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The four teams competing in the Men's NCAA Final Four arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday at their respective downtown hotels.
The team buses rolled up to their hotels with police escorts and were greeted by their fans, wearing team colors and waving signs.
Fans of Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston are also trickling into the city for games on Saturday and Monday at the Alanadome. The national championship game is Monday.
Final Four fans in downtown San Antonio told TPR that they were excited about each of their team's chances to win it all.
Some fans said they arrived early to play tourist before the big games with plans to take in two of the biggest tourist attractions in the state and nation, the Alamo and Riverwalk.
All the fans also said they felt safe with the amount of security provided by the San Antonio Police Department and others.
Dave Christensen of Minneapolis is in town to root for Auburn. He said he's seen lots of security measures: “Just the security in general, I would feel safe walking around anywhere at night or during the day.”
Police officers were everywhere, and barriers were up to protect pedestrians from vehicles.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus did not disclose how many officers will work the Final Four this week, but he did say it's all
hands-on-deck.
Christensen also praised downtown for how clean it is. Fresh paint could be seen on some downtown buildings, and fresh potted flowers hung from lamp posts. Final Four banners dangled from lamp posts too.
San Antonio is putting its best foot forward to welcome 100,000 fans for the games and events like Fan Fest at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Music Festival at Tower Park at Hemisfair.
The NCAA says downtown's walkability to all major events during the games is one major reason why San Antonio has been chosen to host them.
