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Post by sandtiger on Feb 22, 2024 11:05:10 GMT -6
One other thing I thought of was it makes travel plans for fans much easier when it's at a central location, agreed that an empty Ford Center looks bad and I can't help but notice how empty it is on those OVC Tournament commercials.
*In this scenario we're in that middle pack where we could finish anywhere from 3rd to 7th where some teams are right now*
For the fans who aren't local to the OVC area like I was last year. It was easy to say 'Okay we've got a spot in the tournament locked up I can fly into Indianapolis and drive to down to Evansville for the tournament.' instead of 'Well if this happens we play here, if these teams lose then we host a game then go on the road somewhere else, etc.'
Not to mention if you're a fan of both men's and women's teams and they are playing in different arenas.
The MVC has had Arch Madness in St. Louis
for 34 years now, and they expanded it to include all 12 teams, something that the OVC could look into especially since we only have 11 teams so all uncertainty is gone.
I don't know, maybe I'm off in thinking fans of other schools travel as well as our fans do growing up as a 3rd generation USI fan and going all over to games.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 22, 2024 12:03:28 GMT -6
I understand your thinking on this, but as you mentioned, you are a third generation loyal fan so you would be more inclined to travel. I too am a very loyal USI fan,second generation season ticket holder, but I don’t travel often to see the games. When I was working full time there is no way I could have taken off work and convinced my wife to do the same to go to a basketball tournament 5-6 hours away for a 3-4-5 day span. It just wasn’t possible. So, I get why most fans just can’t do it. Usually the fans I see going to these type events are either family members of a player or retired fans with money that can afford to do it. I’m not saying I have a great solution because I don’t, but as mentioned by some, having the probable winner of the conference host would probably draw a larger crowd overall because the local fans are much more likely to drive 10 minutes to the arena to watch.
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 22, 2024 12:41:22 GMT -6
One other thing I thought of was it makes travel plans for fans much easier when it's at a central location, agreed that an empty Ford Center looks bad and I can't help but notice how empty it is on those OVC Tournament commercials. *In this scenario we're in that middle pack where we could finish anywhere from 3rd to 7th where some teams are right now* For the fans who aren't local to the OVC area like I was last year. It was easy to say 'Okay we've got a spot in the tournament locked up I can fly into Indianapolis and drive to down to Evansville for the tournament.' instead of 'Well if this happens we play here, if these teams lose then we host a game then go on the road somewhere else, etc.' Not to mention if you're a fan of both men's and women's teams and they are playing in different arenas. The MVC has had Arch Madness in St. Louis for 34 years now, and they expanded it to include all 12 teams, something that the OVC could look into especially since we only have 11 teams so all uncertainty is gone. I don't know, maybe I'm off in thinking fans of other schools travel as well as our fans do growing up as a 3rd generation USI fan and going all over to games. When Creighton and Wichita State left the Valley, coupled with SIUC not being relevant for several years, Arch Madness has even taken a hit. In the 90s the student bodies from many Universities would come to St Louis and make it a party weekend. The OVC just doesn’t have strong student body attendance. Many smaller program fans prefer to cheer on the bigger state schools more than their own, which has always been odd to me. |
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 22, 2024 13:16:14 GMT -6
You are correct. Go to USI and UE and you will see a big number of fans wearing IU gear. Makes little sense to me, but IU was a blue blood and many grow up here watching IU from the time they can walk. The P5 teams are still the ones that have big followers…even when they suck. I grew up watching IU also, but I really don’t watch them anymore now that I have a D1 team to root for. I honestly haven’t watched more than 5 minutes of an IU game this year and probably won’t watch anymore since they really aren’t that good. But to your point, the student fans at smaller D1 programs just don’t have a strong following usually.
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Post by sandtiger on Feb 22, 2024 14:51:06 GMT -6
Well it doesn't help that the university keeps scheduling spring break during conference tournament so the student section is struggling to be filled. They did it back when they had the GLVC tournament at Robert's Stadium as well. I know you're not going to have all the students there but that would be a bug bump in attendance.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 22, 2024 14:54:39 GMT -6
I didn’t even know that’s spring break week for USI. That definitely will negatively affect student attendance. Maybe USI could push back spring break by one week in future years.
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Post by eaglepride on Feb 22, 2024 15:07:57 GMT -6
I am old school. I would like to get rid of the conference tournaments and have the regular season champion make the automatic bid to the d1 tournament.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 22, 2024 15:25:43 GMT -6
I am old school. I would like to get rid of the conference tournaments and have the regular season champion make the automatic bid to the d1 tournament. If EVERY conference would agree to do that also…I would support that. |
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 22, 2024 16:36:40 GMT -6
I am old school. I would like to get rid of the conference tournaments and have the regular season champion make the automatic bid to the d1 tournament. Completely agree….rewarding a team for a 3 program performance over 18-20 has never made a lick of sense. |
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Post by letsgoeagles on Feb 23, 2024 9:05:00 GMT -6
I don't think the NCAA mandates the automatic NCAA bid by the end of the season tournament...I think the conferences do. Now, for the Power Conferences, as each of us know, they make a boat load of money by doing these tournaments. However, they lose money in the lower end conferences. What I do not know is do some smaller leagues still do it to "get their name out there", albeit, to a smaller television audiences despite their financial loses? Not sure. But, as stated earlier, I am all for at least the OVC championship game to be played at the school who won the league title.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Feb 23, 2024 9:12:59 GMT -6
I am still beaming over USI's win at Morehead. That was one of the best 40 minute games USI has played since going D1. The focus of the victory has rightly been the play of Hernandez and AJ, but I think Ryan Hall and Sam Mervis played the best games of their career. Plus, we all know how well Mielke shot, but I thought he was terrific on the defensive side in at least containing Minix Hope that translates well for the rest of the season.
I have to admit I watched the game a second time on Espn+.
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 23, 2024 9:15:59 GMT -6
I am still beaming over USI's win at Morehead. That was one of the best 40 minute games USI has played since going D1. The focus of the victory has rightly been the play of Hernandez and AJ, but I think Ryan Hall and Sam Mervis played the best games of their career. Plus, we all know how well Mielke shot, but I thought he was terrific on the defensive side in at least containing Minix Hope that translates well for the rest of the season. I have to admit I watched the game a second time on Espn+. Completely agree on Hall and Mervis, in fact Mervis you could say almost played a perfect game. Milk Man’s defense is much improved since last year. If last year’s team defended every possession like this year’s team, they easily would have won 5 more games. |
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 23, 2024 9:19:32 GMT -6
I don't think the NCAA mandates the automatic NCAA bid by the end of the season tournament...I think the conferences do. Now, for the Power Conferences, as each of us know, they make a boat load of money by doing these tournaments. However, they lose money in the lower end conferences. What I do not know is do some smaller leagues still do it to "get their name out there", albeit, to a smaller television audiences despite their financial loses? Not sure. But, as stated earlier, I am all for at least the OVC championship game to be played at the school who won the league title. The benefit for smaller leagues is that ALL conference championship finals are shown live on national tv…ESPN. I’m sure for smaller conferences that’s a big perk. I am ok with conference champion hosting because in most cases they are having a great year and will draw well. It looks better on national tv to see 3,4,5 thousand at on campus arena as opposed to 700 at the Ford center because both teams in the final are from 5 plus hours away and fans can’t get here just for a few games. I’m for what ever improves our conference brand and puts the OVC in a positive position. Beth is already working on improving the league reputation and standing by implementing new and higher standards. We should start seeing some next year and it will help all the teams in the conference if or when the league improves its ranking. As the league ranking gets better, more kids want to play here…that’s the goal by the commissioner and I support this. |
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Post by letsgoeagles on Feb 23, 2024 9:24:00 GMT -6
I am still beaming over USI's win at Morehead. That was one of the best 40 minute games USI has played since going D1. The focus of the victory has rightly been the play of Hernandez and AJ, but I think Ryan Hall and Sam Mervis played the best games of their career. Plus, we all know how well Mielke shot, but I thought he was terrific on the defensive side in at least containing Minix Hope that translates well for the rest of the season. I have to admit I watched the game a second time on Espn+. Completely agree on Hall and Mervis, in fact Mervis you could say almost played a perfect game. Milk Man’s defense is much improved since last year. If last year’s team defended every possession like this year’s team, they easily would have won 5 more games. Defense for sure was outstanding...the help side was right in place where it needed to be almost every time. USI exploited Morehead on the back side continually and surprisingly thye never made an adjustment. Preston is a helleva coach, but he did not adjust his team well to what USI was doing. |
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Post by letsgoeagles on Feb 23, 2024 9:35:17 GMT -6
I don't think the NCAA mandates the automatic NCAA bid by the end of the season tournament...I think the conferences do. Now, for the Power Conferences, as each of us know, they make a boat load of money by doing these tournaments. However, they lose money in the lower end conferences. What I do not know is do some smaller leagues still do it to "get their name out there", albeit, to a smaller television audiences despite their financial loses? Not sure. But, as stated earlier, I am all for at least the OVC championship game to be played at the school who won the league title. The benefit for smaller leagues is that ALL conference championship finals are shown live on national tv…ESPN. I’m sure for smaller conferences that’s a big perk. I am ok with conference champion hosting because in most cases they are having a great year and will draw well. It looks better on national tv to see 3,4,5 thousand at on campus arena as opposed to 700 at the Ford center because both teams in the final are from 5 plus hours away and fans can’t get here just for a few games. I’m for what ever improves our conference brand and puts the OVC in a positive position. Beth is already working on improving the league reputation and standing by implementing new and higher standards. We should start seeing some next year and it will help all the teams in the conference if or when the league improves its ranking. As the league ranking gets better, more kids want to play here…that’s the goal by the commissioner and I support this. I can't disagree on a thing you wrote. Just to add, this is why I would absolutely refuse to give UE a two for one. There are plenty of other higher stature teams USI could play than the Aces, plus getting a lot more money as well. It doesn't help ourselves and the OVC by submitting to that. I look for UE to start saying publicly USI is holding up the game between the two schools, when in fact USI has no interest in agreeing to those terms. |
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