Timberland

- Shelden Williams has appropriate footwear in his locker. Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, Sean Dockery and Williams were situated side-by-side-by-side in the Blue Devils' locker room today. On Nelson's shelf was a book of CDs and a t-shirt; on Dockery's was a pair of Nikes and an iPod; and on Williams' there was just one item: a pair of giant, s----kicking, tan Timberland boots. Would the Landlord really wear anything else? (The 10 TV cameras surrounding Williams blocked our photo angle of the Timbos, but we did get this shot of the Dukies later on -- when Shelden, unfortunately, opted for the team's standard-issue kicks. Fans, it seems, will show up even to watch the Blue Devils stretch.)

Luke Winn/SI

Luke Winn/SI

Luke Winn/SI

Luke Winn/SI

Good luck getting a ticket to see Gonzaga-UCLA at the Arena in Oakland. Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

For those of you not fortunate enough to have press credentials for the dance, the Tourney Blog presents its Ticket Market Report. I looked at the demand for ducats -- which have a $65 face value -- at each of the four regional sites, scouring the 'Net to take stock of seat prices from three different sources (none of which is the scalper in Jacksonville who, stuck holding a handful of unsold tix last Thursday afternoon, dropped an expletive on yours truly when he inquired, nicely, how the day was going).

What did I find? That venue size dictates the price far more than the teams involved. Here, the sites are ranked from from most to least expensive, based on tickets for Thursday and Friday sessions only:

1. Washington D.C. (UConn, Washington, George Mason, Wichita State)
Verizon Center, capacity 20,173

Fan Factors: One local Cinderella (the Patriots, from Fairfax, Va.), another surprise story (Wichita State) and a No. 1 seed from the East Coast (UConn). Plus, an expensive city with the second-smallest arena of the four sites.

Market Index: Fiery. eBay's ducats were fetching high prices on Tuesday night -- a pair of 400-level seats went for a whopping $280, another went for $326 and a book of two sixth-row seats for Friday and Sunday sold for $2,000. Stubhub.com had four suite passes for $1,000 each, 400-level seats for $175 apiece and lower-level tickets for $325 and up. The cheapest ticket on 1800bestseats.com was $375. (On a side note, doesn't it seem as if Verizon -- which acquired MCI and changed the arena's name on March 5 -- is on a quest to control every venue in the nation? A band could do an entire tour in 2006 and play only in Verizons.)

2. Oakland (Memphis, Bradley, UCLA, Gonzaga)
The Arena in Oakland, capacity 19,200.

Fan Factors: A SoCal squad with a big alumni base in the Bay Area (UCLA) squaring off against "America's Team" (Gonzaga, also from the West Coast), and the only regional setting with less than 20,000 seats.

Market Index: Sweaty. Upper-deck seats were even going for at least $100 apiece on eBay, and elsewhere they're being offered for much more. On 1800bestseats.com, $345 will score you a lower-level ticket, and the cheapest seat available is $175. Stubhub.com has $229 tix in the upper deck and $359 in the lower.

3. Atlanta (Duke, LSU, Texas, West Virginia)
The Georgia Dome, capacity 40,000

Fan Factors: Two teams (Duke and LSU) with sizable alumni bases in the A-T-L, but a massive (football-first) venue twice the size of Oakland or D.C.

Market Index: Lukewarm. Tuesday night on eBay, two tickets in the lower level went for $188 total, and two upper-deck seats went for $100. On 1800bestseats.com, it costs $130 to get into the lower level, and $95 to get into the upper; whereas on stubhub.com, good lower-level seats were selling for $177.

4. Minneapolis (Villanova, Boston College, Florida, Georgetown)
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, capacity 50,000

Fan Factors: The basketball will be sick -- especially a 'Nova-Florida final, if it happens -- but all four of the squads are from the East Coast, it's snowy in the Midwest, and the Metrodome is enormous.

Market Index: Chilly. A set of two tickets in the upper deck for all sessions -- both Friday and Sunday's games -- went for just $50 on Tuesday night on eBay. Another set went for $78. They aren't great seats, but that is cheap. On Stubhub.com, you can get in the 'dome for $67, and get in the lower bowl for $81. At 1800bestseats.com, lowers are $85 and uppers are just $35. Twin Cities hoops fans: At those prices, who cares if you don't have a team to root for?

Ace Cowboy

- One, last NCAA tournament note while we're on the topic of tickets: On Monday night, star blogger Ace Cowboy had eighth-row seats for the Allman Brothers show at NYC's Beacon Theater -- and he sent us the camera-phone photo at right. The guy holding up his hands, Ace reports, is none other than ex-UCLA great Bill Walton, thoroughly enjoying Derek Trucks and the boys. From a slightly different angle, we would have seen this expression on Walton's face.