Creme Bracketology

[Vowelguy]

UConn & Tenn in RI ... Not entirely a surprise, I can definitely see that happening.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

 

[Coler]

Would love to have another shot at Tennessee.

 

[ASweet3781]

It will be intereting to see how they seed the 2 seeds geographically. All the potential 2 seeds- Maryland, Tennessee, Duke, and Kentucky all are in the southeast. How will they determine their nearest geographic region?

 

[rington]

It is starting to get interesting, however there are still a lot of games to be played!

 

[triaddukefan]

It will be intereting to see how they seed the 2 seeds geographically. All the potential 2 seeds- Maryland, Tennessee, Duke, and Kentucky all are in the southeast. How will they determine their nearest geographic region?

The race for Raleigh is what im really concerned with. Going into the season I felt we were a lock for Raleigh, now Im not so sure. MD went to Raleigh over us in 2009... and attendance was atrocious. TN would bring alot of fans... its about a 5 drive from the TN state line. Looks like ND is in the drivers seat to be the #1 in Raleigh. A interesting development is what would happen if ND swept UCONN in the regular season and won again in the Big East Tourney. Would the committee dare send ND to Rhode Island and ship UCONN to Raleigh?

 

[alexrgct]

I suggested this was possible a while ago, and would love to see UConn and Tenn in the same region. The good folks at URI who are hosting would sure love that development...

 

[Vowelguy]

Would the committee dare send ND to Rhode Island and ship UCONN to Raleigh?

Pretty unlikely. ND is slightly closer to Raleigh than it is to RI.

 

[EricLA]

zero wrong with that. i'm sure RU fans would love another crack at Tennessee, but IIRC, Tennessee was playing without Massengale. still, would be a fun sweet 16 matchup for sure!

 

[Coler]

zero wrong with that. i'm sure RU fans would love another crack at Tennessee, but IIRC, Tennessee was playing without Massengale. still, would be a fun sweet 16 matchup for sure!

They were playing without her. However, I would like to see the match-up in March as Rutgers will be much improved as all CVS teams get better as the season wears on.

 

[cardfan]

I would travel and pay to see that game.

 

[Vowelguy]

I would travel and pay to see that game.

URI only holds 7700. Would probably be the hottest ticket in WCBB history.

 

[wire chief]

Charlie seems to be minimizing the DePaul injuries to award them a #4.

 

[pap49cba]

Long article detailing Creme's thinking at this point....

LINK

 

[Ruffian75]

Between Creme and the powers-that-be behind WCB, I don't know which has less of a clue.

If the Vols are sent to URI a lot of money will be lost. URI will sell out its 7700 seat arena with UConn and no other team of note. The Vols travel well so this would be a few thousand sold tickets at another regional venue, be it Raleigh or Des Moines.

Fresno St doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of the sub-regionals even if they make the tourney. But in the case that they get lucky, why would Creme have them in the Des Moines regional?

 

[alexrgct]

Between Creme and the powers-that-be behind WCB, I don't know which has less of a clue.

If the Vols are sent to URI a lot of money will be lost. URI will sell out its 7700 seat arena with UConn and no other team of note. The Vols travel well so this would be a few thousand sold tickets at another regional venue, be it Raleigh or Des Moines.

Fresno St doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of the sub-regionals even if they make the tourney. But in the case that they get lucky, why would Creme have them in the Des Moines regional?

ESPN has a huge interest in this matchup happening and has far more skin in the game financially than Des Moines or Fresno. Additionally, it's an opportunity for WBB to steal headlines, time on sportscenter, etc., and would be worth a great deal to the sport. It would be incredibly myopic for TPTB to send UConn and Tennessee into different regions if they are different seeds.

 

[Vowelguy]

Fresno St doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of the sub-regionals even if they make the tourney. But in the case that they get lucky, why would Creme have them in the Des Moines regional?

Because you can't play in the Regionals on your home floor.

 

[Ruffian75]

Alex...personally I think ESPN would like to see WCB go away. Explain why they put the marquee game of the year up against Sunday Night Football when the game could have easily been played the next Tuesday night and had triple the ratings?

 

[Vowelguy]

ESPN has a huge interest in this matchup happening and has far more skin in the game financially than Des Moines or Fresno. Additionally, it's an opportunity for WBB to steal headlines, time on sportscenter, etc., and would be worth a great deal to the sport. It would be incredibly myopic for TPTB to send UConn and Tennessee into different regions if they are different seeds.

There are advantages both ways.
Ticket sales: More if they're split up, since URI will probably sell out either way.
TV: 2 games with ok ratings if they are separate; or 1 monster game if they're together
Press: more if they're together

 

[Ruffian75]

Because you can't play in the Regionals on your home floor.

Since when? UConn in '04 and Gonzaga last year. I guess you can get technical about these sites being true homecourts.

 

[Vowelguy]

Alex...personally I think ESPN would like to see WCB go away. Explain why they put the marquee game of the year up against Sunday Night Football when the game could have easily been played the next Tuesday night and had triple the ratings?

Triple the ratings? No way.

I'm not sure there's a huge overlap between SNF and WCBB fans.

 

[Vowelguy]

Since when? UConn in '04 and Gonzaga last year. I guess you can get technical about these sites being true homecourts.

Since about 2008. Gonzaga was not on its home court for the Regionals last year.

A couple of years ago, Cal hosted and as a result the team was sent elsewhere (to the East vs UConn, actually).

 

[Ruffian75]

VG...if there is nothing else to watch in a time slot, sports fanatics will find something. It is actually the best opportunity to attract new fans.

 

[Ruffian75]

Since about 2008. Gonzaga was not on its home court for the Regionals last year.

A couple of years ago, Cal hosted and as a result the team was sent elsewhere (to the East vs UConn, actually).

As I said regarding Gonzaga.....a technicality....just like Hartford (U of H)or Bridgeport (Fairfield) is for UConn. None of it makes any sense to me. Tennessee would draw over 30,000 for two regional sessions. As I keep saying, the idiots behind the sport seem to have no desire to even coming close to turning a profit and want to portray the tourney as fair to all, something they never do with sites like Spokane, Fresno, and URI.

 

[Vowelguy]

VG...if there is nothing else to watch in a time slot, sports fanatics will find something. It is actually the best opportunity to attract new fans.

If there were nothing to watch, part of the reason was that the NBA was still off, something not forseeable a year ago when the game was scheduled.

 

[Vowelguy]

As I said regarding Gonzaga.....a technicality....just like Hartford (U of H)or Bridgeport (Fairfield) is for UConn. None of it makes any sense to me. Tennessee would draw over 30,000 for two regional sessions. As I keep saying, the idiots behind the sport seem to have no desire to even coming close to turning a profit and want to portray the tourney as fair to all, something they never do with sites like Spokane, Fresno, and URI.

It's the same rules for the men's tournament. And the reason that the Villanova men were able to play tourney games at the Philly arena.

There is a difference between playing close to home and on your actual home floor, with your lockers, banners, etc.