NCAA remembers the Alamodome, which is again a No. 1 spot for the Final Four

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NCAA remembers the Alamodome, which is again a No. 1 spot for the Final Four

2025-04-05 07:10 Last Updated At：07:31

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The NCAA has certainly remembered the Alamodome, which has again become a No. 1 spot.

All four No. 1 seeds in this season's NCAA Tournament made it to the Final Four. Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston will play Saturday just blocks from the famed Riverwalk. They will be in the same building that hosted the only other time since seeding began in 1979 that every top seed made it to the national semifinals.

That was 2008, long before the wide-open transfer portal or players being well-compensated financially in the era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

Bill Self won the first of his two national championships that season at Kansas, which in the title game stunned a 38-win Memphis team that later had to vacate all of those victories due to NCAA sanctions. The other teams in San Antonio then were North Carolina, which had Associated Press national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough, and a UCLA team featuring Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook.

This is the fifth time for the Final Four to be played in the Alamodome, all since 1998. Only four buildings have hosted more, though three of those had their last more than a half-century ago.

Mario Chalmers made a 3-pointer for Kansas with 2.1 seconds left to force overtime in that 2008 title game, after the Jayhawks overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 2:12 of regulation to beat that John Calipari-coached Memphis squad led by one-and-done standout Derrick Rose.

Self's first national title ended a 20-year championship drought for the Jayhawks.

Kansas had advanced to the championship game with an 84-66 win over No. 1 overall seed UNC in the semifinal game. Memphis won 78-63 over UCLA, which was in its third consecutive Final Four — without a title in any of them.

The NCAA later ordered Memphis to vacate the record 38-win season, ruling a player believed to be Rose was ineligible that season. The NCAA Committee on Infractions also noted that Memphis was a repeat violator, having also had its 1985 Final Four berth vacated for violations under then-coach Dana Kirk.

Houston is the first team from Texas to make a Final Four played in the Lone Star State.

This is the 11th time the national title will be decided in Texas.

“The bus we were on had the Final Four logo with our team, the team we're staying at ... the staff was awesome. We had a mariachi band,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. “That's what this is all about. It's a reward. They should be rewarded for what they've accomplished.”

Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City was the site of a record nine Final Fours from 1940-64, and Madison Square Garden in New York hosted seven from 1943-50.

Two venues have had six Final Fours: the Superdome in New Orleans and Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The Superdome last hosted in 2022, which came 53 years after the last national title game decided in that historic Bluegrass State arena.

Indianapolis will be the site of next year's Final Four, and again in 2029. Those will push the total to five for Lucas Oil Stadium, the replacement for the RCA Dome that held four before being demolished in 2008.

Final Four sites are set for the next six seasons. Besides the two in Indianapolis, they will be played in Detroit (2027), first-timer Las Vegas (2028), Arlington, Texas (2030) and Atlanta (2031). That last one will be fifth in Georgia, spread over three different buildings, and also be where the 2020 Final Four was to be played before being canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

What to know about the roof collapse at the Jet Set club in the Dominican Republic

2025-04-10 19:57 Last Updated At：20:00

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The roof of an iconic nightclub in the Dominican capital collapsed during a merengue concert, killing at least 218 people and injuring over 200 more. Politicians, athletes and a fashion designer were among those at Jet Set in Santo Domingo when disaster struck early Tuesday.

Officials have said it’s too early to determine why the roof fell. The government has moved to a recovery phase focused on finding bodies as dozens of people lingered at hospitals and the forensics institute, still anxiously await word of their loved ones.

The roof collapsed nearly an hour after the merengue concert headed by Rubby Pérez began at Jet Set. The club was known for its Monday night merengue parties that drew international celebrities and high-profile Dominicans.

A video posted on social media shows parts of the roof falling and people starting to move away seconds before the entire roof collapses onto them.

Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz, alerted Dominican President Luis Abinader to the disaster, calling him from under the debris, according to first lady Raquel Abraje. Officials said Nelsy Cruz later died at a hospital.

Authorities say it’s too early to determine the cause of the disaster. Firefighters removed blocks of broken concrete and created makeshift planks in an effort to reach survivors buried under the debris. More than 180 survivors were rescued from the rubble.

It’s unclear how often government officials inspect buildings in the Dominican Republic or when Jet Set was last inspected.

A Ministry of Public Works spokesperson referred The Associated Press to the mayor’s office for comment. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office could not be reached.

Jet Set's owners, who issued a statement saying they were cooperating with authorities, were also not reachable for comment.

Relatives of merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was performing when the roof collapsed, initially said he had been rescued. But Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations, said his body was found early Wednesday.

The singer’s manager, Enrique Paulino, said the group’s saxophonist also died.

The Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic posted on X that former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel was pulled from the debris but died at a hospital. Also killed was Dominican baseball player Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera, league spokesperson Satosky Terrero said.

Other victims include a retired U.N. official, New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco, an Army captain who left behind four young girls, and three employees at Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.

It’s an iconic nightclub in southern Santo Domingo that has operated for nearly five decades. It was known for its “Jet Set Mondays” that featured local and international merengue artists.

The club and restaurant, which opened in 1973, was the most popular venue of its kind in the Dominican Republic, according to the newspaper Listín Diario.

It later relocated and celebrated its first anniversary at the new location with merengue and salsa icon Johnny Ventura.

The club underwent renovations in 2010 and 2015, and it was struck by lightning in 2023, according to the newspaper.

General admission tickets for Monday’s concert with Rubby Pérez were $32, while the VIP ones were $40, according to the club’s website.

The government announced late Wednesday that it was moving into a recovery phase after rescue crews searched for survivors for more than 24 hours following the collapse.

An in-depth investigation into the collapse is expected. Authorities have not released any preliminary findings or commented on what might have caused the roof to fall.

Relatives waited at the nation's forensics institute as it worked to identify victims, while others went from hospital to hospital looking for their loved ones, some clutching photographs.

Many of those injured were in critical or serious condition with broken bones.