Interesting idea --- might bring in some money since basketball is The American's strong suit.

http://college-basketball.si.com/2013/05...?eref=sihp

I'm sure the coaches will just love this proposal.

I don't think this specific idea is workable, but it has my brain working where I think tangential ideas could be successful.

I'm all for more high quality basketball games, but the issue is that if you're going to give a bid to every conference, then it's not differentiated enough from the NCAA Tournament itself. All this idea seems to be is to rehash the previous year's NCAA Tourney played in November and December without most of the at-large teams (AKA money-making power conference teams that would make this idea financially viable). This is quite distinct from the Champions League tournament in soccer, where there isn't any equivalent on the continent.

Honestly, if you're going to set something up like this, then you need to think like a power football conference. The main issue that those power leagues have with the NCAA Tournament is having to share the revenue that they believe (whether you agree with it or not) they're bringing into the system (as the concepts of Cinderella or David doesn't exist if there aren't playing Goliaths). So, if you're going to have a Champions League for basketball, then it would need to be limited in scope to the power leagues plus a small handful of others. Besides, is Michigan State or Duke playing last year's SoCon champ really more interesting than what they normally schedule for non-conference games on their own? You're not necessarily improving regular season basketball quality beyond the final couple of rounds if you're allowing that to happen (at which point you're not really getting better matchups than what the Maui Classic or Preseason NIT are putting together year-to-year).

So, the only way to make this worth it is to have legitimately elite teams playing each other from top-to-bottom and the tournament can't really last for more than 4 games in practicality. I'd take last year's regular season champs (as distinguished from the NCAA Tournament, which gives auto-bids to conference tournament champs) from the 5 football power conferences (Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-12) plus the Big East, AAC and MWC and then leave 8 at-large slots open.

If you really want to suspend reality where time and space aren't issues, the best time to play this tournament would actually be in July or August in a place that people naturally like traveling to (Las Vegas? Madison Square Garden?) when the sports world doesn't have anything other than dog day MLB games and the NFL preseason to watch, so the Champions League would get a good amount of attention and exposure. The NCAA already allows for basketball programs to play exhibition games on a periodic basis during the summer, so this Champions League would organize that concept into something that the fans would actually like to watch and the major conferences can make money off of. This also doesn't disrupt the college basketball regular season, so coaches don't have to worry about getting docked on their NCAA Tournament resumes if they end up losing any games. Essentially, make this into the NBA Summer League (which is moving to a tournament format this year) for colleges.

(05-09-2013 09:57 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  I'm sure the coaches will just love this proposal.

I'm assuming you think they wouldn't. Why not? It would certainly bring some recognition to The American -- since, I would hope, we'd be a multi-bid league every year. Plus it would help with the OOC schedule for those teams since I doubt the Big East wants to do a scheduling deal with us.

(05-09-2013 10:25 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I don't think this specific idea is workable, but it has my brain working where I think tangential ideas could be successful.

I'm all for more high quality basketball games, but the issue is that if you're going to give a bid to every conference, then it's not differentiated enough from the NCAA Tournament itself. All this idea seems to be is to rehash the previous year's NCAA Tourney played in November and December without most of the at-large teams (AKA money-making power conference teams that would make this idea financially viable). This is quite distinct from the Champions League tournament in soccer, where there isn't any equivalent on the continent.

Honestly, if you're going to set something up like this, then you need to think like a power football conference. The main issue that those power leagues have with the NCAA Tournament is having to share the revenue that they believe (whether you agree with it or not) they're bringing into the system (as the concepts of Cinderella or David doesn't exist if there aren't playing Goliaths). So, if you're going to have a Champions League for basketball, then it would need to be limited in scope to the power leagues plus a small handful of others. Besides, is Michigan State or Duke playing last year's SoCon champ really more interesting than what they normally schedule for non-conference games on their own? You're not necessarily improving regular season basketball quality beyond the final couple of rounds if you're allowing that to happen (at which point you're not really getting better matchups than what the Maui Classic or Preseason NIT are putting together year-to-year).

So, the only way to make this worth it is to have legitimately elite teams playing each other from top-to-bottom and the tournament can't really last for more than 4 games in practicality. I'd take last year's regular season champs (as distinguished from the NCAA Tournament, which gives auto-bids to conference tournament champs) from the 5 football power conferences (Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-12) plus the Big East, AAC and MWC and then leave 8 at-large slots open.

If you really want to suspend reality where time and space aren't issues, the best time to play this tournament would actually be in July or August in a place that people naturally like traveling to (Las Vegas? Madison Square Garden?) when the sports world doesn't have anything other than dog day MLB games and the NFL preseason to watch, so the Champions League would get a good amount of attention and exposure. The NCAA already allows for basketball programs to play exhibition games on a periodic basis during the summer, so this Champions League would organize that concept into something that the fans would actually like to watch and the major conferences can make money off of. This also doesn't disrupt the college basketball regular season, so coaches don't have to worry about getting docked on their NCAA Tournament resumes if they end up losing any games. Essentially, make this into the NBA Summer League (which is moving to a tournament format this year) for colleges.

I am just not seeing how this is much different from the NCAA tournament. IMO, this would cannibalize interest from the end of the year tourney. College football and the NFL are very demanding task masters and require all of our collective attention. Like you I am not sure how much 'space' there would be to generate enough interest to make this valued made for TV product when football is so dominant.

(05-09-2013 10:28 AM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(05-09-2013 09:57 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  I'm sure the coaches will just love this proposal.

I'm assuming you think they wouldn't. Why not? It would certainly bring some recognition to The American -- since, I would hope, we'd be a multi-bid league every year. Plus it would help with the OOC schedule for those teams since I doubt the Big East wants to do a scheduling deal with us.

They would not.

Coaches are control freaks who manage their schedules to accomplish specific goals which are good for them, i.e. 20 wins, high profile games they think they can win, etc.

They also have different goals for their teams each year depending on whether it is a young team that needs realistic challenges early in the season as they develop or a veteran team that needs big time challenges to get them ready for a conference championship run and the NCAA tournament to follow.

We all like the idea of course, but there is no way will the coaches want to give away control of their schedules to something like this.

Well it's different from the NCAA Tournament in a couple of obvious ways IMO --- first the invites are based on last year's performance, not the season it's played. It gives a first look at how significant teams from last year have changed. The invites are more limited. And the ultimate reward doesn't await the winner. In short, there's not much of a comparison as I see it ---. As far as The American - I can see real benefits. The interest it would draw since I would suspect we'd get in multiple teams. The boost to the OOC schedule and RPI. And the increased fan interest.

We already have the pre-season NIT and a host of other early season tournaments. I don't see the need for a crazy proposal that changes the landscape of the sport.

(05-09-2013 10:37 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  

(05-09-2013 10:28 AM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(05-09-2013 09:57 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  I'm sure the coaches will just love this proposal.

I'm assuming you think they wouldn't. Why not? It would certainly bring some recognition to The American -- since, I would hope, we'd be a multi-bid league every year. Plus it would help with the OOC schedule for those teams since I doubt the Big East wants to do a scheduling deal with us.

They would not.

Coaches are control freaks who manage their schedules to accomplish specific goals which are good for them, i.e. 20 wins, high profile games they think they can win, etc.

They also have different goals for their teams each year depending on whether it is a young team that needs realistic challenges early in the season as they develop or a veteran team that needs big time challenges to get them ready for a conference championship run and the NCAA tournament to follow.

We all like the idea of course, but there is no way will the coaches want to give away control of their schedules to something like this.

That might be the case in certain situations --- but I for one am of the opinion that coaches at elite basketball programs, who are paid very well, might need to take a hit for the fans and the interest this creates, for the schools they represent and the recognition there, and in the case of The American schools - for decent, nationally relevant, OOC games.

(05-09-2013 10:34 AM)CyberBull Wrote:  I am just not seeing how this is much different from the NCAA tournament. IMO, this would cannibalize interest from the end of the year tourney. College football and the NFL are very demanding task masters and require all of our collective attention. Like you I am not sure how much 'space' there would be to generate enough interest to make this valued made for TV product when football is so dominant.

Oh, I agree. That's why I think that if you're going to do something like this, use the NCAA's summer exhibition rules so that these games are played in July or August when football hasn't started. Those exhibition games are being played already, so this tournament would be a mechanism to organize them. I think it would be a non-starter to have this being played concurrently with the regular season.

IMO saying that a limited tournament *w/ invites based on last year's performance* would draw interest from the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year does not make sense to me. Heck, this is college basketball - with maturing and always learning players. The same significant teams might not even be in both tournaments. And the significant teams that are might not be the same team they were at the beginning of the season than at the end. Anyway --- just my thoughts on this - out :)