ncaa sites......

[krak-r-jacks]

just a question for those of you who are far more knowledgable about ncaa choosing who plays where. think just about everybody will agree with me that it is such a huge advantage playing on your home court. makes it really, really tough for a "cinderella" to advance. it's the one big negative i see in the women's ncaa game's. well, that and seeing uconn and tenn on tv all the time. but, we all know what rules the games---$$$.

just wish they could figure something out where they could at least play the games on a "neutral" court.

think that's one area sioux fall's could take advantage of---building a new events center, and, building it right. especially for attracting some women's games.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: ncaa sites......

just a question for those of you who are far more knowledgable about ncaa choosing who plays where. think just about everybody will agree with me that it is such a huge advantage playing on your home court. makes it really, really tough for a "cinderella" to advance. it's the one big negative i see in the women's ncaa game's. well, that and seeing uconn and tenn on tv all the time. but, we all know what rules the games---$$$.

just wish they could figure something out where they could at least play the games on a "neutral" court.

think that's one area sioux fall's could take advantage of---building a new events center, and, building it right. especially for attracting some women's games.

Agree with your premise, but unfortunately, it's not going to change. The problem is, also unfortunately, that attendance at women's games, when your own team is not playing, is sparse. Remember the audience at Lubbock, when Texas Tech didn't make the tournament. Our fans did travel (but remember it was also our first time in the Big Dance). And Baylor brought fans, but the income was not near as great as it would have been had Texas Tech been there. So again, it is all about the $$$ and I am afraid there is no change ahead in that scenario.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: ncaa sites......

For the first two rounds I wouldn't imagine the NCAA would go away from the current home court "pods" set up. You're right, it is about the $$$ and that's where the home court comes into play. If you threw first round games into Sioux Falls for example it would be a money pit unless of course SDSU was playing, and then you wouldn't really have a "neutral court".

The unfortunate fact is women's basketball isn't as widely popular as the men's so they need to beef up the $$$ somehow. And also, traditionally in the women's game "cinderella" hasn't existed. You don't often see a double digit seed making the Sweet Sixteen. The top seeds advance because there is a disparity in talent among the elite programs and everyone else.

Men's basketball has popularity on it's side, but the "neutral" courts aren't always that neutral. Duke or UNC playing a game in North Carolina...that's still home court for them. And yes, the lower seeds do make some early noise, but other than Kansas in the Danny Manning era a double digit seed hasn't sniffed a national title in a long, long time.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: ncaa sites......

Agree with your premise, but unfortunately, it's not going to change. The problem is, also unfortunately, that attendance at women's games, when your own team is not playing, is sparse. Remember the audience at Lubbock, when Texas Tech didn't make the tournament. Our fans did travel (but remember it was also our first time in the Big Dance). And Baylor brought fans, but the income was not near as great as it would have been had Texas Tech been there. So again, it is all about the $$$ and I am afraid there is no change ahead in that scenario.

What he said.

[filbert]

Re: ncaa sites......

If Sioux Falls had a better venue -- or for that matter if Brookings was just a bit bigger and had the additional infrastructure (hotels, restaurants, etc) to handle the event, either place could quite probably win a bid to host a first/second round NCAA women's tournament site.

The NCAA would look at SDSU women's basketball attendance over the years, at the Summit League's women's session attendance, would consider that--relatively--the Upper Midwest has been a hotbed of women's basketball for some time now--and you can bet that the Summit League would be delighted to co-host the event with SDSU (and USD).

Iowa State travels well for women's basketball. Nebraska has been known to travel well. SDSU--believe it or not--travels as well for women's basketball as almost everybody below the elites. Green Bay really isn't that far away.

The NCAA doesn't necessarily want to put women's first/second round games in 16-20,000-seat arenas--they're quite happy putting them in modern 8,000-seat venues. If Sioux Falls would build a new 10-12,000-seat facility, this is one event that's just sitting there waiting for S.F. to put in a bid on.

Plus . . . did you notice the attendance at some of the men's first/second (er--second/third) round games? It was pretty bleak, too, unless there was a particularly sexy and/or particularly local-interest matchup.

The thought of SF hosting a women's first/second round is not at all unreasonable--all it needs is an appropriate arena.

[rabidrabbit]

Re: ncaa sites......

Further, these are put out for bid a year or two ahead of time. Please note that Gonzaga hosted a first/second round, and they're in the sweet 16, and had about the best attendance at the games.

Spokane (but not Gonzaga's home court) will also be the Regional center for 3rd/4th rounds to send a team to the final four. Therefore, Gonzaga has the possibility to make it to the final four and not leave town. The Zags knew that had a really good chance to make the WBB dance, and probably backed WSU's bid for the Regional.

With some forthought, Jacks, Bison, Tulsa, Oakland, IUPUI, IPFW all have a shot of hosting a WBB on or near their campus. The Dakotas/Minn/NE/IA should have a WBB 1st round hosted each year. However, before this happens, that Summit school should be a top 75 attendance, and better yet, demonstrated base to come out for games not including the home team. Sioux Falls, with the Summit League Tourney successes, can make that claim. Now the City/taxpayers need to support that modern 10-12K arena.

[jackdaniel]

Re: ncaa sites......

just a question for those of you who are far more knowledgable about ncaa choosing who plays where. think just about everybody will agree with me that it is such a huge advantage playing on your home court. makes it really, really tough for a "cinderella" to advance. it's the one big negative i see in the women's ncaa game's. well, that and seeing uconn and tenn on tv all the time. but, we all know what rules the games---$$$.

just wish they could figure something out where they could at least play the games on a "neutral" court.

think that's one area sioux fall's could take advantage of---building a new events center, and, building it right. especially for attracting some women's games.

Cinderella's are a thing of the past as the NCAA gives more and more top seeds a "home court " advantage.Too bad the selection committee is trying their darndest to make it even more difficult than it already was for "Cinderella" to keep Dancing.That was in the past perhaps the biggest "draw" of the entire tournament.Very short sighted of the selection committee if you ask me.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: ncaa sites......

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/tourna...ory?id=6249777

"We have a spoiled group of fans who assume we are going to win, who assumed we would be in Philadelphia [for the regionals] and be at the Final Four," Auriemma said. "We had the season, the Big East in Hartford and now the NCAA tournament. You are asking them to do a lot. So I think we don't bid on [hosting the NCAA first round] for five years."

Maybe hosting isn't always a great thing.

[SturgisJeff]

Re: ncaa sites......

home court didn' help Xavier last night

[bigticket1]

Re: ncaa sites......

home court didn' help Xavier last night

Or Maryland either.

[krak-r-jacks]

Re: ncaa sites......

appreciate the discussion posters!

just my opinion, but, i believe if sioux falls played their cards right...they could be an exceptional host for Summit and possible ncaa host. plus, the more i think about it, a downtown site would be optimum...but, that's another topic.

i will admit, i have never seen the stats---but, i still believe home court in basketball is "thee" sport now where it can be the toughest place to get a "w".

true, there is such a disparity in the women's game (especially with stanford, tenn, uconn) that it's going to be tough to beat them anywhere---but, i hope you get the jest of my point.

[zooropa]

Re: ncaa sites......

Hosting opening round games is probably the only way SDSU will get even a modicum of respect from the NCAA selection committee. Until then, SDSU is going to be a pawn, a low value poker chip in the selection jackpot.

Regardless of how many consecutive tournament appearances SDSU makes, they will not get a favorable assignment--they'll always be the outlier plugged into a pod that needs a 4th team ('09 & '11 are perfect examples: Xavier, Louisville and Vanderbilt/Baylor, TCU, UTSA)