Is it just me or is it absolute BS that Memphis gets to play this tournament at home?

[Husky]

Kind of ridiculous, no?

 

[metsfan2323]

I'm sure it was selected to maximize ticket sales and for this year there is no better place because it is close to Louisville, SMU and Cincy, plus it's a good city to visit.

I doubt it will ever be in CT, we offer nothing for winter tourism and we are too far away for most schools to travel too. Philly will probably be the closest we ever get to the tournament.

 

[huskiesnyc]

The conference tournament should be in Storrs but I'd settle for Hartford.

 

[BlueMAB]

We didn't just find this out last night. If fans from other programs travel it won't be like a true road game. And if we take them out Thursday, which we are capable of doing, it won't matter at all.
Our women's team has been playing virtual home games in the tournament for years, and that includes the NCAAs.

 

[UofMemphis]

Life isn't fair...

FedExForum has hosted CUSA tournaments in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12...and will now host the 2013-14 AAC tourney.

I'm ready for it to be somewhere else, too...Cincy would be great...men at US Bank Arena, women at 5/3 Arena...hold them the same weekend to maximize attendance.

Tulsa has a good set-up...the BOK Center is a GREAT arena for the men's tourney...Reynolds Center would be fine for the women's tourney.

 

[mauconnfan]

We didn't just find this out last night. If fans from other programs travel it won't be like a true road game. And if we take them out Thursday, which we are capable of doing, it won't matter at all.
Our women's team has been playing virtual home games in the tournament for years, and that includes the NCAAs.

of course they have because their 2,000 fans is twice as much as the other 15 teams total in the league travel to their tourneys…….

 

[mauconnfan]

Life isn't fair...

FedExForum has hosted CUSA tournaments in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12...and will now host the 2013-14 AAC tourney.

I'm ready for it to be somewhere else, too...Cincy would be great...men at US Bank Arena, women at 5/3 Arena...hold them the same weekend to maximize attendance.

Tulsa has a good set-up...the BOK Center is a GREAT arena for the men's tourney...Reynolds Center would be fine for the women's tourney.

Screw Cincy too, how about at a venue for a team which actually won something like a National Championship in the last 15 years? …..or 3

Hartford would be fun with all of you guys from all over the country coming in to party for a week………let's do it

 

[UofMemphis]

Hartford could work...men at the XL Center...women at the Casino arena.

 

[UConnDad]

Hartford is no NY. But it's our only close option. Day trips for us. For out of staters could get boring when your team is not playing. Let's face it the tourney will never be like it was regardless of conference..

 

[UofMemphis]

With the team SMU will have next season (and fan support), Dallas could be a viable option...American Airlines Center for the men, Moody Coliseum for the women.

 

[Fishy]

It was done because the conference could not afford to have an empty arena in some third-party city.

Honestly, the only place this thing will sell is Memphis, so I don't have a problem with it.

 

[upstater]

Do it in NYC

 

[UConnDad]

The only comp in the league the women have is Louisville and they are leaving. Can't envision their tourney leaving Connecticut.

 

[UConnDad]

It was done because the conference could not afford to have an empty arena in some third-party city.

Honestly, the only place this thing will sell is Memphis, so I don't have a problem with it.

I agree this is a good choice for the conference. But I still don't like it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If UConn is in this thing for the near future, I could handle a rotation of Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans and Orlando. No city is an easy drive for a majority of the conference so airline availability, facilities and entertainment are it.

 

[BlueMAB]

of course they have because their 2,000 fans is twice as much as the other 15 teams total in the league travel to their tourneys…….

I wasn't complaining, only pointing out that we can't complain. We get the same benefit.

 

[UofMemphis]

Do it in NYC

If we do, might as well hold it at St Johns arena...very few AAC fans could get up there.

Tulane, UCF, USF just don't have the fan base to host.

Memphis, Cincy, Hartford, Dallas, maybe Tulsa, maybe Philly...those are the only viable options.

But it will come done to who offers the biggest $$$ guarantee to the conference...as it should...gotta pay to play.

 

[Inyatkin]

Memphis is a seven-hour drive from either Dallas or Cincinnati, so that's a weird definition of "close."

 

[BlueMAB]

If we do, might as well hold it at St Johns arena...very few AAC fans could get up there.

Tulane, UCF, USF just don't have the fan base to host.

Memphis, Cincy, Hartford, Dallas, maybe Tulsa, maybe Philly...those are the only viable options.

But it will come done to who offers the biggest $ guarantee to the conference...as it should...gotta pay to play.

Any suggestions for fans traveling in for the game?
Where to eat/drink before/after the games, where to avoid?

 

[UConn17]

I wouldn't mind it at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly

 

[TRest]

The fewer reminders that Tulsa is joining this conference the better, thanks. Hartford would be looked at as too far an outlier to host the men's tournament, but Tulsa would be viable?

 

[TRest]

Any suggestions for fans traveling in for the game?
Where to eat/drink before/after the games, where to avoid?

There was a pretty good thread last week or so he contributed to.

 

[UofMemphis]

Memphis is a seven-hour drive from either Dallas or Cincinnati, so that's a weird definition of "close."

7 hours is an easy drive to me...I do Memphis to New Orleans fairly often, that's about the same.

 

[BlueMAB]

There was a pretty good thread last week or so he contributed to.

I missed it, I'll go look for it. Thanks.

 

[TRest]

7 hours is an easy drive to me...I do Memphis to New Orleans fairly often, that's about the same.

In CT, living 3 towns away from someone is considered a foreign land. You can drive to Montreal in 6 hours. It's a different mindset.