Attendance has exceeded 19,000 each and every day of the tourney. As much as the Missouri Tigers departure from the Big XII has left the KC venue at the Sprint Center in jeopardy, the Big XII might want to take a hard look at how awesome KC has been for the Big XII...

With KU and Kstate making it to the championship, and both schools having large alumni numbers in the KC metro, its not surprising. I saw a ton of Iowa St fans in town as well and a few Oklahoma fans. I didn't see a single fan wearing gear from any other school downtown on thurs and friday but I did see a few Texas plates in my parking garage (I work 2 blocks from the Sprint Center)

KU vs KSU in KC for the title = perfect storm you want every year

(03-16-2013 09:07 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  KU vs KSU in KC for the title = perfect storm you want every year

True that the Kansas schools have helped, but Musburger said they have packed the place every day.

Haven't the Jayhawks won 10 regular season titles in a row? I can't imagine being in a conference like that, even if the schools have passionate fans and the tourney draws 19K. Not much drama in that conference.

I'm looking forward to what was the Big East: UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, and Memphis will be fighting it out. And next year I think we still have Louisville.

19k???? Is that the combined total? Most of those games I saw on TV the bottom level was about half full. I smell massive attendance padding.

(03-16-2013 10:10 PM)gocards#1 Wrote:  19k???? Is that the combined total? Most of those games I saw on TV the bottom level was about half full. I smell massive attendance padding.

The local KU/Kstate fans probably bought most of the all session tickets and only went to the games their team was playing in.

Still that is a good total.

Wednesday
Texas Tech vs West Virginia & TCU vs Texas: 17,018

Thursday
Iowa State vs Oklahoma & Texas Tech vs Kansas: 17,996
Texas vs Kansas State & Baylor vs Oklahoma State: 17,257

Friday
Iowa State vs Kansas & Oklahoma State vs Kansas State: 19,160

Saturday
Kansas State vs Kansas: 19,256

The WVU fans that went were impressed with the venue, even though not many went. WVU wasn't expected to go far, and the fan turnout reflected that expectation. They were proven right too...

But the Sprint Center has all the amenities that are lacking at MSG...

(03-16-2013 10:09 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  Haven't the Jayhawks won 10 regular season titles in a row? I can't imagine being in a conference like that, even if the schools have passionate fans and the tourney draws 19K. Not much drama in that conference.

I'm looking forward to what was the Big East: UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, and Memphis will be fighting it out. And next year I think we still have Louisville.

That is like saying I don't want to be SEC because Alabama always wins. Or, I don't want in ACC because Duke always wins.

B12 alternates its basketball tourney from KC, OKC, and Dallas. All three locations are very driveable for most all B12 fans.

Ditto for ACC and Greensboro.

(03-17-2013 08:26 AM)Tallgrass Wrote:  

(03-16-2013 10:09 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  Haven't the Jayhawks won 10 regular season titles in a row? I can't imagine being in a conference like that, even if the schools have passionate fans and the tourney draws 19K. Not much drama in that conference.

I'm looking forward to what was the Big East: UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, and Memphis will be fighting it out. And next year I think we still have Louisville.

That is like saying I don't want to be SEC because Alabama always wins. Or, I don't want in ACC because Duke always wins.

At least Alabama has been challenged in the past by LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, etc.

No one challenges Kansas.

Kansas is a great program but they did benefit a lot from the old divisional match up, especially in the Old Big 12's final years when UT, OU, OSU, BU and A&M all had ranked programs.

The South would beat itself up while KU only had to play each South team once and only half of them away from the Phog. Combine that with a North that included NU, CU (the 2 worst BB teams in the league), an OK but rarely great ISU and KU really only had to get past rivalry games with KSU and MU and they were virtually guaranteed the North title and the #1 seed almost every year.

(03-17-2013 10:27 AM)10thMountain Wrote:  Kansas is a great program but they did benefit a lot from the old divisional match up, especially in the Old Big 12's final years when UT, OU, OSU, BU and A&M all had ranked programs.

The South would beat itself up while KU only had to play each South team once and only half of them away from the Phog. Combine that with a North that included NU, CU (the 2 worst BB teams in the league), an OK but rarely great ISU and KU really only had to get past rivalry games with KSU and MU and they were virtually guaranteed the North title and the #1 seed almost every year.

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to Big XII basketball. First, there is no North or South title unless you're name is Missouri. Those teams you listed have only beaten KU - combined, regular season + Big XII tournament - maybe 12 times in the past 10 years. Total. TOTAL! KU beats them at home, on the road, on neutral courts. The only team that's had any decent success against KU is OSU -- Self is something like 5-4 in Stillwater. KU's also won a NC and been to two NCGs in the past 5 years. The only other FF teams in Big XII history are OU, UT and OSU, in that order.

Like I said, KU is great, but would they have had that level of success if they had to play all the South teams twice each year and one of those always at their places?

I think KU still would have won a lot of trophies, but I also think they wouldn't have 10 straight regular season titles either.

(03-17-2013 08:30 AM)Tallgrass Wrote:  B12 alternates its basketball tourney from KC, OKC, and Dallas. All three locations are very driveable for most all B12 fans.

Ditto for ACC and Greensboro.

http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2013/...e-we-come/

KC has inked a deal with the Big XII through 2016.

KC is ideally located for several current fanbases, even with the loss of Nebraska and Missouri. It helps that KSU is on the upswing, but many other schools travel well for it. There was even a feature in the KC paper this week about WVU alums making the trip. We have a good modern arena and the locals support the tournament well and put in the effort to make it a good experience for visitors.

(03-17-2013 08:23 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The WVU fans that went were impressed with the venue, even though not many went. WVU wasn't expected to go far, and the fan turnout reflected that expectation. They were proven right too...

But the Sprint Center has all the amenities that are lacking at MSG...

You missed out on the renovations at MSG. Top of the line all across the board.

(03-17-2013 03:48 PM)NJRedMan Wrote:  

(03-17-2013 08:23 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The WVU fans that went were impressed with the venue, even though not many went. WVU wasn't expected to go far, and the fan turnout reflected that expectation. They were proven right too...

But the Sprint Center has all the amenities that are lacking at MSG...

You missed out on the renovations at MSG. Top of the line all across the board.

Not really. MSG doesn't have half the space the Sprint Center has. There's just not enough room to put in all the stuff you'll find in KC...