BSC BB Tournament - Ahead

[AlumniWSU]

Maybe of interest to some of you posters, if you haven't already read it in the Standard-Examiner.

http://www.standard.net/Basketball/2017/03/07/Big-Sky-Conference-consider-new-basketball-tournament-venue-for-2019-reno.html

 

[oldrunner]

I hope we get some bids out of SLC this time around. I think we would get more participation from the larger fan bases in the BSC if it were to be more centrally located. The only fan base close to Reno is Sac and they are one of the smallest in the BSC. In SLC you have everything you need and Half of the BSC much, much closer and cheaper travel.

 

[WILDCAT]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

 

[oldrunner]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

I see them dropping the whole thing before ever going back to the way it was. Even with UND leaving. There are simply too many sub par venues in the BSC.

 

[n.ogdencat]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

I see them dropping the whole thing before ever going back to the way it was. Even with UND leaving. There are simply too many sub par venues in the BSC.

Well...some schools are really trying to improve their facilities. Portland State and Idaho are both building new facilities. I've read that Sac is getting closer to improving upon what they have, or at very least having a more serious discussion. UNCO got some money and did improve their facility and Idaho State is in the process of raising money to build a new facility (I don't mind the LOLT, it isn't a bad set up when the roof isn't dripping). Everyone else has nice facilities already. I don't see how the conference wouldn't want to host a tournament at anyone's home site. To me, it is a chance to showcase your facility and also, a chance for the community and university to make some money. The conference is up in the night thinking reNo is a good location. It is a horrible location.

 

[ajwildcat]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

I see them dropping the whole thing before ever going back to the way it was. Even with UND leaving. There are simply too many sub par venues in the BSC.

Well...some schools are really trying to improve their facilities. Portland State and Idaho are both building new facilities. I've read that Sac is getting closer to improving upon what they have, or at very least having a more serious discussion. UNCO got some money and did improve their facility and Idaho State is in the process of raising money to build a new facility (I don't mind the LOLT, it isn't a bad set up when the roof isn't dripping). Everyone else has nice facilities already. I don't see how the conference wouldn't want to host a tournament at anyone's home site. To me, it is a chance to showcase your facility and also, a chance for the community and university to make some money. The conference is up in the night thinking reNo is a good location. It is a horrible location.

Sorry to agree with you on this Tal, now people will start thinking you and I are the same person because we happen to agree on something...Sorry to do that to you, BUT I do agree that ReNO isnt the way to go and it would be legit to show off some of these newer arenas by going back to the regular season champ hosting. :twocents:

 

[oldrunner]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

I see them dropping the whole thing before ever going back to the way it was. Even with UND leaving. There are simply too many sub par venues in the BSC.

Well...some schools are really trying to improve their facilities. Portland State and Idaho are both building new facilities. I've read that Sac is getting closer to improving upon what they have, or at very least having a more serious discussion. UNCO got some money and did improve their facility and Idaho State is in the process of raising money to build a new facility (I don't mind the LOLT, it isn't a bad set up when the roof isn't dripping). Everyone else has nice facilities already. I don't see how the conference wouldn't want to host a tournament at anyone's home site. To me, it is a chance to showcase your facility and also, a chance for the community and university to make some money. The conference is up in the night thinking reNo is a good location. It is a horrible location.

Sorry to agree with you on this Tal, now people will start thinking you and I are the same person because we happen to agree on something...Sorry to do that to you, BUT I do agree that ReNO isnt the way to go and it would be legit to show off some of these newer arenas by going back to the regular season champ hosting. :twocents:

It's fairly safe to say that it is never going back to the way it was. Also, it is very safe to say that it takes a lot more than just a nice arena to host a 24 team, week long tournament. You can count on less than one hand the number of BSC schools who could pull it off. So, with that said, what are we looking at as possibilities? SLC, Boise, Denver, Las Vegas, Reno are possibilities. What venues are the most centrally located? What venues have the best infrastructure to handle our event? What are the costs to the BSC? What are the travel costs? Which venue provides the best exposure for the BSC?

 

[Webergrad02]

How many Wildcat fans are making the trip to ReNO? I would imagine a few less than last season.

 

[WSUfan1]

Why are they giving the teams who played last night a day off? If you are a team from 5-12 seed, you should have to win 4 straight games in 4 days to go dancing...

 

[Junctioncat]

The Big Sky should go back to the way it was before until fans from all the schools not called Weber State, Montana and Montana State actually start caring about college basketball. Cause in all honesty, in games not featuring the schools named above the attendance at neutral site games will always be pitiful.

Agree.

 

[AlumniWSU]

I hope we get some bids out of SLC this time around. I think we would get more participation from the larger fan bases in the BSC if it were to be more centrally located. The only fan base close to Reno is Sac and they are one of the smallest in the BSC. In SLC you have everything you need and Half of the BSC much, much closer and cheaper travel.

:nod: Agree...wish that WSU could talk America First Credit Union into sponsoring the event at the Maverik Center, maybe even Maverik (HQs is in SLC) could try it as a test to see if it is profitable. With the attendance figures that 'wildcat' provides, it's easy to see that the largest fan base by far is just 30 miles away.

Worth a try? :twocents:

 

[Siouxfan2]

Las Vegas has the T-Mobile Arena now for their new NHL team. The PAC12 tournament will switch to that building, causing a chain reaction of other tournament switches, leaving one Vegas arena open to host. The Big Sky will take it, as most school Presidents don't want a backwater city to host.

 

[oldrunner]

I don't see much difference between Vegas and Reno, except that Reno is friendlier. Phoenix is in the mix, along with Spokane. My problem with all of those is that they are on the outskirts of the BSC and would be less attended because of it. I still say a central location is best. I've been to events like this in Vegas and was not impressed. I was in Reno last year and it was a much better experience than Las Vegas. I'm sure it will come down to money in the pockets of BSC officials when it is all said and done.

 

[RandomGuy]

I hope we get some bids out of SLC this time around. I think we would get more participation from the larger fan bases in the BSC if it were to be more centrally located. The only fan base close to Reno is Sac and they are one of the smallest in the BSC. In SLC you have everything you need and Half of the BSC much, much closer and cheaper travel.

:nod: Agree...wish that WSU could talk America First Credit Union into sponsoring the event at the Maverik Center, maybe even Maverik (HQs is in SLC) could try it as a test to see if it is profitable. With the attendance figures that 'wildcat' provides, it's easy to see that the largest fan base by far is just 30 miles away.

Worth a try? :twocents:

Worth a try? Probably. Would Montana lose their shit? Absolutely! :rofl:

 

[WILDCAT]

I hope we get some bids out of SLC this time around. I think we would get more participation from the larger fan bases in the BSC if it were to be more centrally located. The only fan base close to Reno is Sac and they are one of the smallest in the BSC. In SLC you have everything you need and Half of the BSC much, much closer and cheaper travel.

:nod: Agree...wish that WSU could talk America First Credit Union into sponsoring the event at the Maverik Center, maybe even Maverik (HQs is in SLC) could try it as a test to see if it is profitable. With the attendance figures that 'wildcat' provides, it's easy to see that the largest fan base by far is just 30 miles away.

Worth a try? :twocents:

Worth a try? Probably. Would Montana lose their shit? Absolutely! :rofl:

All the more reason to do it :lol:

But I agree that the Big Sky tournament should be more centralized, if that means Salt Lake City then so be it. It's cheap and easy to travel to and is practically dead center in the conference. Who cares if it might favor Weber State, did anybody watch the Summit Championship game In Sioux Falls South Dakota featuring South Dakota State? The Arena was loaded with Jackrabbits but I haven't read anything about fans from other Summit Schools hoping the Summit moves their "Neutral" Site tourney.


Let me show you why Salt Lake City makes sense. (Note numbers do not include UND since they will be long gone when the Reno deal is done)

City - Total amount of miles from each School - average travel for each school

Salt Lake City UT - 5,182 - 471
Boise ID - 5,330 - 484
Spokane WA - 6,369 - 579
Billings MT - 6,879 - 625
Reno NV - 7,575 - 688
Denver CO - 8,673 - 788
Phoenix AZ - 9,864 - 896

Numbers don't lie, Salt Lake City is proven to be the most central location of the Conference when it comes to potential host cities. Which really makes it the most "neutral" site. It is the only one in the group that doesn't have a school that has to travel over 1,000 miles to get to.

I hate the argument that SLC would favor Weber too much, well Spokane would favor Eastern and Idaho, Billings would favor both Montana's Greeley would favor UNC, Reno already favors Sac but Sac fans don't take advantage of it, and Phoenix would favor NAU etc.

No matter where they move it someone will get favored, so why not favor the Biggest fan base in a state that actually has a Big Sky presence?

Like I said, they should go back to the way it was before, but if they are dead set on the idea of a neutral site tourney it should be moved to SLC because it makes the most sense. I really hope that the conference takes a real close look at SLC. However if not SLC, I would be in favor of Boise Idaho, if they were interested.

 

[SWeberCat02]

One problem with SLC - they showed zero interest in bidding. And why would that have changed after two poorly attended tournaments? I agree, the Maverik Center would be an ideal place to hold it, but for that to happen I think the conference would need to throw out the bidding process and just rent the Maverik Center and organize the tournament themselves. Seriously, why does it need to be a bidding process anyway? Newsflash Big Sky, almost no one cares about you. Just figure out the best location and organize the damn tournament yourselves, if you're so dead set on having one.

 

[WILDCAT]

One problem with SLC - they showed zero interest in bidding. And why would that have changed after two poorly attended tournaments? I agree, the Maverik Center would be an ideal place to hold it, but for that to happen I think the conference would need to throw out the bidding process and just rent the Maverik Center and organize the tournament themselves. Seriously, why does it need to be a bidding process anyway? Newsflash Big Sky, almost no one cares about you. Just figure out the best location and organize the damn tournament yourselves, if you're so dead set on having one.

Salt Lake City is easier to get to, is closer to all but 2 schools than Reno and is actually in a state that has a Big Sky presence including the largest and most dedicated fan base 40 minutes up the road. Based on those 4 facts I believe the tournament's attendance at the Maverick Center would be significantly higher than it ever would be in Reno. And for that reason alone is worth at least a try.

The Big Sky should just try to get the Maverick to host it.

I agree about the bidding part. They need to abandon that.

 

[RandomGuy]

One problem with SLC - they showed zero interest in bidding. And why would that have changed after two poorly attended tournaments? I agree, the Maverik Center would be an ideal place to hold it, but for that to happen I think the conference would need to throw out the bidding process and just rent the Maverik Center and organize the tournament themselves. Seriously, why does it need to be a bidding process anyway? Newsflash Big Sky, almost no one cares about you. Just figure out the best location and organize the damn tournament yourselves, if you're so dead set on having one.

Salt Lake City is easier to get to, is closer to all but 2 schools than Reno and is actually in a state that has a Big Sky presence including the largest and most dedicated fan base 40 minutes up the road. Based on those 4 facts I believe the tournament's attendance at the Maverick Center would be significantly higher than it ever would be in Reno. And for that reason alone is worth at least a try.

The Big Sky should just try to get the Maverick to host it.

I agree about the bidding part. They need to abandon that.

I don't think Maverik center would work because they have 2 tenants in mid season right now (Grizzlies and Screaming Eagles). The Delta Center I see working way better because: A) The only tenant there now is the Jazz. B) There's already a basketball court in the arena. And C) Maverik Center only holds about 10,100. And from the attendance numbers at championship games (2003 BSC final and 2013 CIT) that the cats have provided in recent years, it would probably be more appeasing because fans would be able to get a seat in the 19K plus Delta Center.

 

[WILDCAT]

One problem with SLC - they showed zero interest in bidding. And why would that have changed after two poorly attended tournaments? I agree, the Maverik Center would be an ideal place to hold it, but for that to happen I think the conference would need to throw out the bidding process and just rent the Maverik Center and organize the tournament themselves. Seriously, why does it need to be a bidding process anyway? Newsflash Big Sky, almost no one cares about you. Just figure out the best location and organize the damn tournament yourselves, if you're so dead set on having one.

Salt Lake City is easier to get to, is closer to all but 2 schools than Reno and is actually in a state that has a Big Sky presence including the largest and most dedicated fan base 40 minutes up the road. Based on those 4 facts I believe the tournament's attendance at the Maverick Center would be significantly higher than it ever would be in Reno. And for that reason alone is worth at least a try.

The Big Sky should just try to get the Maverick to host it.

I agree about the bidding part. They need to abandon that.

I don't think Maverik center would work because they have 2 tenants in mid season right now (Grizzlies and Screaming Eagles). The Delta Center I see working way better because: A) The only tenant there now is the Jazz. B) There's already a basketball court in the arena. And C) Maverik Center only holds about 10,100. And from the attendance numbers at championship games (2003 BSC final and 2013 CIT) that the cats have provided in recent years, it would probably be more appeasing because fans would be able to get a seat in the 19K plus Delta Center.

The whatever it's name happens to be at the time Center is definitely an option. As far as only seating 10,000, I highly doubt a neutral Big Sky tournament would require more than at most 8,000 seats. And that would have to be a site that was relatively close to one of the more dedicated fan bases.

 

[RandomGuy]

One problem with SLC - they showed zero interest in bidding. And why would that have changed after two poorly attended tournaments? I agree, the Maverik Center would be an ideal place to hold it, but for that to happen I think the conference would need to throw out the bidding process and just rent the Maverik Center and organize the tournament themselves. Seriously, why does it need to be a bidding process anyway? Newsflash Big Sky, almost no one cares about you. Just figure out the best location and organize the damn tournament yourselves, if you're so dead set on having one.

Salt Lake City is easier to get to, is closer to all but 2 schools than Reno and is actually in a state that has a Big Sky presence including the largest and most dedicated fan base 40 minutes up the road. Based on those 4 facts I believe the tournament's attendance at the Maverick Center would be significantly higher than it ever would be in Reno. And for that reason alone is worth at least a try.

The Big Sky should just try to get the Maverick to host it.

I agree about the bidding part. They need to abandon that.

I don't think Maverik center would work because they have 2 tenants in mid season right now (Grizzlies and Screaming Eagles). The Delta Center I see working way better because: A) The only tenant there now is the Jazz. B) There's already a basketball court in the arena. And C) Maverik Center only holds about 10,100. And from the attendance numbers at championship games (2003 BSC final and 2013 CIT) that the cats have provided in recent years, it would probably be more appeasing because fans would be able to get a seat in the 19K plus Delta Center.

The whatever it's name happens to be at the time Center is definitely an option. As far as only seating 10,000, I highly doubt a neutral Big Sky tournament would require more than at most 8,000 seats. And that would have to be a site that was relatively close to one of the more dedicated fan bases.

Unless Weber State is hosting it :-D. Also, that's what I've been saying about Reno ever since they announced it because that arena holds about 7,500. Attendance at the tourney averaged 1,700 (if I remember correctly), and there were only like 2,300 people there to see Montana's greatest defensive breakdown of all time on Weber's last possession in the championship game. :lol: