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BIg Sky Tourney to Vegas?

I speculate that this is how this stupid idea came to be:

Brad Huse was given a contract extension last year with the stipulation that he needed to make the Big Sky tournament. Under the current format, making the conference tournament is a pretty natural measuring stick for mediocrity. Even though he came within a game, Brad Huse was terminated when his team failed to make the tournament. With so much parity in the conference this year, making the tournament came down to tiebreakers and splitting hairs. Evans and Hayford were on the outside looking in for the tournament, while their teams were fairly competitive. Life suddenly wasn't fair and they watched Huse get canned for not meeting the same point on the measuring stick. Since most of the teams were within a game or two, it was easy to garner support for a more fair approach. So here is the brilliant idea, if making the conference tournament is the measuring stick, we will just invite everyone to the party and get rid of the measuring stick.

HERE IS THE NEWS FLASH! THE MEASURING STICK ISN"T GOING AWAY! It will just move with the change. Now the measuring stick won't be making the conference tournament, it will be making the quarterfinals or semifinals depending on the team. We will always find a way to measure our teams and coaches success. Inviting everyone in the pool is a bad idea.

BinCity - I think that the host casino would front travel and lodging expenses. That is why you see a lot of these tournaments being played at casino run venues.
 
This has got to be the worst idea ever to come out of the front office of the Big Sky. This is absolutely idiotic!! Only pro is that schools save $$$ on travel and the host school doesn't have to pay 150K (can I ask why and for what?).

Empty stadiums are what folks will see on ESPN 8. That is the handful of people who will stay up till 9pm Pacific Time to watch the Big Sky.
 
The other dynamic that we have going on here is, with 12 teams, we will not be playing each team twice. This creates a certain amount of inequality of schedules and less fairness in selecting the regular season champ. The tournament may now be looked at as the deciding element.
 
I have created the Big Sky Conference a new logo for when we move the tournament to Vegas. Moving the tournament there would be a "Big Sin". The only sell out we would have in Vegas would involve the conferences' soul.


 
I am beginning to see the wisdom in the 12 team format. The regular season is never going to be fair in determining a regular season champion. Also, all of the old tie breakers are out the window as well. The 18 games will be for seeding only and the tie breakers will be the flip of a coin. After that the only decision is where to have the tournament and that could be quite contentious at best. Someone will feel slighted because someone else had an easier schedule or some other, non defensible, argument. The league solves all of that by using a predetermined, neutral site. In steps Las Vegas with money to burn. Problem solved. Actual champion to be crowned on a neutral floor, in a championship game.

It's a complete change from what we are used to, but it may be the only way to be completely fair and crown a champion from competition on the floor. Anything else is fraught with inequities. :stir:
 
Teams that suck will still suck. Coaches will still get fired, using some new measuring stick. Players will still think that they are the second coming of MJ. Officials will behave as if the crowd showed up to watch them. Pretty young women and men will still dance for us at the breaks. Hotdogs will still cost $4.00. And, you still won't remember where you parked your car.

LIFE GOES ON!
 
What an idiotic idea moving the conference tourney to Vegas would be. Talk about mostly empty arenas, and horrible start times for the games that would actually make it to tv. Also, not a fan of all teams making the tourney. This isn't AYSO soccer where every player gets a participation trophy no matter how bad they suck. :twocents:
 
Larry, Larry, Larry;

The only fair alternative to this is to have a 22 game regular season and continue the tournament as is. A 22 game regular season is not what everyone wants. They want and need a more substantial preseason. A lot of other regular season schedules have been discussed, but the 18 game format was already chosen. Last years 20 game season was detrimental to the leagues strength of schedule. 22 games would be far worse. The league rejected the idea of having two divisions and a playoff to end the season. This is what we are left with, no good alternatives. Small price to pay for bringing UI into the fold. :rofl: :rofl:
 
LarrytheFarmer said:
What an idiotic idea moving the conference tourney to Vegas would be. Talk about mostly empty arenas, and horrible start times for the games that would actually make it to tv. Also, not a fan of all teams making the tourney. This isn't AYSO soccer where every player gets a participation trophy no matter how bad they suck. :twocents:
Click to expand...

I agree. There really is no point in the season. Everyone makes it? Pointless. Moving to Vegas is purely money. IF the sky can get more money from vegas they can sell to the coaches that they save money on trips and that the team will be in VEGAS!! Plus now all teams make it so its a win win for everyone involved and the fans are left out. Thats really how it is. Money talks
 
Oldrunner - This is not the only fair alternative. You could argue that almost any system is flawed. We are talking about the bottom four teams in one of the worst conferences in D1.

Here is my proposal. If you have an RPI worse than 250. You are not invited to the party. We would have had a five team playoff last year. Do you think that inviting everyone to the party is going to help the conference's SOS? Coaches know that they will get to the conference tourney no matter what. So why not play as many patsies as possible to boost the win total. Lets come up with a system that rewards the best teams and the teams that boost the conference up.
 
It certainly isn't the only alternative, but the other alternatives were rejected already. Personally, I think having two 6 team divisions, with an 8 team playoff makes more sense. The bottom four teams lick their wounds and start prepping for their next job selling cars. You would still have the problem of who was the regular season champ if there were to be a tie at the top. Also, you might have the situation where a team with a better record gets left out simply due to their division being stronger than the other. At any rate the league already decided against that Idea. I agree that the fans are getting the shaft in all of this. Going to Vegas will really hurt attendance. :-(
 
I know that you guys have debated the hell out of this rumor but does anybody have any definite info that it's even up for consideration?

I can't substantiate the rumor.... Great dialogue, but not sure it's even a possibility.
 
Mycats said:
I know that you guys have debated the hell out of this rumor but does anybody have any definite info that it's even up for consideration?

I can't substantiate the rumor.... Great dialogue, but not sure it's even a possibility.
Click to expand...
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/bobcats/article_28f31d9e-e3d2-11e3-959e-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=jqm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.bigskyfans.com/bengals/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5700" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Why not Energy Solutions Arena. Easy in, easy out, lots of hotels, gambling two hours away, and built in sponsors. Fans could ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon. The largest fan base in the BSC within an hours drive. The chances of that being a financial success are nearly 100%. It would be more centrally located than any of the options proposed so far and the most likely to succeed. :thumb: :thumb:
 
Its funny that you mention Salt lake because talking to one of the players about his opinion on the whole thing and he said the same exact thing. Simple to fly in for teams plenty of room and the main thing is the Big sky offices are in Ogden so it is close for those who run it all.
The only major hold up would be an "unfair advantage" for weber because of how close the proximity it is to salt lake.
 
If you hold it in Vegas, you could say it is an unfair advantage for SUU and NAU; Reno, an unfair advantage for Sac. If fairness is the goal, you would have to go a lot farther and pay a lot more money for the thing. Clearly, fairness is not the issue here. I believe that there is probably other, monetary, motives at work here.

If we are going to take this step, it needs to be put out for bid and brought out into the light of day. No closed door decisions. :twocents:
 
If you disagree with this then you should tell the AD and President that this is a bad move and idea. Also, since every team involved is a state institution then we can ask to see the contract. Transparency needs to happen. This really seems like a dirt deal is involved. Roy Burton get after this. I guarantee long time and monied interests in the community will be against this. Time to stop talking and acting. Stop this from happening. June 4 is the vote.
 
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