Behind The ScenesNCAAB

Four regionals in four days: Join ESPN.com’s Eamonn Brennan on his NCAA tournament #MyMadness tour

Eamonn Brennan's travel schedule (Created by Kristie Chong-Adler)
Eamonn Brennan’s travel schedule (Graphic by Kristie Chong-Adler)

ESPN.com college basketball writer Eamonn Brennan will give new meaning to the term “Final Four” over the next four days.

Brennan is hitting the road for a four-NCAA- regional-sites-in-four-days, whirlwind tour to cover the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

Kicking off at 11 a.m. ET today — and continuing through Sunday — fans will be able to interact cross-platform with Brennan by using the hashtag #MyMadness.

Fans can tweet questions and requests while also sharing their own comments and photos. Daily content will include video, photos, chats, polls and postcards from each day with notes on favorite moments, sites, people and more in this ambitious, interactive – and exhausting – experience.

“I’m guessing I probably won’t sleep all that much,” said Brennan, who joined ESPN in 2009. “But I’d like to think the last two months or so of coverage have prepared me pretty well to operate without sleep. . . fingers crossed!”

His tour will conclude with a complete wrap-up story for ESPN.com on Monday and a segment on SportsCenter summarizing his experiences. Front Row spoke to Brennan as he prepared for his march around March Madness:

You’re scheduled to cover six games in four days in Los Angeles, Arlington, Washington D.C. and Indianapolis. How do you plan to split your day between work, sleep and travel?
Some of my flights are early enough that it will probably make more sense to not go to bed the previous night, and just work instead. Some of them are lengthy enough that I should be able to work in some sleep while on the plane. As for the rest of it, we’ll see. We’re going into this with no real set itinerary save the flights and the games. It’s going to be an adventure.

You’ll be reporting through various multimedia while on the road. What sort of equipment are you planning to bring with you?
Nothing too out of the ordinary — my MacBook Air, my phone and a couple of different cameras. Having a tiny computer/camera in your pocket sort of eliminates the need to carry too much gear. The only thing new for me is a tall camera tripod, which, as I packed, discovered won’t fit in any of my luggage. So if you see a guy in an airport awkwardly juggling a tripod, come say “Hi.”

What are the major storylines you’re keeping an eye on?
I think the even somewhat plausible chance the Big Ten could put four teams in the Final Four is interesting, or at least kind of funny, because people get way too worked up arguing about which conference is the best every year. I, like every other sentient being, am absolutely enamored with Florida Gulf Coast University, not only because they’re an unlikely Cinderella, but because in a year full of really ugly basketball, they’re doing it in the most entertaining way possible. And I like La Salle’s chances a lot against Wichita State.

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