Photo Recap: Behind the Scenes at 2015 NCAA Final Four

The 2015 NCAA Final Four was a massive success – complete with nail-biting games, high powered match-ups and memorable upsets. Populous, for the fifth consecutive year, had a role in the planning and operations of college basketball’s marquee event, partnering with the NCAA to make it a success. View our NCAA Final Four infographic.

With the 2015 Final Four in our rearview mirror and our eyes on next year’s event, here’s a photo recap of some of the behind the scenes spaces and memorable moments from this year’s event.

The Capital One Ferris wheel has become a landmark item in the March Madness Music Festival, which is a three day event with free music at White River State Park. Here, the ferris wheel is shown adjacent to the NCAA National Headquarters, the building to the right with the flags.

An aerial shot of Sunday night at the March Madness Music Festival, with views of the extensive temporary facilities put in place for the festival. Zac Brown Band headlined the festival.

Fireworks close out the final performance at the March Madness Music Festival on Sunday, April 5th. Capacity was reached before 7 pm, earlier than expected.

Throughout the Final Four, the media workroom, a temporary workspace constructed in the stadium, gives 1,300+ media covering the Final Four space to work on their stories.

Lucas Oil Stadium at night, before the Wisconsin and Duke championship game.

NCAA & Populous configured the space courtside to seat media, NCAA staff, game officials, broadcasters and camera positions. Every square inch of the courtside space is captured in our planning process.

Each school participating in the Final Four is allowed 700 students on the floor for their games. Here, Duke students file in before the Duke / Michigan State matchup.

An aerial of the Final Four seating setup inside Lucas Oil Stadium during the Saturday semi-final between Michigan State and Duke.

This shows the details of space allocation for all groups on the Final Four court, from cheerleaders to broadcasters to photographers. Each of these spaces is programmed and tracked.

And finally, a wide angle view of the Final Four setup inside Lucas Oil Stadium during the Saturday Semi Final between Michigan State and Duke

Learn more about what goes into planning a Final Four and Populous’ role.