2010 NCAA Final Four Thread

[NEW.ERA]

Good thing is, Butler will be returning most of it's squad from this season.

Hopefully there will be a Nationally Televised game at Hinkle Fieldhouse next season.

Perfect College Basketball environment.

[FiddySicks]

Zzzzz, And of course Duke wins. That was about as likely as the sun rising. I KNEW that even with the other top seeds bowing out that one would still find a way to win the tournament. In reality, there are only a handful of teams that will ever win it. Four teams that ALWAYS win and one random team that has the huge star that's ready to bolt to the NBA at the first possible moment. I doubt that it will ever be any different. Thank God that's finally over and everyone will go back to not caring about college hoops till next March.

[infrared41]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5054479

And we had all this, talk about ratings, and yet it didn't really mean anything. We don't need UCLA, Kentcuky, UNC, or Florida to put up great ratings numbers.

Still means nothing to me though.

ahahahahahahaha!

Well I guess we're no longer in danger of the final four not being televised next year.

While I do not really care, I am telling you and others within the CCSLC that ratings count much more than all of us "posting" about our sport likes/dislikes. Ratings are more important than what "we" all talk about.

Care to fill us in on how those ratings work again?

[dfwabel]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5054479

And we had all this, talk about ratings, and yet it didn't really mean anything. We don't need UCLA, Kentcuky, UNC, or Florida to put up great ratings numbers.

Still means nothing to me though.

ahahahahahahaha!

Well I guess we're no longer in danger of the final four not being televised next year.

While I do not really care, I am telling you and others within the CCSLC that ratings count much more than all of us "posting" about our sport likes/dislikes. Ratings are more important than what "we" all talk about.

Care to fill us in on how those ratings work again?

highest in five years since it fell on Easter weekend and I'll go ahead and blame the economy since it was blamed for the lack of sellouts on the first weekend.

[Cujo]

Congrats to Duke and Coack K on another title. Job well done.

And now onto Butler....

First off, you have to factor in that Butler has a fraction of the talent possessed by Duke's roster.... Butler's top two threats, Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward were virtual no-shows tonight.... And yet, the Bulldogs were within TWO POINTS of stunning the nation and walking away as 2010 NCAA National Champions. To me, this is absolutely mind-blowing! Had Butler pulled off the win tonight, I would definitely have considered them worthy champions -- Not some fly-buy-night fluke like other condending mid-majors who came close in previous years (Geroge Mason, Davidson, etc).

When looking back at the 2010 Tourney, this isn't just "The year Duke won #4", but rather "The year Butler came THIS close!".

[knnhrvy16]

Congrats to Duke and Coack K on another title. Job well done.

And now onto Butler....

First off, you have to factor in that Butler has a fraction of the talent possessed by Duke's roster.... Butler's top two threats, Matt Howard and Gordon Heyward were virtual no-shows tonight.... And yet, the Bulldogs were within TWO POINTS of stunning the nation and walking away as 2010 NCAA National Champions. To me, this is absolutely mind-blowing! Had Butler pulled off the win tonight, I would definitely have considered them worthy champions -- Not some fly-buy-night fluke like other condending mid-majors who came close in previous years (Geroge Mason, Davidson, etc).

When looking back at the 2010 Tourney, this isn't just "The year Duke won #4", but rather "The year Butler came THIS close!".

Exactly! Well said. To me, I think 15-20 years from now, no one is going to care that Duke won it all this year. They'll be the mere trivia answer to the question "Which team did underdog Butler nearly defeat in the 2010 National Title game?"

Now, in no way am I down playing Duke's great season. I'm merely trying to state the importance of the run Butler had. This is something that hardly ever happens and may not happen for decades. People cling to underdogs, and when a Hoosier story comes along, people love it. For a short few days, those big boys don't matter. Enjoy what Butler has done while you can, because we may not see the likes of this again for a very long time. Duke had better give the Bulldogs all the respect in the universe, they're lucky to be out of there alive. Two points separated the one of the biggest of the big boys from the littlest of the little guys. Two points. That deserves ALOT of respect.

[HedleyLamarr]

Am I the only one that was expecting that buzzer shot to go in, considering how this tournament went?

Congrats to Duke....or what my friend referred to them as: "Hootie and the Blowfish".

[crashcarson15]

Why do they have these poor angles for the Final four in football stadiums. Next year its gonna be just as bad in Houston

Camera angles or seating angles? There wasn't a bad seat in the house.

So close, Gordon Hayward. Oh, so close.

Hey look! You can actually spell his name right!

Good thing is, Butler will be returning most of it's squad from this season.

Hopefully there will be a Nationally Televised game at Hinkle Fieldhouse next season.

Perfect College Basketball environment.

Usually almost always is for the BracketBusters when they're home or for a team a la Ohio State.

For what it's worth, Hayward hit a buzzer beater to win the Indiana State Basketball Championship while playing at Brownsburg 2 years ago.

[Jimmy!]

Those complaining that smaller schools wouldn't generate as much revenue at a Final Four are probably the same people going nuts over the the "highest ratings in five years" largely due to a smaller school making the Final Four.

Would we be as interested if it was a Duke/Kentucky/Syracuse/Kansas Final Four?

[knnhrvy16]

Those complaining that smaller schools wouldn't generate as much revenue at a Final Four are probably the same people going nuts over the the "highest ratings in five years" largely due to a smaller school making the Final Four.

Would we be as interested if it was a Duke/Kentucky/Syracuse/Kansas Final Four?

I wasn't part of the ratings argument because numbers aren't my thing lol, but personally I'd be turned off if the final four featured those teams. I find no exitement whatsoever in an all powerhouse final four. There's no possibility of an upset, and it's the same four teams everyone talks about all year. So, I wouldn't watch it. When teams are talked up all year long, I get tired of 'em, so I never want to watch 'em. That's what happened with me and the Lakers-Celtics finals not too long ago. I hate the Lakers to begin with and all the talk was about that year was the Boston big trio. Then when the finals were set, sportscenter was dominated by the "rivalry", and literally nothing else. It got really annoying so I didn't watch a single game of the finals, and am still glad I chose to do so. My point is, a final four set with all the one seeds or traditional news hoarders is much less exciting to me than one with one or two underdogs.

[dfwabel]

Those complaining that smaller schools wouldn't generate as much revenue at a Final Four are probably the same people going nuts over the the "highest ratings in five years" largely due to a smaller school making the Final Four.

Would we be as interested if it was a Duke/Kentucky/Syracuse/Kansas Final Four?

While the all one seed Final Four with those teams would have had rematches of not only the 92 regional final but also a rematch of the 03 final game. You would have heard a week of hype for such matchups. Nobody gets tired of Colts v Pats, Yankees v Red Sox (overall) and the like.

This tournament and the outcome will be known for Butler and how the tournament will expand which will allow more non Power 6 teams in the field.

[infrared41]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5054479

And we had all this, talk about ratings, and yet it didn't really mean anything. We don't need UCLA, Kentcuky, UNC, or Florida to put up great ratings numbers.

Still means nothing to me though.

ahahahahahahaha!

Well I guess we're no longer in danger of the final four not being televised next year.

While I do not really care, I am telling you and others within the CCSLC that ratings count much more than all of us "posting" about our sport likes/dislikes. Ratings are more important than what "we" all talk about.

Care to fill us in on how those ratings work again?

highest in five years since it fell on Easter weekend and I'll go ahead and blame the economy since it was blamed for the lack of sellouts on the first weekend.

That's one way of looking at it I guess. Another would be that you were wrong.

I do like your use of "blame" as if the good ratings were a bad thing.

Also, I've been to the first weekend of The NCAA Tournament on two different occasions and I've never seen a sellout.

[TFoA]

Kinda weird that even in an extremely down year, the ACC still produced a national champion in basketball. Of course, there had to be all sorts of chaos happen in the tournament for that to occur, but it still happened.

[Gary]

Question now is will Brad Stevens stay at Butler and make them an established foundation, or will he take the millions of a more lucrative school like Oregon

[infrared41]

Question now is will Brad Stevens stay at Butler and make them an established foundation, or will he take the millions of a more lucrative school like Oregon

You're kidding right? I'm surprised he hasn't already set up the press conference. I know it sounds cynical but it's just the reality of college coaching. You build a Butler to get a gig at Oregon. You build Oregon to get a gig at a more prestigious basketball school...and so on.

[Gary]

Question now is will Brad Stevens stay at Butler and make them an established foundation, or will he take the millions of a more lucrative school like Oregon

You're kidding right? I'm surprised he hasn't already set up the press conference. I know it sounds cynical but it's just the reality of college coaching. You build a Butler to get a gig at Oregon. You build Oregon to get a gig at a more prestigious basketball school...and so on.

Very true, I would want him to stay, but the fact he's so young and has a gift of coaching, i'm sure there are schools firing their coach right now just to have him coaching their school

Also found this

Butler intent on keeping Stevens

[Sport]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5054479

And we had all this, talk about ratings, and yet it didn't really mean anything. We don't need UCLA, Kentcuky, UNC, or Florida to put up great ratings numbers.

Still means nothing to me though.

ahahahahahahaha!

Well I guess we're no longer in danger of the final four not being televised next year.

While I do not really care, I am telling you and others within the CCSLC that ratings count much more than all of us "posting" about our sport likes/dislikes. Ratings are more important than what "we" all talk about.

Care to fill us in on how those ratings work again?

highest in five years since it fell on Easter weekend and I'll go ahead and blame the economy since it was blamed for the lack of sellouts on the first weekend.

That's one way of looking at it I guess. Another would be that you were wrong.

I do like your use of "blame" as if the good ratings were a bad thing.

Also, I've been to the first weekend of The NCAA Tournament on two different occasions and I've never seen a sellout.

I'm surprised that "ratings guru" dfwabel wasn't able to predict a strong showing due to easter weekend. Even though he was absolutely dead wrong, I'm just glad that the final four will be on TV again next year. Thank the lord we avoided that bullet.

I'd like to hear more about how Butler affected the businesses in downtown Indianapolis since he also cared about the Indianapolis Hotel and restaurant industries for some reason.

[infrared41]

I'd like to hear more about how Butler affected the businesses in downtown Indianapolis since he also cared about the Indianapolis Hotel and restaurant industries for some reason.

Yeah me too. Especially since there were three other teams in town. Oh, and it's entirely possible that Butler fans went to the bars around the stadium just to "be there" in case they won it all. Call me crazy but I'm betting that there weren't a lot of people piling into the car and driving from North Carolina to Indianapolis just to watch the game at a bar close to the stadium.

[dfwabel]

Early overnights indicate that DTWS still beat the game while head to head. Believe me, "sports socialism" brings lower ratings. Since Duke has been successful in the last two decades, even the casual fan knows about Duke (and probably hates them, but that is another story). There was a built in story and connection with "Hoosiers", and it became a runaway train.

I never indicated that it would never be televised next season in post #434, just the reality that all games could move to cable, like the BCS will starting this season. The NCAA can opt out of this deal now. The ratings from the 80's are irrelevant in today's terms as there were less cable choices, but take a look at this Ratings from last 10 years

In terms of Butler impacting business, the fact is that the local money just goes from one industry to another with a local team in an event like this. As opposed the last time the event was there, the city gained more revenue simply due to the larger capacity at Lucas Oil Stadium. With cities across the US in serious financial peril, the additional lodging tax revenue does many thing, including lessening budget cuts to fire/safety. Where they did well was to give national exposure to the university and the city.

Basketball wise, this was the weakest of Duke's championship teams, and middle of the pack for all of Coach K's teams in the Final Four.

[dfwabel]

I'd like to hear more about how Butler affected the businesses in downtown Indianapolis since he also cared about the Indianapolis Hotel and restaurant industries for some reason.

Yeah me too. Especially since there were three other teams in town. Oh, and it's entirely possible that Butler fans went to the bars around the stadium just to "be there" in case they won it all. Call me crazy but I'm betting that there weren't a lot of people piling into the car and driving from North Carolina to Indianapolis just to watch the game at a bar close to the stadium.

But those who drive from out of state stay nights in hotels and not attempt to drive back home after time in a bar. Granted, some downtown hotels were sold out, but they were also requiring three or four stay minimums.

Hometown Teams May Produce Less Than Expected Economic Gains

"The whole key to economic impact is getting people to stay overnight. Once that goes away, then you lose that hotel stay, you lose that dinner and breakfast exposure," said Daniel Rascher, president of California-based SportsEconomics, which has studied the economic impact of four Final Four tournaments.