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Bears in first ever Big Sky tourny

W

WILDCAT

Active member
I know its not the best thing to look ahead, but I think the Bears are going to make the tourny this year, which is great to see.

I am actually going to go out on a crazy limb here and say UNC will beat both MSU and Montana, and Montana is going to lose at NAU and at home to Weber State.

And after thats all said and done, UNC will enter their first ever Big Sky tourny as the 3rd seed, and host a first round playoff game.
 
So from an outside perspective you see UNC now able to compete in the conference at that level? A long term goal has been to become competive in the conference and it's not easy. 6-6 at this point suggests they are right there if not there already. We certainly aren't getting blow out much if ever (game at Montana maybe) and seem to hang pretty well from week to week.
 
I think we're a couple paces off of joining the Portland States and Weber States of the conference, but if this year is a true indication then we are certainly on the 2nd tier.. and not that far behind the top 2..
 
If UNC were to host the tournament sometime down the road, would they be able to hold it in Butler Hancock? or would it be held somewhere else?
 
WILDCAT said:
If UNC were to host the tournament sometime down the road, would they be able to hold it in Butler Hancock? or would it be held somewhere else?
Click to expand...

It would likely be at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. I assume it would seat close to 6,000 for basketball. It holds about 5,300 for hockey.
 
Cause I know that PSU and Sac have to play it somewhere else, because they are not allowed to host in thier own gym because of their small gyms, I was wondering if it was the same at UNC?
 
Butler-Hancock is the smallest allowed arena in the conference that could host the tourney. The bans are on PSU and Sac's places only. Portland has already made plans for Memorial Coliseum this year, if they win the reg. season title.

This does bring up another line of thought though...Would it be better for the conference to consider naming a specific site each year, esp. given the economy and the fact that schools are getting hit hard by airline tickets, etc., when the tournament sites are finalized?

Having traveled around the region, each state has at least one good mid-size to large arena that would work as a tourney site:
Budweiser Events Center
Billing's METRA
Boise's Qwest Arena
Spokane Arena
Salt Lake City's E-center
Precott's Toyota Center
Rose Garden or Memorial Coliseum
Arco Arena
 
I have no insider information here, but I think naming a specific site is definitely something that could be beneficial -- a la the Big XII, where I come from.

It would probably take something away from the tournament, in terms of the regular-season title meaning a whole lot more than just a trophy, but in today's economy, it makes entirely too much sense. Although, with only the top six teams qualifying for the tournament, teams still wouldn't be buying tickets until they were a shoe-in for the field. It's an interesting point.

And to answer the question, at least this year, the Budweiser Events Center has been on hold for awhile if either of our teams were to host the Final Four.

And on that point, if the men finish No. 3 or No. 4 and host a first-round game March 7, expect a busy day at Butler-Hancock. The NCAA's West regional for wrestling will be in Butler that day as well, so the basketball game would most likely be a late night game (8 p.m. or so at the earliest).
 
I dont think One site would really help, the teams have to travel during the reg season, so it wouldnt make much differnce, and when the conf winner hosts, there is a better chance that the conference's best team makes it to the dance.

See it would be hard, cause in the Big Sky if you dont win the tourny, you wont make the dance, but in a conference like the Mountain West when the conf tourny is held at UNLV, like last year when BYU won the reg season, but UNLV won the tourny, both teams got to the dance, I love the Big Sky, but in the NCAA's eyes this is a very weak conference, so you would have to win the tourny to get to the dance. Thats why the reg season champ hosts the tourny.
 
Well considering everyone below UNC has a losing record I think UNC will finish 8-8 in 4th or 5th place and get the home game.

Last season 4th and 5th were 8-8. The year before 4th was 9-7 and 5th/6th/7th all finished 8-8.

Link to all the standings since 1980:
http://weberhoops.com/standings2000s.htm



As for hosting at UNC, like some of you have said, there likely would be no issues with your school hosting at Butler-Hancock. Its just that PSU and Sac's arenas are so small - 1,200 and 1,500.

The Big Sky likely will never move to a neutral site. Reasons why:

The Big Sky Conference can only get 1 team in the NCAA Tourney. The Big Sky would VERY MUCH so like to send its best team to represent the conference. The best way we can do that is let the best team after the regular season host the tournament. Thereby increasing its chances to get to the Big Dance.

Usually the team that hosts in our conference makes it. Though you can see this decade alone UM has made it 3 times without even hosting. Overall it works itself out the way the Big Sky hopes for.

Another reason which I really don't think is much of a factor because of the above, on a neutral site, say a pro arena in Salt Lake or Denver. The odds of a lot of fans traveling to the tournament isn't too likely even with including the quarterfinals.

We really do have a good system that works, especially the fact that we have our tournament early in the week and can guarantee the championship game on ESPN. This year they are going to show both semifinal games live on the Altitude.

TV in the Big Sky has gotten much better since UNC joined!! Thanks!
 
Interesting history in that link. Haven't really been a Big Sky history buff, didn't know Idaho, Boise State, Cal State Northridge etc. were once in this league..
 
Ya, even Nevada & Gonzaga.

To think Boise St made it to a BCS bowl game and even won it just tens years removed from the Big Sky conference.

Some other good Big Sky history (mostly WSU stats) on this link:
http://www.weberhoops.com/history
 
weberwildcat said:
Ya, even Nevada & Gonzaga.

To think Boise St made it to a BCS bowl game and even won it just tens years removed from the Big Sky conference.
Click to expand...

Ya it shows what a bunch of scared little wusses Montana is for not making the leap. They would rather whine and snivel about the lack of competition in the big sky than go test themselves with the big boys.
 
jjjj said:
weberwildcat said:
Ya, even Nevada & Gonzaga.

To think Boise St made it to a BCS bowl game and even won it just tens years removed from the Big Sky conference.
Click to expand...

Ya it shows what a bunch of scared little wusses Montana is for not making the leap. They would rather whine and snivel about the lack of competition in the big sky than go test themselves with the big boys.
Click to expand...


Have you seen thier Football Schedule year in and year out? gee its easy to see how they win so often.
 
WILDCAT said:
jjjj said:
weberwildcat said:
Ya, even Nevada & Gonzaga.

To think Boise St made it to a BCS bowl game and even won it just tens years removed from the Big Sky conference.
Click to expand...

Ya it shows what a bunch of scared little wusses Montana is for not making the leap. They would rather whine and snivel about the lack of competition in the big sky than go test themselves with the big boys.
Click to expand...


Have you seen thier Football Schedule year in and year out? gee its easy to see how they win so often.
Click to expand...


I've wonder the same thing why Montana doesn't play any big D1 schools, I saw their 2009 football schedule, and they open up with Western State? Holy shit I think they won like 1 or 2 games last year and thats at the D2 level. They're probably afraid to get stroked.
 
Last time Montana played a 1A team was 4 years ago when they got THROTTLED by Iowa 41-7, they dont like competition, so they stopped playing bigger schools.
 
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