The conference is based in Macon, with many conference teams in Tennessee and Florida Macon is a central location, and Macon has great facilities. Luther Williams Field seats 3500 and would be great for baseball and softball tournaments while the Macon Coliseum is very large and would be a great venue for both men’s and women’s basketball. The facilities are neutral and are not affiliated with Mercer University. Macon is a smaller community than Nashville, but is large enough to facilitate these events. I believe the Macon Community would also be more supportive of the Atlantic Sun Conference than Nashville; does anyone in Nashville even realize these events are taking place there?

Where should the Atlantic Sun Conference championship games be held?

As a loyal Tennessee Fan, I don't even realize that these games are played here. I think smaller towns would make a better showing for them. It's the same logic that gets washed up celebreties on cruise ships. They know that they will be treated like roaylty if they just downsize.

It should travel around the conference in my opinion with schools making bids to host the tournament. Hosting sites should get back to back years, and then after that have to wait 6 years to reapply. This would spread the wealth around, and at the same time help the conference determine which sites are the most viable for the tournament. I think the conference tournament would do well in a place like Kennesaw....places like ETSU would be good as long as ETSU is in the running.

Maybe some newer A-Sun members, like FGCU, USC Upstate, or Kennesaw, should host? The fan bases at those schools are new to Division 1 and might be helped by having A-Sun championships played at their schools. This would depend on the type of facilities that each of these schools could provide, of course.

Tennesseeisbetter Wrote:As a loyal Tennessee Fan, I don't even realize that these games are played here. I think smaller towns would make a better showing for them. It's the same logic that gets washed up celebreties on cruise ships. They know that they will be treated like roaylty if they just downsize.

I agree 100%. I also agree that every city should have a chance. However, I also believe having the games at a neutral cite in Macon could showcase the whole conference.

I don't see why a neutral site in Macon is necessary, Mercer's arena is very nice and more than capable of hosting without the league paying rent to whoever owns the Macon Coliseum.

Jacksonville's downtown civic center is a thought (does JU draw well there? I have no idea) plus for down the road when they get eligible, Alico Arena (FGCU) and the new building that USC Upstate will build are good candidates besides the places it's already been.

UCFGoldenKnights#1 - three of our four newbies have competent hoops facilities in place already with Upstate about to build theirs.

HatterFan Wrote:I don't see why a neutral site in Macon is necessary, Mercer's arena is very nice and more than capable of hosting without the league paying rent to whoever owns the Macon Coliseum.

Jacksonville's downtown civic center is a thought (does JU draw well there? I have no idea) plus for down the road when they get eligible, Alico Arena (FGCU) and the new building that USC Upstate will build are good candidates besides the places it's already been.

UCFGoldenKnights#1 - three of our four newbies have competent hoops facilities in place already with Upstate about to build theirs.

If the City gets involved it could be more of a production. The neutral cite would help showcase the conference. What I was thinking about was kind of a partnership between the conference and the city in which it is based.

I do agree that Mercer's facilities are very nice though.

I say we should send the tournament to Deland. The Edmunds Center is a top-notch, state of the art facility that would bring in the fans by the dozens!

:D

And thus the problem with the Atlantic Sun

CWG, who are some of the most influential Mercer alumni? Do any Mercer grads hold key positions within Macon's city government? I'm just trying to think of who the university might go to for financial or other support to help bring a conference tournament to Macon.

UCFGoldenKnights#1 Wrote:CWG, who are some of the most influential Mercer alumni? Do any Mercer grads hold key positions within Macon's city government? I'm just trying to think of who the university might go to for financial or other support to help bring a conference tournament to Macon.

The mayor of Macon went to law school at Mercer. I'm not sure about any of the others. I have sent notes to Gumbart, Macon's Mayor, Macon's city council, and the Macon-Bibb Convention and Visitor's bureau about this. So far the convention and visitor's bureau is my only response-but they say they are working on it...