Champions Classic | Page 2 | The Boneyard
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Champions Classic

superjohn said:
I haven't heard any hype for this. This event loses juice every year now. The only school that's even a recent champion is Kansas and they are on the downside since then and Self looks like he won't be coaching much longer. Michigan State never should've been a participant.

This was a big event when it started, the UConn Arizona game the next night is a much bigger game.
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They should rotate the participants-
Same crew different year. I know the teams are locked in but hard to get into it when like you said not sure how relevant Kentucky or Michigan State has been recently.
 
Trudy Gay said:
The event is fine. The Duke Kansas game is great. Top 25 teams going at it, what more do you want?? We don’t need to whine just because UConn isn’t in it.
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Duke and Kansas are fine. I think the four should be Duke, Kansas, Florida, UConn. Keeps four different conferences and omits the one that never wins titles (B1G) and replaces the SEC program with one with more recent championship success. North Carolina has a legit argument to replace Duke as well. Both have 3 titles this century, like Florida. UK has one. Kansas has two. But clearly you can't take two from any one conference.
 
Inyatkin said:
Kentucky fans convinced themselves because they got a big turnout for his introduction that they weren't settling for an alum who had no business in this kind of job
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i just love that the MSU team we beat pre-season just stomped the ever loving out of kentucky.

I mean i love anytime someone stomps the out of kentucky, but that made it just a tad sweeter.
 
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Kentucky fans take over the town for neutral site games, from East Coast to Maui, even when they're not having a good season.

Kids to great grandparents rollin' in with oxygen tanks & such, it's like a retirement party on steroids ... to suggest cutting likely the biggest producer would not be wise ... Duke is the biggest brand draw, Kentucky fans show up in droves.
 
Trudy Gay said:
The event is fine. The Duke Kansas game is great. Top 25 teams going at it, what more do you want?? We don’t need to whine just because UConn isn’t in it.
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Because ESPN and the media make it out to be a bigger tournament than it is. Literally propping up the "champions" of the recent era (yet, KY and MSU total 2 championships in the last 2.5 decades).

Get rid of the label or stop blowing the schools for narratives to sell (which influences younger high school prospects)
 
I think it would be a fun tournament if they were ever able to organize a true Champions tournament with the 15 schools that have won multiple National Championships. But the selection that they were able to organize is kind of a joke as far as I am concerned. Kentucky, Kansas & Duke are understandable but Michigan State? No UCLA? No UNC? No Indiana? No UCONN? Why didn't they invite San Francisco or Oklahoma State?
 
Flipside said:
Kentucky fans take over the town for neutral site games, from East Coast to Maui, even when they're not having a good season.

Kids to great grandparents rollin' in with oxygen tanks & such, it's like a retirement party on steroids ... to suggest cutting likely the biggest producer would not be wise ... Duke is the biggest brand draw, Kentucky fans show up in droves.
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Idk why you’re so fixated on ticket sales. Do you work for StubHub or something? everyone is talking about the most deserving programs from a bball standpoint
 
bendm said:
Idk why you’re so fixated on ticket sales. Do you work for StubHub or something? everyone is talking about the most deserving programs from a bball standpoint
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Flipside said:
BTW, I've contacted the organizers several times, and suggested they just change the name to "The Classic" until they swap someone for UConn, ha
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I'm self employed and consult to global product management and financial advisory firms, and do event promotion (look up Big Night DC, National Harbor, New Years Eve - look for the Flipside logo on the Sponsor tab) ... but I do buy tickets most often on StubHub.

Ticket Sales = Stimulation of a local economy = Most Deserving (regardless of the event name) = Booked

I don't usually focus on what 'everyone' is talking about, rather, I tap in to facts and experience going to, and arguably having a stake in, a lot of these neutral site events, annually.

"This is a Bidness" - Billy Sparks, Purple Rain

 
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This event is fine. The Duke/Kansas game was good last night. Kansas seems to have some trouble hitting shots and looks like they just iso out there on offense. I love that Michigan State stomped Kentucky! If you were going to change anything here I would invite the last four champions. In the case of a blue blood school that just wins constantly like UConn in 23 and 24 just go back an extra year and pick the next program. So for this year the teams would have been Florida, UConn, Kansas and Baylor.
 
CL82 said:
Kentucky fans are still delusional?
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Oh yeah, they are. They're already coming out with their lists for next coach. You can't make this stuff up. This guy got them to a S16 last year, isn't fully healthy now and because they lost to Ville/MSU, they want him out. They don't even consider that if they're pushing a guy like Pope out after 2 years, no one would want to coach there.

www.on3.com

Potential order of new Kentucky head coach - Forums

1. Nate Oats 2. Grant McCasland 3. Chris Beard 4. Will Wade 5. T. J. Otzelberger
www.on3.com www.on3.com
 
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Interesting look at Kentucky focusing on why taking a lot of transfers isn't always the answer.

Kentucky looked like a team of talented players who still didn't know each other's full names.

Does retention mean a lot in 2025 when it comes to having a shot to be really good?

"How about 100 frickin' percent?" Izzo said. "People playing for the front of their jersey. People that care about the place they're at and players they're with. ... Transfer portal recruitment is almost bigger than winning games. Not at Michigan State."

"Their loyalty to me has gotta be my loyalty to them and that still frickin' matters," Izzo said.


Made me think of some of the things Hurley said about retaining the players he wanted to.

www.cbssports.com

Kentucky gets rocked by Michigan State and now Mark Pope has a very expensive problem he must fix ASAP

Amid a bad start with two deflating losses, Mark Pope makes a promise to Kentucky's fan base: "We won't fail this season"
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
HooperScooper said:
Interesting look at Kentucky focusing on why taking a lot of transfers isn't always the answer.

Kentucky looked like a team of talented players who still didn't know each other's full names.

Does retention mean a lot in 2025 when it comes to having a shot to be really good?

"How about 100 frickin' percent?" Izzo said. "People playing for the front of their jersey. People that care about the place they're at and players they're with. ... Transfer portal recruitment is almost bigger than winning games. Not at Michigan State."

"Their loyalty to me has gotta be my loyalty to them and that still frickin' matters," Izzo said.


Made me think of some of the things Hurley said about retaining the players he wanted to.

www.cbssports.com

Kentucky gets rocked by Michigan State and now Mark Pope has a very expensive problem he must fix ASAP

Amid a bad start with two deflating losses, Mark Pope makes a promise to Kentucky's fan base: "We won't fail this season"
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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I think you need some roster continuity to win consistently and win in the tournament. I don't think a full transfer lineup no matter how much talent it has is going to get you to the promised land.
 
80shusky said:
I think you need some roster continuity to win consistently and win in the tournament. I don't think a full transfer lineup no matter how much talent it has is going to get you to the promised land.
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There is truth to that. You do need a good balance of returners and transfers to fill in the holes. It's why this year I didn't pay any attention to the transfer rankings. It doesn't seem to matter much.
 
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HooperScooper said:
There is truth to that. You do need a good balance of returners and transfers to fill in the holes. It's why this year I didn't pay any attention to the transfer rankings. It doesn't seem to matter much.
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Portal recruiting really has to be intentional, and limited. I'd also say that it should be under the idea that the player will be with you for at least two years, ideally. There's been a lot of variability with portal players so far - you see guys like Barnes knocking it out of the park, but then see guys like Self totally whiffing. Building chemistry is an art.
 
HooperScooper said:
Interesting look at Kentucky focusing on why taking a lot of transfers isn't always the answer.

Kentucky looked like a team of talented players who still didn't know each other's full names.

Does retention mean a lot in 2025 when it comes to having a shot to be really good?

"How about 100 frickin' percent?" Izzo said. "People playing for the front of their jersey. People that care about the place they're at and players they're with. ... Transfer portal recruitment is almost bigger than winning games. Not at Michigan State."

"Their loyalty to me has gotta be my loyalty to them and that still frickin' matters," Izzo said.


Made me think of some of the things Hurley said about retaining the players he wanted to.

www.cbssports.com

Kentucky gets rocked by Michigan State and now Mark Pope has a very expensive problem he must fix ASAP

Amid a bad start with two deflating losses, Mark Pope makes a promise to Kentucky's fan base: "We won't fail this season"
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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A lot of this is whatever just had a big win looks like the winning formula. But we all know that bringing in quality transfers is huge. If you're not in the mix on the portal you're getting left behind.
 
Inyatkin said:
A lot of this is whatever just had a big win looks like the winning formula. But we all know that bringing in quality transfers is huge. If you're not in the mix on the portal you're getting left behind.
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Look no further than Florida.

Walter Clayton - 2nd year transfer
Will Richard - 3rd year transfer
Alijah Martin - 1st year transfer

Seems the kicker here is that when you go to the portal, trying to get multi year guys. Plug absolutely glaring gaps with single year availability (like Spencer).
 
80shusky said:
... Florida, UConn, Kansas and Baylor.
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"The previous lows for a title game on CBS were a 9.4 and 17.08 million for Baylor’s rout of Gonzaga two years ago. The past three title games rank among the four least-watched on record.

UConn has played in two of the five least-watched title games overall — its 2004 win over Georgia Tech ranks fifth (17.09M) — making it the only team with multiple games in the bottom five."

www.sportsmediawatch.com

NCAA men's title game hits record-low, still tops hoops charts

One day after the women's tournament finished with a record-high, ratings hit a record-low for the NCAA men's basketball tournament final.
www.sportsmediawatch.com www.sportsmediawatch.com

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