – roundtrip flights starting at $1,242 on Orbitz.com

·        University of North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham to Phoenix) – roundtrip flights starting at $1,242 on Orbitz.com

HOTEL PRICES

Hotels near the stadium are booking up quickly with current rates on Orbitz.com starting at $233 per night for a 4-star hotel in the Glendale area. Below is a list of alternative neighborhoods with lodging options in the greater Phoenix area, for those who can’t get close to the stadium:

 
Neighborhood
   
Hotels Rates on Orbitz.com Starting At
    

Distance to Stadium

Downtown Phoenix
    
$379
    
16 miles

Goodyear
    
$194
    
10 miles

Peoria
    
$279
    
10 miles

Surprise
    
$207
    
11 miles

CAR RENTAL PRICES

For travelers who aren’t staying in the immediate vicinity of the stadium, transportation to games will be another travel cost. According to Orbitz.com, car rental rates start at just $15/day over this big game weekend.


TIPS FOR SAVING

·        AIRFARE: Fly out a day early, stay a day later to avoid higher airfare prices and find more availability on flights. Also, look to alternative airports in the area, including Mesa and Tucson

·        HOTEL: Use a promotion code such as EXPLOREMORE to save 15% on Orbitz.com

·        PACKAGE IT: If you need more than one travel component, package them together for the best savings

Another Team in Green Bay Tries to Go Unbeaten - Wisc. Green Bay Women's Basketball

Another team is unbeaten in Green Bay, and this one doesn't play football, but the way they play would make Packer head coach Mike McCarthy proud.

The Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team is 19-0 going into Saturday’s game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Even if they don't win the Horizon League, the Phoenix stand a pretty good chance of getting to the NCAA tournament without a loss.

Green Bay was No. 10 in The Associated Press poll this week, the program’s first appearance in the top 10.

They join Baylor on the women's side, and Murray St. on the men's side as the only unbeaten teams in Division I college basketball.

Coach Matt Bollant said only one player on his roster, forward Jenny Gilbertson, even got a scholarship offer from a school in a BCS conference coming out of high school. Senior Julie Wojta, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, acknowledges that Green Bay is a “little bit different” from other top programs.

“We haven’t been able to recruit the top talent in the nation,” Wojta said. “So it’s special, what we do with this team, from the standpoint of, we’re not the most athletic against teams that we play. We’re not the tallest and things like that. You really have to focus on the little pieces of the game, the fundamentals.”

And while Bollant wants the team to block out any talk of going undefeated, the thought has at least occurred to junior forward Lydia Bauer.

“I don’t think you can completely ignore it, but at the same time, I don’t think you want to make it a focus,” Bauer said. “It’d be a great thing to do. But a loss on the record has never hurt a team in the end. So I think it’s a goal, but I don’t think it’s a focus of ours.”

They have do have a great chance at remaining undefeated and causing more damage in the NCAAs.

Another Dust Cloud Moves Through Phoenix

A giant wall of dust was rolling through the Phoenix area on Tuesday, turning the sky brown, creating dangerous driving conditions and delaying some airline flights.

The dust storm, also known as a haboob in Arabic and around Arizona, formed in Pinal County and headed northeast for Phoenix.

The dust wall was about 3,000 feet high and created winds of 25 to 30 mph, with gusts of up to 40 mph, said Austin Jamison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “You have suddenly very poor visibilities that come on with all the dense dust in the air,'' he said.