Good morning. This is LEADOFF, today’s early look inside Atlanta sports.
With conference tournaments underway this week and the NCAA tournament set to start next week, WalletHub crunched the numbers to rank 2018's Best Cities for College Basketball Fans.
You probably won’t be surprised to read that Atlanta did not score well.
The personal-finance website ranked Atlanta 134th of 289 U.S. cities measured for college hoops.
The rankings were based on nine metrics, covering such elements as team performance, fan engagement, championships history and ticket prices.
WalletHub’s study named Chapel Hill, N.C., the No. 1 city for college basketball fans, followed by No. 2 Lawrence, Kan., No. 3 Los Angeles, No. 4 Durham, N.C., and No. 5 Lexington, Ky.
New Britain, Conn., was ranked last -- No. 289.
In addition to Atlanta, five other Georgia cities were assessed by the study, and none ranked highly. Statesboro was No. 162, Macon No. 174, Athens No. 179, Kennesaw No. 228 and Savannah No. 272.
The rankings notwithstanding, Atlanta gets a turn in the college-hoops spotlight later this month. Philips Arena will host the NCAA South Regional on March 22 and March 24, bringing Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games to town.
And in April 2020, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the Final Four.
You can check out WalletHub’s full study here.
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ICYMI ...
> Braves' TV schedule and broadcaster lineup are set. See story here.
> Five observations from Braves' spring-training camp. See story here.
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