Potential nBE Basketball Tournament Sites

[Jerry1714]

Tampa is a dump, take that off the list. I do not care if it is warm. It is warm in other places that are a 100 times better, for instance ATL, Memphis and Miami.

Baltimore? Thanks but no thanks.

 

[whaler11]

Tampa is a dump, take that off the list. I do not care if it is warm. It is warm in other places that are a 100 times better, for instance ATL, Memphis and Miami.

Baltimore? Thanks but no thanks.

I'd pretty much rather spend a week a Camden Yards than go anywhere else.

 

[upstater]

Tampa is a dump, take that off the list. I do not care if it is warm. It is warm in other places that are a 100 times better, for instance ATL, Memphis and Miami.

Baltimore? Thanks but no thanks.

These are my feelings too. I've seen enough of Baltimore to last a lifetime. Sis-in-law went to Loyola down there, and my 3 visits to see the entire city were pretty grim.

 

[freescooter]

Mohegan Sun made a major bid for the Womens Big East a year or so ago. In fact, I think they actually offered a better deal but a few schools thought holding the tourney in a casino was "icky" and ultimately it ended up back at the XL in a worse economic deal. I've never been to a game there but ear its a pretty decent arena.

 

[huskyjawz]

You honestly think one Uconn fan will travel to NOLA knowing they will have to spend $ to attend NCAA tourney games the following week?

I agree that is a problem. It was nice to be able to go locally for Big East Tourney, and then travel for NCAA. People only have so much time/money for travel, and sucks to have to make that choice.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I would in a heartbeat.

Then you have a lot of free time and lot of expendable income. Having traveled to first round games, then regionals and then final four I can tell you it's very time and money intensive. Only the most diehard and economically advantaged fans would be lucky as you. Most would have to decide on one and I guarantee most aren't going to select conference tourney games against Tulane , smu, Houston, etc., regardless of he host city, unless they are giving out blow jobs with the purchase of a ticket

 

[ddminct]

Mohegan Sun made a major bid for the Womens Big East a year or so ago. In fact, I think they actually offered a better deal but a few schools thought holding the tourney in a casino was "icky" and ultimately it ended up back at the XL in a worse economic deal. I've never been to a game there but ear its a pretty decent arena.

Like they say a broken clock is right twice a day. I think Scooter might be on to something.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Lets face it, the new Big East tournament wont draw unless UConn is winning and it is Hartford, Memphis in Memphis or Cinci in Cincinnati.

I consider myself a big fan that travels but I am not flying to Tampa, NOLA, etc. to see UConn play a garbage team in a meaningless tourney.

Now that being said, in lieu of going to the conference championship, I will definitely go to NCAA have now.

 

[Dann]

i am going to troll the crap out of the tulane board(if they even have 1) a week before our 1st game. memphis fans will be surprised by the level of community college ish ness i can bring to the table besides bad grammar.

 

[Jerry1714]

Then you have a lot of free time and lot of expendable income. Having traveled to first round games, then regionals and then final four I can tell you it's very time and money intensive. Only the most diehard and economically advantaged fans would be lucky as you. Most would have to decide on one and I guarantee most aren't going to select conference tourney games against Tulane , smu, Houston, etc., regardless of he host city, unless they are giving out blow jobs with the purchase of a ticket

NOLA and Memphis (NYC too obviously) would be the only locales I would fly to see the new conference tourney. Going to these places are more because I love those cities then the product on the court.

Would I go to Tampa, Orlando, or Baltimore? Not a chance.

If you put the tourney in Tampa, Orlando or Balt the attendance would be as dreadful as the ACC football championship game.

 

[Glastonhusky]

NOLA and Memphis (NYC too obviously) would be the only locales I would fly to see the new conference tourney. Going to these places are more because I love those cities then the product on the court.

Would I go to Tampa, Orlando, or Baltimore? Not a chance.

If you put the tourney in Tampa, Orlando or Balt the attendance would be as dreadful as the ACC football championship game.

We've got to think about the recruiting angle here. It's got to be NY or Philly, both recruiting hot beds.

 

[whaler11]

I could get behind the Sun. WCC and WMC have done it.

 

[Waquoit]

I could get behind the Sun. WCC and WMC have done it.

Exactly. The casino stigma is long gone. Plus the place only holds 10K so it will look full and create demand.

 

[CL82]

Sick with MSG through the end of the current contract, if it isn't working go higher ranked campus for a few years until we get traction back. Then I have schools bid to host and rotate it around. Best hotel, stadium, and extras wins. Can't go to local twice. Once we have a little history, then I'd be okay with one local if it stands out. The Big East didn't start at MSG. Absent a surprise, we will have to work our way back, after the existing contract ends.

On a related note, I hate being left on the island of misfit toys.

 

[Dann]

Sick with MSG through the end of the current contract, if it isn't working go higher ranked campus for a few years until we get traction back. Then I have schools bid to host and rotate it around. Best hotel, stadium, and extras wins. Can't go to local twice. Once we have a little history, then I'd be okay with one local if it stands out. The Big East didn't start at MSG. Absent a surprise, we will have to work our way back, after the existing contract ends.

On a related note, I hate being left on the island of misfit toys.

those "misfit toys" were way frucking cooler than tulane.

 

[freescooter]

The problem with almost anyplace is that nobody is going to travel. I mean how many people from Houston or Dallas are coming to New York City for the Big East tournament? New York made sense for the "old" big east largely because it was fairly central...you had teams from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Providence, Philly, Washington all of which are an easy (or easyish) trip, and you have multiple means of getting there as well. Amtrak from the Northeast corridor plus various commuter lines from parts of New York and New Jersey and Connecticut. If you went down for a day and your team lost, well, you blew a day, day and a half at most. And that applied to more than half the teams. With this "new" league, that's not the case at all. I'm not sure there is all that much value in holding it in New York right now.

 

[upstater]

The problem with almost anyplace is that nobody is going to travel. I mean how many people from Houston or Dallas are coming to New York City for the Big East tournament? New York made sense for the "old" big east largely because it was fairly central...you had teams from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Providence, Philly, Washington all of which are an easy (or easyish) trip, and you have multiple means of getting there as well. Amtrak from the Northeast corridor plus various commuter lines from parts of New York and New Jersey and Connecticut. If you went down for a day and your team lost, well, you blew a day, day and a half at most. And that applied to more than half the teams. With this "new" league, that's not the case at all. I'm not sure there is all that much value in holding it in New York right now.

Not going to be true for Catholic league either with teams in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia.
Not true of the ACC, and many other big conferences.

 

[UCFBfan]

Why is Baltimore even being mentioned as a possible location by folks here? Outside of Whaler saying he liked Tampa and Baltimore I can't see what school is located even in MD in the NBE? (Navy doesn't count because they will only play FB, if at all).

I still think they should just have the higher seeds host and if they feel ambitious, play the semi-finals and finals at a neutral location. However, I think at first, it's best to just play at home arenas.

If they're dead set on a neutral site I agree that it should rotate between Hartford, Cinci, and Memphis. Maybe Philly too. The unfortunate reality is that we are no longer in a Northeast conference and are actually more of an outlier as more of our conference is in the south. Unfortunately for the NBE, we are the highest profile bball school and would be the most likely to fill the stands. However, I can't see many here travelling farther than Philly for the tourny....even that is a stretch.

 

[John]

New Orleans is the most overrated city in the country.

They would be well served to hold the tourney in Hartford. At least they'd sell some tickets.

NOLA is a "you see it once" type of City. It's nice to visit one time - it's interesting, unique, etc...but it's a shithole, esp. after Katrina.

 

[John]

Temple brought a lot of fans to the Garden for the Syraucse game earlier this year.

If they could get a NYC venue, here's how they could run it:

Day 1:
#10 ECU vs. #7 USF 2,000 fans
#9 Tulane vs. #8 SMU 2,500 fans

Day 2:
NIGHT
#8 SMU vs. #1 UConn 11,500 fans
#7 USF vs. #2 Memphis 8,000 fans

DAY
#6 Houston vs. #3 Cincy 5,500 fans
#5 UCF vs. #4 Temple 7,000 fans

Day 3:
#1 UConn vs. #4 Temple 19,000
#2 Memphis vs. #3 Cincy 16,000

Day 4:
#1 UConn vs. #2 Memphis 19,000

my God, those brackets really put things into perspective don't they, Jimminy Crickets that sucks!

 

[junglehusky]

my God, those brackets really put things into perspective don't they, Jimminy Crickets that sucks!

Yep, this thread is pretty craptacular for my mood.

 

[MattMang23]

My suggestions for new BET cities:

Chattanooga, TN
Akron, OH
Norfolk, VA
Gary, IN
Cedar Rapids, IA
Harrisburg, PA
and Birmingham, AL

A bunch of small, random, crappy cities for a bunch of small-time, randomly assembled, crappy schools (except UConn).