NCAA Basketball Conference Tournamnents

[illwauk]

The Wisconsin Center District (the operators of the US Cellular Arena/MECCA) was overcharging the university for rent to where the athletic department was going into debt instead of turning what would've otherwise been a profit. The fact that they also bumped the first round of the HL tournament last year for friggin' Disney on Ice also left a bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouths, so it's not like the decision to move back to the Klotsche Center came from nothing.... it was just incredibly shortsighted and wound up cutting the season-ticket base in half.

[bucknut40]

The Wisconsin Center District (the operators of the US Cellular Arena/MECCA) was overcharging the university for rent to where the athletic department was going into debt instead of turning what would've otherwise been a profit. The fact that they also bumped the first round of the HL tournament last year for friggin' Disney on Ice also left a bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouths, so it's not like the decision to move back to the Klotsche Center came from nothing.... it was just incredibly shortsighted and wound up cutting the season-ticket base in half.

I always thought they owned that arena, not rented it.

[illwauk]

Hopefully they will in the next year or two, if things go according to plan.

[Seadragon76]

The first finals are tomorrow... can't wait!

[dbadefense1990]

The PAC 12 moved to Vegas this year after several years of mediocre attendance in LA, and obviously no conference schools are in Vegas.

I sort of wish the PAC-12 tourney (and maybe all NCAA basketball conference tourneys) rotated among cities yearly. Maybe rotate it through Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, then repeat. Jazz up the flavor a bit, rather than hold it in one city every season, running the risk of losing luster.

[floydnimrod]

Very scary moment in the A-Sun semfinals, USC-Upstate's Torrey Craig got a rebound and tried to establish position in the paint, and hit his head into the ribs/hip of another defender. As he was on the ground (he got called for traveling), he appeared to lose consciousness. His eyes were closed and his body was heaving, it almost looked as if he was having a seizure.

He was pretty dazed for a few minutes, and was at the scorer's table to check in about 5 minutes later when a timeout was called. He was struggling to get up to go back to the bench, but came back into the game, and seemed fine while on the court.

This is the type of stuff where the trainer needs to step up to the coach, for the health of the player, despite what the player tells him. We see football players all the time who've said they've lied about head injuries to return to a game. We don't need that nonsense creeping in basketball too. There were only a few minutes left, and Craig, the team's best player and a junior who will be returning next year, didn't need to be back out on the court with under 90 seconds to play in an 8 point game.

[BigMac12]

Looks like the Pac-12 tournament Final will be seen on ESPN instead of CBS this year. And the MWC final will be on CBS this year. Okay. Don't know why.

[dfwabel]

Looks like the Pac-12 tournament Final will be seen on ESPN instead of CBS this year. And the MWC final will be on CBS this year. Okay. Don't know why.

The old Pac-10/12 basketball contract was exclusive to FSN (FOX Sports Regional channels) and they sub-licensed (aka sold) championship game to CBS from 2006-2012. The conference is no longer with FSN, rather they have their own network with select games on the ESPN platforms. ESPN sub-licenses select ACC, Big XII and Pac-12 games to CBS just to assist in giving them a college basketball presence outside of their limited Big East, SEC, B1G contracts in addition to their rights to the NCAA Tournament.

The MWC TV contract has been owned by CBS for the last eight years and CBS was sub-licensing the title game to Versus/NBC Sports Network. They are just keeping it now.

FYI, ESPN has sub-licensed the Missouri Valley title game to "over the air" CBS for the next four years and this could the last year the A-10 championship game will be on CBS as that was also sub-licensed under a previous contract which ends this year.

[Seadragon76]

The first two title games are today. Mercer vs. FGCU in the Atlantic Sun and Belmont vs. Murray State in the Ohio Valley.

[HedleyLamarr]

The first two title games are today. Mercer vs. FGCU in the Atlantic Sun and Belmont vs. Murray State in the Ohio Valley.

The state of Georgia's best hope for a school to reach the NCAA Tournament, at that.

So expect Florida-Gulf Coast to win.....

[Seadragon76]

Oh, how right you are Hedley. FGCU earns it's first NCAA Tournament berth in program history... And the school has only been around for 22 years (FGCU was founded in 1991)

[raysfan24]

Oh, how right you are Hedley. FGCU earns it's first NCAA Tournament berth in program history... And the school has only been around for 22 years (FGCU was founded in 1991)

Wow that's great. I've always semi-liked FGCU since the day I discovered them playing College Hoops 2K8. When they played at Ohio State a couple years ago, I went up and watched them. I will defiantly cheer for them in the tournament.

[rams80]

Band of religious zealots wins 4 straight in Conference Tourney, goes to NCAAs with 20 losses (including an 0-8 start to the season).

[thespleenenator]

Band of religious zealots wins 4 straight in Conference Tourney, goes to NCAAs with 20 losses (including an 0-8 start to the season).

There needs to be a stipulation in the conference tourneys that only the top half of the conference gets in. Otherwise this happens.

[illwauk]

Charleston Southern should've prayed a little harder.

Band of religious zealots wins 4 straight in Conference Tourney, goes to NCAAs with 20 losses (including an 0-8 start to the season).

There needs to be a stipulation in the conference tourneys that only the top half of the conference gets in. Otherwise this happens.

They're still not getting in... they'll be stuck in one of the play-in games.

[thespleenenator]

Charleston Southern should've prayed a little harder.

Band of religious zealots wins 4 straight in Conference Tourney, goes to NCAAs with 20 losses (including an 0-8 start to the season).

There needs to be a stipulation in the conference tourneys that only the top half of the conference gets in. Otherwise this happens.

They're still not getting in... they'll be stuck in one of the play-in games.

It doesn't matter. Liberty shouldn't be in the play in game in the first place. Hell, they shouldn't even be sniffing a post season tournament right now.

[rams80]

Band of religious zealots wins 4 straight in Conference Tourney, goes to NCAAs with 20 losses (including an 0-8 start to the season).

There needs to be a stipulation in the conference tourneys that only the top half of the conference gets in. Otherwise this happens.

No, that conflicts with the ideological basis of why the NCAA lets in teams from the small Conferences to begin with.

[illwauk]

I guess it really doesn't bother me since the NCAA bracket is so huge, it's not like they're taking a bid away from a team that actually had a chance to win it. If my team played in the Big South, on the other hand, THEN I'd be pissed.

Also, LOL @ a hardcore evangelical school calling itself the Flames. How hilariously appropriate of them to have a nickname that alludes to gay mannerisms.

[sc49erfan15]

I guess it really doesn't bother me since the NCAA bracket is so huge, it's not like they're taking a bid away from a team that actually had a chance to win it. If my team played in the Big South, on the other hand, THEN I'd be pissed.

Also, LOL @ a hardcore evangelical school calling itself the Flames. How hilariously appropriate of them to have a nickname that alludes to gay mannerisms.

Liberty becomes only the second team to ever make the tourney with 20 losses.

...but that's why they play the games.

Since 1998, the Big South has only sent 4 representatives to the Dance: Radford x2, Liberty x2, UNC-Asheville x3, Winthrop x9.

[floydnimrod]

I guess it really doesn't bother me since the NCAA bracket is so huge, it's not like they're taking a bid away from a team that actually had a chance to win it. If my team played in the Big South, on the other hand, THEN I'd be pissed.

Also, LOL @ a hardcore evangelical school calling itself the Flames. How hilariously appropriate of them to have a nickname that alludes to gay mannerisms.

Liberty becomes only the second team to ever make the tourney with 20 losses.

...but that's why they play the games.

Since 1998, the Big South has only sent 4 representatives to the Dance: Radford x2, Liberty x2, UNC-Asheville x3, Winthrop x9.

VMI had so much potential to send multiple teams to the big dance in the past 6 or 7 years.

I was watching the Big South Championship this afternoon, waiting to see if one of Liberty's GAs would make it on TV, from the bench (he played basketball at NKU, and went to high school in Cincinnati). Then I look on Twitter, and he keeps talking about how he's back in town this weekend, and I'm thinking "Why would a Graduate Assistant leave the team to drive home during the conference tournament?" Turns out he's a GA at Winthrop, and I spent the majority of the game looking for him on the bench.