LAS VEGAS-- The Madness starts early here.

It utilized to be that the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament was the time when hoteliers, restaurateurs and the rest of the hospitality and gambling markets eagerly anticipated the 3rd weekend in March, when fans bored with workplace pools came down on the hotels and their gambling establishments and sports books to see (and bet on) college basketball.

How far we have actually come, from the days when the NCAA was so frightened of any association with gambling that it provided ‘‘ Vegas the hands-off treatment. Now, not only has conference competition time transformed this location into the mecca of college hoops in the West, however the West Regional Sweet 16 will be back here in two weeks. And the 2028 Final Four will take place in Las Vegas, at Allegiant Stadium.

What altered? It's tough to tell, although when the Orleans Arena landed a 2006 game in between Kansas and Florida it may have softened college administrators' resistance to playing within walking distance of a casino. And the Supreme Court's choice in 2018 to overrule state laws versus sports betting might have convinced NCAA and individual schools' administrators that it was silly to continue to demonize Las Vegas.

The impact is clear: Five Division I conferences based in the Pacific and Mountain time zones now hold their conference tournaments on or near to the Strip. The Big Sky, which plays its conference competition in Boise, is the only conference in this area not represented here.

When you think about it, should we maybe blame Wayne Gretzky?

Seriously. When Gretzky's Kings and the New York Rangers played an outdoor exhibit game in September, 1991, in a short-term arena in the Caesars Palace parking area generally utilized for boxing, it's safe to state the conditions weren't ideal for hockey. The aftereffect, nevertheless, was that a number of casinos began building of their own indoor occasions centers, which ultimately caused the building of T-Mobile Arena and the NHL's Golden Knights. However we digress.

T-Mobile has actually hosted the Pac-12 guys's competition this week, which ended with Saturday night's championship game in between UCLA and Arizona. The Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort was the home of this year's Pac-12 ladies's tournament, which finished last Sunday with Washington State shocking UCLA in the national championship.

The Mountain West Conference has played 21 of its 24 conference tournaments here, from 2000 through 2003 and constantly considering that 2007, at conference member UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center. And yet they weren't the first, due to the fact that the leader of the Big West, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, played its 1994 and '95 competitions at UNLV, then a member of that conference.

The West Coast Conference and WAC showed up took were next, moving their tournaments in 2009 to the same place, the previously mentioned Orleans Arena, located a couple of miles south of the Strip.

The Pac-12 men's tournament showed up in 2013, moving into the MGM Grand Garden after a decade at Staples Center, and relocated to T-Mobile when it opened in 2017. The females's tournament, which had been played in Mac Court in Eugene, HP Pavilion in San Jose, Galen Center and Staples in L.A. and Key Arena in Seattle, moved to the MGM Grand Garden in 2019 and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in 2020, which was renamed the Michelob Ultra Arena in 2021 as part of an identifying rights deal.

And the Big West was the last to make the long-term move, though in its earlier presence as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association it spent two years at the Thomas and Mack when UNLV was still a conference member.

After 20 continuous seasons in Anaheim, split between the Convention Center and Honda Center, the conference played its 2021 tournament at Michelob Ultra in a bubble since of COVID-19. That opened some eyes in the conference offices, and in June of 2021 the Big West revealed a permanent relocation to the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, 12 miles east of the Strip.
What this implies? Everybody remains on the Strip anyhow. Example: New York New York lies right beside T-Mobile Arena, however I've seen shirts from WAC, Big West and Mountain West teams, in addition to UCLA, Oregon, ASU, USC … … and, more than anything, Arizona red, blue and white. Wildcat fans typically concern Vegas in force, pretty much turning the arena into McKale Center North, and it's been no different this year.

And consider this: In my walk from the hotel to the arena for Thursday's late USC-Arizona State video game, I saw people wearing Arizona gear, sitting at outside tables enjoying TV displays showing … … the Arizona-Stanford video game. Perhaps they couldn't pay for or could not get video game tickets but wished to be part of the atmosphere. Or maybe they were conserving their energy, and voices, for the finals and semifinals.

Las Vegas Events, the tourism arm of the city's convention and visitors authority, sponsors the WCC competition and also reportedly provides funding to the Mountain West and Pac-12 competitions, according to the On3 sports business website.

Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly stated throughout his pre-tournament press conference previously in the week that the Big West hadn't gotten any sponsorship cash, however included, "I've had a terrific experience with Las Vegas Events when I was at the Mountain West. Certainly Las Vegas Events continues to examine the Big West, and we're confident we can get some resoures from them in 2024."

Las Vegas has actually also snared the 2026 Frozen Four NCAA hockey championships. A Formula One race will be held here in November, to opt for 2 NASCAR race weekends. The Super Bowl will be here in 2024, and the College Football Playoff is up for discussion too. Nor have people here given up on drawing the Big Sky competition at some time.

And if ‘‘ Vegas desires a clean sweep of the West? When UCLA and USC depart for the Big Ten in the fall of 2024, why should not Las Vegas Events offer that conference Allegiant Stadium when every 4 years approximately?

jalexander@scng.com