Reno- BSC:Conference officially starts the Spin

[RunnerJoe]

I just have a few thoughts about the whole Road to Reno thing.
What has to happen for the Big Sky to consider the tournament a success? Did they expect to lose money when they decided on this format?
On twitter, Jon Kasper mentioned that the student athletes are suppose to be the priority of the tournament. I would like to know how moving the tournament to Reno is making them a priority? Will they take their "sticks" and play golf on an off day or go skiing? :roll:

 

[weberwildcat]

its hard to be optimistic about reno when we can all see its a blunder. im even going and i think its a bad idea. :rofl: if the schools are doing nothing to promote reno combined with most of the 12 not being able to get fans to home games, should we expect sold out games in the reno events center?

wazzuwildcat, if there is any chance your not going im unscheduling that PTO from my work. :lol:

 

[nodak651]

What happened to the revenue that the hosting team always had to pay the Conference, over $100,000 I believe? When Weber hosted in 2014, and attendance was not very large, I expect the school lost $.

Does each of the 12 teams have to kick in to the Conference to fund the events?

This doesn't seem to pencil out, on a variety of fronts.

"Each university in the conference has a responsibility to take care of an allotted amount of tickets for the tournament, and are independently determining how to use them."

I believe the above is code for: "each university is stuck with kicking into the kitty X amount of money. If they sell the tickets, they get to keep the revenue. If they don't, they're still going to have to reimburse the conference that amount of funding."

Being in the know, do you know how large that allotment is?

I think it would be hard for North Dakota to sell the same allotment as Sac or Weber. How do our friends to the North feel like the conference is handling the marketing of the tournament? Remember Fullerton told us all that it was the conferences job to get bodies in Reno and the schools were not going to have to worry about it as much.

Yeah... I don't think UND is worrying at all. Haven't heard a peep from them. I think they realize that nobody is going to go. There could have been a decent contingent of UND fans in Vegas or Denver, but not many people want to travel to Reno for a tournament that starts on Tuesday. My prediction is 50 - 100 UND fans. Hope I'm wrong, but people will be saving their money for the hockey tournaments.

 

[Skippy]

I just have a few thoughts about the whole Road to Reno thing.
What has to happen for the Big Sky to consider the tournament a success? Did they expect to lose money when they decided on this format?
On twitter, Jon Kasper mentioned that the student athletes are suppose to be the priority of the tournament. I would like to know how moving the tournament to Reno is making them a priority? Will they take their "sticks" and play golf on an off day or go skiing? :roll:

I honestly don't think the league expected a great turn out. They are doing this for a couple of reasons: surety of travel dates and costs; allowing every team (and athlete) to participate; and to avoid teams taking two-day bus trips to get to the tournament because they can't get, or can't afford tickets to remote locations on short notice. And they wanted a neutral (fair site). I think there was a lot of pressure from coaches and ADs to try the neutral site concept. And to be fair, you give it three years to see if it can build into something.

Having said that, if, after three years, they are still drawing 500 fans a session, or we are sending a 12th seed to the Big Dance, then I think you'll see momentum for more change. In the 36 years I've been watching Big Sky basketball, the only thing constant about the post season tourney format is that nothing is constant. Who knows, maybe somebody will ask the real pertinent question, "Why do we even have a tournament?" Which could lead to even more radical change.

 

[oldrunner]

To be clear, I am still planning to go. I just won't book anything until there are more details. I don't anticipate buying a tournament pass. There is no way that I would watch all of those games. The only thing that would keep me from going is if they are not selling single game tickets or that the prices are just too high. I probably won't book anything until the day of our first game. I wouldn't buy tickets early unless the price was extremely low. Unless the price is right, there is no reason to stay at the designated hotel. There are plenty of options in and around town. They, sure as he!!, can't expect me to buy into a McDonalds menu at 5 star prices.

I hope that we get thousands of WSU fans there, but I don't see it happening. Hundreds might be more attainable. I would expect the same from UM. Outside of that, I would be surprised to see any more than 50 fans from any other school. I would expect less than 300 fans at any of the first day's games. I sure wouldn't attend any of them and I wouldn't attend any of it if WSU isn't in the top 4 seeds.

We are stuck with this thing this year and two more. After that, they should think about dropping it altogether. It's a poor idea.

 

[n.ogdencat]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14657345" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting perspective by Katz of ESPN. Big Sky pushing tournament for student-athletes.

What do you guys think?

 

[Siouxfan2]

It's because other schools fear North Dakota being host that the other schools voted in Reno.

Small budget schools like Idaho St bussed to Grand Forks rather then flew when UND hosted the women's BB.

UND was opposed to Reno because they wanted home court. The other schools were so afraid that their budgets would be blown on a short notice trip to Grand Forks. Few UND grads will be making the trip because UND expects a long postseason in hockey, where we have been near the top in the country all season.

It's for only three years anyway. After that, Weber will be king of the WAC with UVU, Grand Canyon, Bake, and Seattle.with No Colo, S Utah, N Ariz, and Idaho St joining yall.

 

[SWeberCat02]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14657345

Interesting perspective by Katz of ESPN. Big Sky pushing tournament for student-athletes.

What do you guys think?

I don't understand why giving every student-athlete a chance to play in the tournament is important. If anything it sends the message that it's acceptable to fail because you'll still get a chance in the tournament. It lessens the importance of the regular season, that's for sure. The conference clearly isn't thinking of the fans (or the money, because without fan support it'll be a financial failure) with this tournament. Are they thinking of the student-athletes, as Katz is suggesting? Maybe, but I really don't know what the conference is trying to accomplish. Maybe they don't either.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Presidents push the agenda and the conference tries to facilitate the vision. I think we need to ask ourselves what the Presidents aim is?

By the way...Sioux, if UND was against this that would make three against it. I've heard both the President and AD, here at Weber, express their disappointment over this move. I heard that Montana was also against it. Was State for it? I don't see why they wouldn't unless they thought that Billings was a realistic choice. No matter, if three were against it, then how did it happen?

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of giving everyone a ribbon and don't like the "we are doing it for the student-athletes" line. Once again though, the conference is merely a facilitator of the vision of the presidents. They push the agenda. So, I feel that the Sky is doing an admirable job of pushing the issue forward. It isn't popular where it needs to be.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Here's the schedule:

Men's Basketball
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 1
Game 1 - No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed - 12:05 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 5 Seed vs. No. 12 Seed - 2:35 p.m.
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 2
Game 3 - No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed - 5:35 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed - 8:05 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 1
Game 5 - No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Game 1 - 12:05 p.m.
Game 6 - No. 4 Seed vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2:35 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 2
Game 7 - No. 2 Seed vs. Winner of Game 3 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 8 - No. 3 Seed vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:05 p.m.
Friday March 11, 2016
Semifinal Round
Game 9 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:05 p.m.
Saturday March 12, 2016
Championship Game
Game 11 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 5:45 p.m.

 

[Siouxfan2]

Presidents push the agenda and the conference tries to facilitate the vision. I think we need to ask ourselves what the Presidents aim is?

By the way...Sioux, if UND was against this that would make three against it. I've heard both the President and AD, here at Weber, express their disappointment over this move. I heard that Montana was also against it. Was State for it? I don't see why they wouldn't unless they thought that Billings was a realistic choice. No matter, if three were against it, then how did it happen?

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of giving everyone a ribbon and don't like the "we are doing it for the student-athletes" line. Once again though, the conference is merely a facilitator of the vision of the presidents. They push the agenda. So, I feel that the Sky is doing an admirable job of pushing the issue forward. It isn't popular where it needs to be.

Suspect that all Big Sky schools were for it except Weber, Montana, and UND. Most of the Sky schools can bus to Reno if they want to save money. It's about finances and giving the have nots a chance, as the Big Sky is a democracy.

The other schools dream of getting hot and actually upsetting Montana or Weber on a neutral court, as the know they have no shot to host. UND fans dream of winning the Big Sky titles on our home court.

With Billings being in the running, Mt State opted for a neutral court, but Billings wouldn't have been exactly neutral.

 

[SWeberCat02]

http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2016/1/28/MBB_0128162553.aspx

Best I can tell Weber is selling men's tournament ticket packages for $100 and ticket prices range from $15-40 for a single session.

 

[Siouxfan2]

Here's the schedule:

Men's Basketball
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 1
Game 1 - No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed - 12:05 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 5 Seed vs. No. 12 Seed - 2:35 p.m.
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 2
Game 3 - No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed - 5:35 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed - 8:05 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 1
Game 5 - No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Game 1 - 12:05 p.m.
Game 6 - No. 4 Seed vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2:35 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 2
Game 7 - No. 2 Seed vs. Winner of Game 3 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 8 - No. 3 Seed vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:05 p.m.
Friday March 11, 2016
Semifinal Round
Game 9 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:05 p.m.
Saturday March 12, 2016
Championship Game
Game 11 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 5:45 p.m.

How's the women's tournament set up? In the same arena?

UND fans care about women's bb almost as much as mens.

 

[oldrunner]

Thanks. Next, I'll try to find out what the prices are. At least the gas, for the drive over, is cheaper now.

Looks to me like I would only need two nights stay, as long as we are in the top 4. If we are not, I probably wouldn't go anyway.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Here's the schedule:

Men's Basketball
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 1
Game 1 - No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed - 12:05 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 5 Seed vs. No. 12 Seed - 2:35 p.m.
Tuesday March 8, 2016
First Round | Session 2
Game 3 - No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed - 5:35 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed - 8:05 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 1
Game 5 - No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Game 1 - 12:05 p.m.
Game 6 - No. 4 Seed vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2:35 p.m.
Thursday March 10, 2016
Quarterfinal Round | Session 2
Game 7 - No. 2 Seed vs. Winner of Game 3 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 8 - No. 3 Seed vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:05 p.m.
Friday March 11, 2016
Semifinal Round
Game 9 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 5:35 p.m.
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:05 p.m.
Saturday March 12, 2016
Championship Game
Game 11 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 5:45 p.m.

How's the women's tournament set up? In the same arena?

UND fans care about women's bb almost as much as mens.

Bringing up women's bb on this forum usually doesn't go so well, so I'll avoid posting the schedule. See the link I posted.

 

[weberwildcat]

at least the entire week of school the students would miss is all during spring break. would be a great opportunity for weber, suu, nau, unc, sac, ewu, msu, um, psu, ui, isu to put together some student busses. realistically the top 4 teams with the bye 1st round should.

 

[Skippy]

Got more details on the schools' commitments: each school is expected to buy 100 tickets (I'm assuming that's 100 tickets for each tournament). Men's tickets are $100 for the tourney pass and women's are $35. So each school is on the hook for $11,000. Each school also has to pay its own travel expenses.

 

[Webergrad02]

Got more details on the schools' commitments: each school is expected to buy 100 tickets (I'm assuming that's 100 tickets for each tournament). Men's tickets are $100 for the tourney pass and women's are $35. So each school is on the hook for $11,000. Each school also has to pay its own travel expenses.

Wouldn't that be $13,500?

So the schools are fronting $162,000 to make this happen. So its about double in total what the tournaments cost the hosting schools? And this really better for everyone?

 

[Skippy]

Got more details on the schools' commitments: each school is expected to buy 100 tickets (I'm assuming that's 100 tickets for each tournament). Men's tickets are $100 for the tourney pass and women's are $35. So each school is on the hook for $11,000. Each school also has to pay its own travel expenses.

Wouldn't that be $13,500?

So the schools are fronting $162,000 to make this happen. So its about double in total what the tournaments cost the hosting schools? And this really better for everyone?

Sorry, the men's tickets are $75 not $100. My bad. Anyway, 100 tickets $75 is $7500 and 100 tickets at $35 is $3,500, so add those two together and you get$11000 per school.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Not only does each school have a specific allotment of tickets they need to sale, but also, most have commitments to lodging close to the arena. So, not only does Weber have to sell so many tournament passes, which I think are a waste, but they also have to get so many fans to take advantage of the school discount at a local hotel. Once again...this is a terrible arrangement and the more we find out the worse this looks. Excuse 1# wasn't holding weight, so they went to excuse #2, I'm waiting for #3. Probably...ESPN doesn't want to make last-second arrangements and the conference desperately needs its 1 game on ESPN Networks each season for national relevance. Do we really want ESPN to show an empty arena?

My question...if all athletes need to get a ribbon, why can't every football team get an invite to the FCS Playoffs. I mean they are student-athletes too. All athletes know, that the season leads to rewards, which is a tournament, and the best team gets the ultimate reward, to represent in the Dance. What is the point of athletics if it arranged in a way that everyone gets rewarded? I say...enough with the tournament. Time to get rid of it. Go to a 22 game conference schedule and the best team goes to the Dance. If there is a tie, then play it at a neutral location, like BSU, with winner taking all.