HPU Invites Community to NCAA Tournament Selection Show Watch Party
The university will surprise a local family with an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the Panthers play in the NCAA Tournament.
HIGH POINT, N.C., March 11, 2026 – High Point University invites the community to join its men’s and women’s basketball teams for a special NCAA Tournament Selection Show watch party at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 15, in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.
This high-energy, family-friendly event is free and open to the public. To attend, community members must register at www.highpoint.edu/ncaa-bound.
“We are grateful to be the city of High Point’s hometown team,” HPU President Nido Qubein said. “This free event is one of hundreds of ways HPU supports and celebrates our community and all the great people that call High Point their home.”
Community members will receive free food, a free HPU March Madness T-shirt and the chance to appear on national TV when it is announced where HPU’s basketball teams will play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Children can also take part in a shootaround with HPU’s players, get autographs and photos with coaches and players from both teams and enjoy an on-court performance from the popular NBA halftime show act Christian and Scooby.
The HPU men’s and women’s basketball teams earned automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year after they each won the Big South Conference championship in Johnson City, Tennessee, on March 8. A year ago, HPU was one of only 27 schools to have both its men’s and women’s teams make the NCAA Tournament during the 2024-25 season.
The brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments will be revealed live on March 15. CBS will air the men’s Selection Show at 6 p.m., while ESPN will telecast the women’s Selection Show at 8 p.m. Community members can watch both Selection Shows on the jumbotron and large screens inside HPU’s arena during the watch party.
A Surprise for a Local Family:
Sunday’s watch party is one of many free events that HPU hosts throughout the year. During the regular season, approximately 15,000 community members attended HPU home men’s and women’s basketball games at no charge using free tickets that the university provides to the public. Fans also received free food at three men’s home games this season, making it possible for families to enjoy a free night at a college basketball game.
Continuing that trend, HPU will surprise a local family at the watch party with an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the Panthers play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The university will provide airfare, game tickets and more. The winning family, which has been selected from community superfans who attended games this season thanks to HPU’s free community ticket giveaway, will learn on Sunday during the watch party announcement that they have been given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A Free Evening at the Arena:
In addition to free admission to the watch party, HPU will provide community members with a free hot dog and a complimentary HPU March Madness T-shirt when they enter the arena. They will be able to pick up their T-shirt in the conference center and their hot dog at the concession stands inside the arena. Fans will also receive free ice cream before the start of the women’s Selection Show. There will be more free giveaways at the watch party.
Performance by Halftime Act:
Dubbed Christian and Scooby, Christian and his well-trained pet Chihuahua will perform on the court prior to the start of the men’s Selection Show. They are a popular act that regularly performs at NBA, NFL and college basketball games around the country.