Greenberg says Bridgeport gets Regional

[Vowelguy]

Mel Greenberg ‏@womhoopsguru
Guru learned Philly out and bridgeport getting regional replacing Trenton for ncaa wbb tnmnt :

 

[connboy77]

That would be great if Bridgeport got the Regional replacing Trenton. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[alexrgct]

Nice! Four tourney games in CT for Uconn!

Wish the Summit was still free just for the laughs. Meltdown in 3, 2, 1...

 

[Phil]

I can hear the grumbling

 

[slug25]

By the time the tournament gets to Bridgeport, the orange zealots will be hoping their team is still playing.

 

[DishNSwish]

It was a logical choice, and hopefully all fans see that. It stays with the MAAC in a site that has already proven more than capable of hosting a regioinal.

 

[alexrgct]

I am very eager to follow this team from the BET in Hartford to the early rounds in Storrs to the regionals in Bridgeport. Everyone in the state will have an opportunity to see what is shaping up to be a special team live and to see them reasonably close to where they may live. Hopefully, folks take advantage.

 

[Kibitzer]

TonyC is preoccupied with his daughter's wedding or you would be reading an exultant post from him.

The very nerve! A family wedding taking priority over UConn basketball!

 

[Vowelguy]

I have to say I think it's an unfortuante that a team can get to the F4 without leaving its home state. I realize there were extenuating circumstances, but I believe it's a bad policy.

 

[EricLA]

I have to say I think it's an unfortuante that a team can get to the F4 without leaving its home state. I realize there were extenuating circumstances, but I believe it's a bad policy.

why? WCBB is not like MCBB. you could have UCONN, MSU, Oregon and USF at a regional in San Diego and it would have great attendance. WCBB is far different. sure in a perfect world, I agree - ALL NCAA games should be played on a neutral court. unless the interest in WCBB increases dramatically, it will never happen...

 

[meyers7]

TonyC is preoccupied with his daughter's wedding or you would be reading an exultant post from him.

The very nerve! A family wedding taking priority over UConn basketball!

Congrats to Tony and his family. If it's this weekend, looks like some great weather for it.

 

[UConnCat]

I have to say I think it's an unfortuante that a team can get to the F4 without leaving its home state. I realize there were extenuating circumstances, but I believe it's a bad policy.

So you're saying UConn traveling ~60 miles to play in Kingston is less unfortunate than UConn traveling ~60 miles to play in Bridgeport just because Kingston is in RI and not CT? Last year ND played 4 of 6 NCAA tourney games, including 2 games in the Final Four, in its home state. Was that unfortunate? To me there's nothing worse than watching a women's NCAA tourney game and seeing a bunch of empty seats. The NCAA is sacrificing perceptions about competitive equity in order to attract more fans. I can not fault the NCAA for that. At the same time I do like Geno's suggestion about fixed sites.

 

[Vowelguy]

I said nothing about neutral sites or traveling 1000s of miles.

I merely believe that a team should not have both a subregional & regional in its home state in the same year. That is an easy rule for the NCAA to institute. Yes, RI wasnt much different, but harder to write a rule that would include it.

And yes, I feel that way about ANY team. They should have to play away from home at some point to make the final four.

 

[Phil]

I think they are trying to avoid that if possible. It isn't like Bridgeport won the bid as part of the original bidding. And while they could have insisted that Bridgeport not be eligible, they had a last minute situation, with the MAAC already working on preparations. It seems quite logical to let another MAAC based venue take over. Had the initial bid been won by someone like Rutgers, with Big East involvement, I would have expected a Philly bid to prevail. The blame is on the greedy state of New Jersey, and the insatiable lust for gambling revenues.

 

[UConnCat]

I said nothing about neutral sites or traveling 1000s of miles.

I merely believe that a team should not have both a subregional & regional in its home state in the same year. That is an easy rule for the NCAA to institute. Yes, RI wasnt much different, but harder to write a rule that would include it.

And yes, I feel that way about ANY team. They should have to play away from home at some point to make the final four.

Such an "easy rule" would prohibit Stanford from hosting at Maples and playing a regional in Fresno. I'm not sure what such an artificial distinction would accomplish. And just because it's easy doesn't mean it makes sense and ought to be done.

 

[EricLA]

Such an "easy rule" would prohibit Stanford from hosting at Maples and playing a regional in Fresno. I'm not sure what such an artificial distinction would accomplish. And just because it's easy doesn't mean it makes sense and ought to be done.

Couldn't agree more. Until WCBB attendance and interest increases dramatically, it will never happen, and it should never happen. Having teams that draw huge like UCONN, Tennessee, Louisville, etc. should not be shipped out of state and play in front of 500 fans when they could play closer in front of 5,000 or more.

 

[alexrgct]

Such an "easy rule" would prohibit Stanford from hosting at Maples and playing a regional in Fresno. I'm not sure what such an artificial distinction would accomplish. And just because it's easy doesn't mean it makes sense and ought to be done.

And Baylor two years ago. Texas is a big state, but Waco-Dallas is a very small part of Texas to traverse.

And then of course there's Gonzaga.

Ideally, I agree that it would most fair for there to be more geographic distribution, but since this isn't an isolated example, I'm all for an extra couple of games in CT.

 

[Phil]

With next seasons' Final Four in Tennessee, it will be interesting to see who complains about favorable locations.

 

[Alydar]

In an interview at the half of the Marist/Vermont game, some guy named Jim (missed the last name but he seemed like a MAAC guy) said that anyone who had tickets to Trenton will get an email and have the first crack at Bridgeport tickets.