hold it in some centrally localized high school gym, that is all we would need Even if the home team holds court...

These dumb post by newbies who we double up in attendance is crazy.

The tournament should be held by the city with the biggest guarantee, and usually that will be by the school with the best chance of winning... All this bs about your school averaging high attendance numbers and SEVERAL FANS OF OTHER SCHOOLS TRAVELING is a bunch of hogwash. Which schools averaged over 5k this year? I guarantee you it ain't one of you "centralized schools".

For curiousity sake....what was your, and other Miner fans, guess on attendance figures for the visiting teams for the tourney. Granted FIU was ineligible so you can omit them

No more than 300 including the band, cheer & dance teams. La Tech and MTSU had the most fans.

You're crazy if you think having it near MT/WKU/UAB isn't more beneficial from a economic impact and attendance standpoint than having it on an island where only the home team will have a decent amount of fans.

Just for kicks I looked up the driving distance for all of the schools to Knoxville, TN (not saying it should be there, but it was a central location to most schools). WKU,MTSU,UNCC, UAB, and Marshall are within 4 hours, ODU & USM are 8 hours, and LA Tech 9 hours. All are within one day driving distance.

As to the other schools, sorry UTEP no matter where you put it its not going to be conducive to your fans, UTSA, FIU, FAU, and Rice just do not have the basketball fan bases to justify putting it near them.

(03-16-2014 10:00 AM)HHHERD Wrote:  Just for kicks I looked up the driving distance for all of the schools to Knoxville, TN (not saying it should be there, but it was a central location to most schools). WKU,MTSU,UNCC, UAB, and Marshall are within 4 hours, ODU & USM are 8 hours, and LA Tech 9 hours. All are within one day driving distance.

As to the other schools, sorry UTEP no matter where you put it its not going to be conducive to your fans, UTSA, FIU, FAU, and Rice just do not have the basketball fan bases to justify putting it near them.

Knoxville would be an interesting choice. Don't know if it can work but you can't argue with that many schools being within a day's drive.

(03-16-2014 10:05 AM)MTowho Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:00 AM)HHHERD Wrote:  Just for kicks I looked up the driving distance for all of the schools to Knoxville, TN (not saying it should be there, but it was a central location to most schools). WKU,MTSU,UNCC, UAB, and Marshall are within 4 hours, ODU & USM are 8 hours, and LA Tech 9 hours. All are within one day driving distance.

As to the other schools, sorry UTEP no matter where you put it its not going to be conducive to your fans, UTSA, FIU, FAU, and Rice just do not have the basketball fan bases to justify putting it near them.

Knoxville would be an interesting choice. Don't know if it can work but you can't argue with that many schools being within a day's drive.

Nashville would be a nicer location. What are the driving distances to Nashville?

(03-16-2014 10:07 AM)Funslinger Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:05 AM)MTowho Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:00 AM)HHHERD Wrote:  Just for kicks I looked up the driving distance for all of the schools to Knoxville, TN (not saying it should be there, but it was a central location to most schools). WKU,MTSU,UNCC, UAB, and Marshall are within 4 hours, ODU & USM are 8 hours, and LA Tech 9 hours. All are within one day driving distance.

As to the other schools, sorry UTEP no matter where you put it its not going to be conducive to your fans, UTSA, FIU, FAU, and Rice just do not have the basketball fan bases to justify putting it near them.

Knoxville would be an interesting choice. Don't know if it can work but you can't argue with that many schools being within a day's drive.

Nashville would be a nicer location. What are the driving distances to Nashville?

Nashville is THE perfect location. So perfect that the SEC has locked it up for the next 12 or so years, so it's off the table.

If the CUSA tournament is played in Texas, it should be played in DFW.

My personal preference and recommendation would be a rotation between DFW, Birmingham, and Charlotte.

(03-16-2014 10:10 AM)MTowho Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:07 AM)Funslinger Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:05 AM)MTowho Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:00 AM)HHHERD Wrote:  Just for kicks I looked up the driving distance for all of the schools to Knoxville, TN (not saying it should be there, but it was a central location to most schools). WKU,MTSU,UNCC, UAB, and Marshall are within 4 hours, ODU & USM are 8 hours, and LA Tech 9 hours. All are within one day driving distance.

As to the other schools, sorry UTEP no matter where you put it its not going to be conducive to your fans, UTSA, FIU, FAU, and Rice just do not have the basketball fan bases to justify putting it near them.

Knoxville would be an interesting choice. Don't know if it can work but you can't argue with that many schools being within a day's drive.

Nashville would be a nicer location. What are the driving distances to Nashville?

Nashville is THE perfect location. So perfect that the SEC has locked it up for the next 12 or so years, so it's off the table.

If the CUSA tournament is played in Texas, it should be played in DFW.

My personal preference and recommendation would be a rotation between DFW, Birmingham, and Charlotte.

The city isn't off the table, just the Bridgestone Arena. Last season the Ohio Valley Conference held its tournament across town in Municipal Auditorium. C-USA is targeting Nashville for 2017.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/sp...her-events

Look for a strong push from Biloxi, MS in the near future.

(03-16-2014 10:31 AM)Noodles Wrote:  Look for a strong push from Biloxi, MS in the near future.

Biloxi is an interesting choice. The casinos could be fun. What type of arena facility do they have?

(03-16-2014 11:50 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:31 AM)Noodles Wrote:  Look for a strong push from Biloxi, MS in the near future.

Biloxi is an interesting choice. The casinos could be fun. What type of arena facility do they have?

An arena on the MS Gulf Coast that was renovated post-Katrina. (Notice the beach at the bottom of pic)

Maybe if we keep having it in El Paso, CUSA will realize we are too far away and kick us out.

(03-16-2014 11:53 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 11:50 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:31 AM)Noodles Wrote:  Look for a strong push from Biloxi, MS in the near future.

Biloxi is an interesting choice. The casinos could be fun. What type of arena facility do they have?

An arena on the MS Gulf Coast that was renovated post-Katrina. (Notice the beach at the bottom of pic)

lol...beach, casinos, conference tournament---sounds like a fun week. Some spring breaks fall around that time as well. With multiple schools within driving distance of the area, I could see this location as a fun option (assuming the renovated arena meets the CUSA needs).

(03-16-2014 12:33 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 11:53 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 11:50 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-16-2014 10:31 AM)Noodles Wrote:  Look for a strong push from Biloxi, MS in the near future.

Biloxi is an interesting choice. The casinos could be fun. What type of arena facility do they have?

An arena on the MS Gulf Coast that was renovated post-Katrina. (Notice the beach at the bottom of pic)

lol...beach, casinos, conference tournament---sounds like a fun week. Some spring breaks fall around that time as well. I could see this location as a fun option.

Add in the fact that you have 3 airports nearby (Gulfport, New Orleans, and Mobile) and you have several options of getting there. Not sure about a plan for the womens tourney though. USM's men team played in one of the high school gyms there several years back as part of a Christmas tourney so I'd assume that would suffice

Flights from Charlotte to Gulfport aren't completely unreasonable and I'm sure there is a shuttle from GFP to Biloxi since it is only 13 miles. That's one non-driving distance location I'd actually give serious consideration to attending.

Interesting points in today's local newspaper. Several things have to be in place for a city to bid for the tourney. The city must have two facilities for the men's and women's games. There have to be a certain amount of hotels in the immediate area. El Paso has not put in an official bid but the conference has been told we will gladly host again if another city does not put in a qualifying bid.

(03-16-2014 02:03 PM)mistabinks Wrote:  Interesting points in today's local newspaper. Several things have to be in place for a city to bid for the tourney. The city must have two facilities for the men's and women's games. There have to be a certain amount of hotels in the immediate area. El Paso has not put in an official bid but the conference has been told we will gladly host again if another city does not put in a qualifying bid.

So there.

You can see the convention center behind the Gulf Coast Coliseum...you can always put down a basketball court and stands...that's how the Atlantis resort gets to hold a basketball tourney.

Before:


After:


That would be fine for the women's tourney.