[g-webb1994]

No sour grapes here, just wanted your opinions on the format of the Mens Hoops Tournament.

Frankly, I think it should be hosted by one school on a rotating basis. Starting next year, have it at one location for four days with two play-in games (7-10 and 8-9) on day one to narrow the field to eight, and go from there.

About the only schools that I believe wouldn't be able to host it on campus would be CSU, but they could easily use the North Charleston Coliseum. PC has a fine facility, but no capacity. I don't know what alternative they could have, maybe the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville?

Of course, your Vines Center looks top notch on TV, I've never been in person.

G-W still needs to upgrade some of the seating in Porter Arena, along with the scoreboards. Don't see that happening soon with the tight economy however.

[LUconn]

Rotating would be a great idea in any conference but this one. There's just too many elementary school-style gyms to be hosting ever single game. I do miss having every game in one place though. That was cool.

[Fumblerooskies]

I loved the whole format of having it all at one place...especially when they ran the mens and womens tournaments at the same place at the same time. That was a great week of watching A WHOLE LOT of basketball (outside of those meaningless HPU-Elon exhibition games).

I vote for the MB convention center, if not at LU. I don't know if they hold any basketball games there, anymore though.

[g-webb1994]

I did leave off the option of having the entire tourney at a 'neutral site', but what city would be the most central in the whole Big South, Greensboro perhaps?

The only current Big South arenas I've been in are both tiny, Justice at UNCA and Templeton at PC.

One side note, Porter Arena's capacity is listed at 4,000. NO WAY. Maybe 3,000 with a shoehorn, and for some reason, we always inflate the attendance figures in boxscores. No way in hades we had 2,800 there for CSU last Saturday.

[kingaling42]

I feel like we've been here before.....

The rotating sites things didn't really work before.. when the host (home) team loses the attendance is horrible & if you're say in South Carolina & the final is 2 schools from VA- it really sucks too.. The Big South teams have fans that would travel but this isn't the ACC where if you play in a central location like Charlotte or Atlanta the fans would not support the venue in any central site location..

I think that the current format is great- it encourages added competition during the regular conference schedule & I would even support that if the conference told the schools with subpar venues (namely UNCA, CSU, CCU, possibly HP) that they would have to move to the city's venues (Civic Centers, etc..) IN ADVANCE- I think that would be fair as well..

I fought many battles on this board defending our home court advantage last year- not because it didn't make sense from the visitors & conference perspective, but because if that's the decision you can't decide that once it's UNCAs, CCUs or CSUs advantage- you should give those schools the notice that is expected from the onset of the season so that games in those venues can be scheduled during the regualr year & actually represent a home court advantage to those teams- it isn't fair to the players who otherwise don't play ANY games in those venues to suddenly play there for the first time in a conference tourney situation.. But if you mandate it, think about our game tonight vs WU- Winthrop didn't use several hundred tickets for their student section & we're one of their closest opponents- the Civic Center would have been a total joke & practically empty since WU didn't travel & we wouldn't ever fill quite that many seats to make up for their half of a ticket allotment.. it would make sense for other rounds though, semi's & the final of course..

[Fumblerooskies]

I did leave off the option of having the entire tourney at a 'neutral site', but what city would be the most central in the whole Big South, Greensboro perhaps?

The only current Big South arenas I've been in are both tiny, Justice at UNCA and Templeton at PC.

One side note, Porter Arena's capacity is listed at 4,000. NO WAY. Maybe 3,000 with a shoehorn, and for some reason, we always inflate the attendance figures in boxscores. No way in hades we had 2,800 there for CSU last Saturday.

Anderson, SC did not work
Roanoke, VA did not work well either.

Asheville was well-attended (at the Civic Center)...but primarly b/c it was Winthrop-RU one year...and both teams traveled well...and it was UNCA-WU the next year.

I don't remember much about North Charleston, b/c UNCA was one and done both years down there.

By far the BEST tournaments were the first 4-year run at LU...and then the year UNCA won it at LU. The city really seemed to get into the whole hosting gig.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Tonight helped prove the best reason for the current format. In a league where 99% of the time, only the tourney champ will advance to the NCAAs, I like that the regular season holds a lot of weight...as opposed to a crap-shoot where a mid-level team may get a big boost by having the tourney in their house...

That being said, for the hardcore hoops fan in me, I really miss the one-location, three-day, non-stop hoopsfest.

I think a good 'solution' may be to have the regular season champ host the tourney...that way the regular season still has some weight, but the fun of the one-site tourney remains.

[olldflame]

I loved the whole format of having it all at one place...especially when they ran the mens and womens tournaments at the same place at the same time. That was a great week of watching A WHOLE LOT of basketball (outside of those meaningless HPU-Elon exhibition games).

I vote for the MB convention center, if not at LU. I don't know if they hold any basketball games there, anymore though.

I'm with you on this one fumble. I have some great memories of tournaments at Anderson SC, Charleston, Ashville, Roanoke, and of course at LU. A basketball junkie's dream. What in the world is an MB convention center?

[kingaling42]

Myrtle Beach...

[g-webb1994]

I loved the whole format of having it all at one place...especially when they ran the mens and womens tournaments at the same place at the same time. That was a great week of watching A WHOLE LOT of basketball (outside of those meaningless HPU-Elon exhibition games).

I vote for the MB convention center, if not at LU. I don't know if they hold any basketball games there, anymore though.

I'm with you on this one fumble. I have some great memories of tournaments at Anderson SC, Charleston, Ashville, Roanoke, and of course at LU. A basketball junkie's dream. What in the world is an MB convention center?

MB - Milton Bradley Convention Center, where everything is a board game, loads of Free Parking.

[olldflame]

OK, didn't know Myrtle Beach had one. If the venue is adequate, that would be a great place for a one-site tourny. Lots of cheap available hotel rooms that time of year and stuff to do when you're not watching hoops. I really enjoyed the 2 years I went to Charleston (especially 94 ) North Charleston Coleseum was a bit oversized though.

[ToTheLeft]

I think we should do it higher seeds the whole way, for every single game. I would sacrifice having both semi's on ESPNU8 if it meant we could have a real playoff.

[TIMSCAR20]

For the record Eddie Biedenbaugh likes the one venue tournament and said so in the media conference on Monday. I like it too. There are many reasons to do it the way we do it now though and Eddie acknowledged that. You guys have listed the reasons here too.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

i dont mind the higher seed hosting cause they deserve it but i think it needs to be in a larger gym... like Liberty G-Dubb, or Winthrop... UNCA was a joke, Radford would be a no cause everyone gets sick, CSU and CCU both hold about 14 people, VMI is pretty small too

[jcmanson]

I think it's fine the way it is, it gives so much meaning to the regular season. The one thing I would change though is having the semi's on Friday night instead of Thursday.

[Fumblerooskies]

I think it's fine the way it is, it gives so much meaning to the regular season. The one thing I would change though is having the semi's on Friday night instead of Thursday.

This gives the teams a travel day if the top seed loses...and the TV people time to scramble.

[jcmanson]

I know that's why they do it the way it is, but for fans it would be better the other way. I would be able to make it Friday, Thursday not so much.

[markymark550]

My vote goes to the higher seed hosting.

The current format is fine too, although I'm not much of a fan of the 2/7 vs 3/6 game being held at the #1 seed. Also, it wouldn't make much sense to have the semis at the #1 seed if the #1 seed was upset in the first round. I know why they use the current format, but I'd just like to see all the games at the higher seed.


Although, like WinthropEagleFan mentioned, the hardcore hoops fan in me likes the traditional 3 (or 4) day, 1 site tournament. They haven't been very good for the conference, but personally, I really enjoyed the trips to Roanoke and Asheville a few years back. And yes, I would have even enjoyed those trips if WU didn't win those tournaments. WU winning just made it that much better.

[thepostman]

the only difference I would like is that the semis be held at the higher seed remaining out of the 4 seeds...this year it worked out fine...but sometimes it won't...I understand having both semis in one place and it makes complete since...but I would just like to see them alter the semis a bit and have it at the highest seed remaining

[prototype]

I think the way it is done now is fine, with one exception - IF YOU EARN HOME COURT ADVANTAGE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ACT LIKE A HOME TEAM!! The stupid BSC won't let the home team treat it like a home game, and makes them not do any intros, crowd leading, etc... The announcer can't even get excited for the home team. Give me a break. LU earned that right and the presentation of the games when the BSC controls it - drops about 75% in quality.

[ToTheLeft]

I think it's fine the way it is, it gives so much meaning to the regular season. The one thing I would change though is having the semi's on Friday night instead of Thursday.

So they can play games on back to back nights, and have to compete with everything else on Sports TV on Friday Night? Makes very little sense.

[thepostman]

I think the way it is done now is fine, with one exception - IF YOU EARN HOME COURT ADVANTAGE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ACT LIKE A HOME TEAM!! The stupid BSC won't let the home team treat it like a home game, and makes them not do any intros, crowd leading, etc... The announcer can't even get excited for the home team. Give me a break. LU earned that right and the presentation of the games when the BSC controls it - drops about 75% in quality.

I second this...

and was the Big South in charge of the music tonight?? because overall it was pretty horrible..haha

[ToTheLeft]

I think the way it is done now is fine, with one exception - IF YOU EARN HOME COURT ADVANTAGE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ACT LIKE A HOME TEAM!! The stupid BSC won't let the home team treat it like a home game, and makes them not do any intros, crowd leading, etc... The announcer can't even get excited for the home team. Give me a break. LU earned that right and the presentation of the games when the BSC controls it - drops about 75% in quality.

I'm pretty sure it's like this in most places.

[thepostman]

I think the way it is done now is fine, with one exception - IF YOU EARN HOME COURT ADVANTAGE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ACT LIKE A HOME TEAM!! The stupid BSC won't let the home team treat it like a home game, and makes them not do any intros, crowd leading, etc... The announcer can't even get excited for the home team. Give me a break. LU earned that right and the presentation of the games when the BSC controls it - drops about 75% in quality.

I'm pretty sure it's like this in most places.

it might be...but the Big South his horrible...I know it is the cool thing right now to say that...but every year my hate for the big south grows...

"the Big South...celebrating 25 years of failure"

[SuperJon]

i dont mind the higher seed hosting cause they deserve it but i think it needs to be in a larger gym... like Liberty G-Dubb, or Winthrop... UNCA was a joke, Radford would be a no cause everyone gets sick, CSU and CCU both hold about 14 people, VMI is pretty small too

VMI is the third largest in the conference, larger than both G-W and Radford, both of which hold around 3500. VMI holds 5500.