With only a few days’ rest after our journey to Seattle, we were off once again on another flight out of Oakland on Wednesday afternoon, bound for the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. There was even a lovely sign by our gate to wish us good luck.
On our departing flight, we happened to run into none other than head football coach Sonny Dykes, who was seated just a few rows ahead of us. After our arrival, we loaded onto a bus for a very short run to the Tropicana, the hotel of choice for Pac-12 bands this year, just across the street from the tournament’s home, the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
While we were left to our own devices that evening and the next morning, we eventually headed over to the arena on Thursday afternoon and waited under the seats while Arizona dismantled Utah.
When we finally made it to our seats, we were joined by faithful members of The Bench.
We were also joined by the always wonderful Cal Dance Team, Oski, a member of the UC Rally Committee, and our head Mic Man, Spencer.
Many Arizona fans, who had turned the entire arena red for the previous game, stayed to watch our game while Cal and Colorado fans trickled in before tip-off.
We calmly waited until the game began, before watching the Bears fall into a slump early against Colorado.
On the other hand, the Bears came out hot early in the second half and Cal fans rallied with them.
With the Bears playing catch-up, it was exciting to see the action up close as Justin Cobbs’ dunk brought us within one.
In the end, the second-half effort wasn’t enough for the Bears to take down Colorado, as the Buffaloes made their final free throws to seal the game and keep us out of the semifinals.
It may have been a very quick trip, but we really did enjoy cheering on our Bears in Las Vegas. Thank you to Southwest Airlines, the Tropicana, the Pac-12 Conference, and the City of Las Vegas for their hospitality.
Check back next week for a recap of our journey with Cal Women’s Basketball to Waco, Texas for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament!
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We hope you enjoyed reading about the Band’s trip to Las Vegas. If you would like to support the band, please check out more information about our new donor matching challenge on our website. Thank you and Go Bears!