Sitting in the front row behind a baseline Saturday, Jimmy Brandt took in the NCAA tournament atmosphere at Bresnan Arena.
The Maverick superfan is there for every home basketball game, but it had been 10 years since Minnesota State University last hosted a men’s NCAA regional tournament.
It made an already special season even better, Brandt said.
“This is probably the best team we’ve had,” he said. “It’s really great to see a packed house again.”
Brandt, 33, has been a Mavs diehard since coming to his first game at age 6. Along with friends Dave Guth and Matt Bauer, they road trip to most away games, from Nebraska to South Dakota to the Mavs’ Minnesota rivals.
They felt confident in the team’s chances Saturday and beyond. At 29-2, the Mavs were ranked second in the country coming into Saturday.
“I’d be hard pressed if we didn’t get to the championship game on Tuesday at home,” Bauer said while watching potential opponent in that game, the Northwest Missouri St. Bearcats, beat Southwest Minnesota State. The Bearcats were set to play University of Minnesota Duluth on Sunday for a spot in the regional final.
There’s no question this MSU team is one of the best in the program’s history, said Obie Kipper Jr., a hall-of-fame track and field athlete at MSU. A class of 1970 graduate who stayed on campus to complete his master’s in 1974, Kipper has been watching MSU athletics since the late 1960s.
“Win or lose, we support the programs,” he said.
Ahead of the men’s game, then during breaks in it, home fans kept an eye on the Maverick women’s NCAA basketball tournament game and men’s hockey conference tournament game. The women’s team advanced to the regional final, while the hockey team lost to Michigan Tech in the closing seconds.
In MSU’s student section, Abe Hestdalen said not many schools have such good atmospheres at sporting events. The junior just transferred to Mankato from Minnesota State University Moorhead, who with a win in the next game would set up a showdown against the Mavericks on Sunday.
Having good sports teams helped him feel part of the campus community faster.
“It allows students to stay more connected to the community,” he said. “It brings the student body together.”
The Mavs beat Arkansas Tech 75-68 in Saturday’s opener. They’ll play the winner of MSU-Moorhead and Pittsburg St. in the next round at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The regional final will be 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola