21-03-2025
People flock to Buffalo Wild Wings for early March Madness games
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Thursday, for some, marks one of the biggest days in the sports calendar year: March Madness, a time where brackets are filled out, and eyes are glued to the TV.
At Buffalo Wild Wings in East Peoria, more than a dozen people were at the restaurant as soon as it opened to watch college hoops.
For Eric Hoffman and Dan Kazlauski, March Madness is a tradition.
'We're just excited for the whole tournament,' they said. 'We've been doing this for over 20 years and we watch every game. Thursday and Friday we go out to the different bars and watch the games all day and then the next day, turn around, do the same thing.'
Hoffman and Kazlauski don't fill out a traditional bracket, however. Every year, they each fill out one side of the bracket and bet against each other to see who's picks were better.
For Steve Willis, he goes out and watches the first two games with his friends every year as well, and he has an idea of who he thinks will win the tournament.
'This is something annually we do, take this day off from work and have a good time,' Willis said. 'I'm an Illinois fan, I got Illinois winning two games, I like Florida to win the whole thing.'
A common pick from people at the restaurant was High Point University to get an upset win against Purdue. High Point lost against Purdue 63-75.
For all things March Madness on CBS, click here.
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