OK, I am bit bemused by some of these posts being made with virtually ZERO data to support their theories.
Let's get the facts straight on why the NCAA is doing this.
#1. The 1st Two Rounds on Campus sites of the Top 16 seeds have been shown to have very good attendance. The average was 6,778 for 32 sessions. Keep in mind many schools, like UConn were on Spring Break so some of the numbers were down (Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas and Stanford were the bottom 4).
#2. The Regionals have always been problematic for WCBB. UConn has been put in the East Region for all 8 years of the data I have reviewed (2013-2019; 2022). The average attendance for their 16 sessions is 8,903. Hosted by Bridgeport-4, Albany-3, Lincoln. The other regions are:
.....West 6,433 (Spokane-4/Portland/SiouxFalls/Stockton/PaloAlto)
...South 6,518 (Greensboro-3/Kansas City/Ok City/Dallas/Louisville/Norfolk)
.Mid-W 6,005 (Wichita/Chicago/Lexington-3,Ok City-2/South Bend)
#3. The 2021 Championship was held completely in San Antonio and the NCAA liked the larger gathering for synergies and view the opportunities to boost the attendance as paramount. They think by hosting bi-coastal, that will work.
How logical is it, that is the real question, especially when it has been proven UCONN has outdrawn all the other regions yet the Northeast is only getting Albany in 2024 while the Northwest gets 3-Spokane, Seattle, Portland.
While
@dabears17 is right that in 2019, Portland averaged 11,450 with Oregon, that is the exception rather than the rule. Stockton, CA was abysmal with an average of 3,800 in 2017. Spokane has hosted 4 times since 2013 and averaged 6,365 fans per session.
To recap, UConn even in Lincoln, NE averaged 8,377 fans (BYU/TexA&M/DePaul) so UCONN travels well or has such a broad following, fans turnout.
Again, to me, put the West Coast in Vegas, plenty of rooms, lots of stuff to do, plenty of flights.
The fact is the First 4 rounds in WCBB really only average 6,500 fans per session. How does the NCAA grown that? There is NO CONSPIRACY against UCONN.