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Snow won't stop NCAA March Madness Tournament

Posted at 6:39 PM, Mar 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-14 18:39:38-04

The March Madness NCAA Tournament is back in Buffalo. It's been three years since the tournament was last here. Starting Thursday, the KeyBank Center will be packed with screaming basketball fans, cheering on their team.

On Tuesday, Buffalo and Erie County leaders along with NCAA and MAAC Officials reassured people that the snow will not stop the show. Many were worried because of all the canceled flights in and out of Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. NFTA Officials are hoping those flights will resume sometime Wednesday. They say right now charter flights are the only flights arriving and departing the airport. Five of the eight teams who will meet on the court arrived Monday, ahead of the storm.

Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown said police, taxi companies, the NFTA and road crews are working around the clock to make sure March Madness fans get to and from the event safety.

"We have crews out throughout the entire City of Buffalo making sure that our streets are open and passable," said Mayor Brown.

Local leaders say Buffalo's reaction to this snow event could determine if the NCAA comes back for future tournaments.

"I know as the city of good neighbors, when they leave here, they are going to leave here, and say yeah, there may have been some snow on the ground. But they handled it better than any other place in the country," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

Mayor Brown is confident that this will be the best tournament in Buffalo.

"This will be a slam dunk," Mayor Brown said.

The tournament starts on Thursday and wraps up on Saturday.