BOZEMAN — For the first time in history, Montana State's men’s and women’s basketball teams have both made it to the NCAA tournament, and as the teams get ready to dance, businesses across Bozeman are getting ready for the madness.
“It has really been the year of the Bobcat,” says Chad Schreier, MSU Bookstore CEO.
Coming off their historic wins, the teams are headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996 (men's) and 2017 (women's).
“Totally awesome with all the success the school has been having over there,” said Luke Powers, retail sales manager for Universal Athletic.
And the Bozeman community is once again getting ready to rally behind their Bobcats.
“People in Bozeman and the surrounding area are awfully excited and they have definitely been getting new gear,” Powers said.
Bars and stores are staffing up and filling racks with Bobcat apparel.
“Making sure we are staffed, and understand the excitement behind it and that people are going to be in, and just be ready for that because anytime you have success its a real boost to the economy,” Powers said.
Those downtown are not only getting ready for March Madness but St Patrick’s Day celebrations as well.
“It's already going into a crazy weekend with St. Patrick's Day and all that being right on March Madness,” says Timothy Benson, Rocking R Bar general manager.
Expecting to fill up just like they did for football playoffs.
“I'd expect most of the community down here to be able to watch the game,” said Benson.
The product keeps coming in for fans ready to don their gear.
“We get new products every day. We just got the men’s Big Sky shirts in, we have the men's and women's championship shirts coming in, and we'll have the March Madness shirts by the end of this week as well,” said Schreier.
The men's basketball team takes on Texas Tech on Friday. The women’s team will face defending champions Stanford Friday. Of course, stay with MTN Sports for the latest.
