In my book you must choose a location with good basketball support and a school that does well in the sport on a consistent basis .
That narrows it to UConn,UC or Memphis.
Then you want as central location as possible where other fans can drive yo if their teams make a run or easy to fly into.

I think Memphis is the best location if you are making it permanent. The other three and maybe Philly if you are going yo rotate it. Find a 10k size arena if possible to host it

(03-13-2016 10:59 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(03-13-2016 10:55 AM)CornellCoog Wrote:  Lets cut to the chase. The problem is our conference is too spread out. Let's compare;

UConn vs. Memphis in Orlando. Memphis is about 700 miles away and Storrs is nearly 1,200 miles away.

Seton Hall vs. Villanova in Manhattan. SHU is literally 30 minutes across the Hudson and Nova is a short train ride away.

Kansas vs. West Virginia. KU is literally right down the road and Kansas City is their biggest alumni base. West Virginia had a handful of fans in the arena; likely far fewer than UConn has in Orlando.

Michigan State vs. Purdue. Purdue is an hour away and Indianapolis is loaded with Purdue fans. Michigan State is just 3-4 hours away. Easy drives for both fan bases.

Utah vs. Oregon. Salt Lake to Vegas is just over 5 hours but the state line of Utah is just an hour away. Oregon is quite a bit further and hence why the Ducks were so outnumbered.

Announcers yesterday said that UCONN had the most fans at the tournament this year.

They easily did...and have also had the largest crowd for UCONN games at UCF's on-campus arena too...as UCONN doesn't even need 1 fan from CT to fly down for the tourn...as there are soooooooooooooooo many alumni (and non-alumni fans) that live in the Central FL area that they are coming out in large numbers (relative...as even 1,000 UCONN fans looks like 10,000 if the game was played in a crowded arena.

(03-13-2016 11:01 AM)Cubanbull Wrote:  In my book you must choose a location with good basketball support and a school that does well in the sport on a consistent basis .
That narrows it to UConn,UC or Memphis.
Then you want as central location as possible where other fans can drive yo if their teams make a run or easy to fly into.

I think Memphis is the best location if you are making it permanent. The other three and maybe Philly if you are going yo rotate it. Find a 10k size arena if possible to host it

That's why UC's soon to be newly renovated arena (10,818 capacity) would probably be the perfect fit...and during most "normal" Memphis seasons (i.e. good seasons), Tiger fans are only a 7 plus hour drive away.

Or the 8,800 seat Palestra...with all of his pageantry/history...that would actually look cool on TV...could be a good spot, let alone a "draw" for visiting fans. (No offense to Temple's 10,000 seat on-campus arena...but it doesn't have the flair/draw of a "big game" at the Palestra).

Now that the Ivy League will host a "Final Four" Conf Playoff at the Palestra in coming years (over 2 days), maybe the AAC could piggy back off that 2 day show and make it a "week long" hoop tournament "city".

(03-13-2016 11:04 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(03-13-2016 10:59 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(03-13-2016 10:55 AM)CornellCoog Wrote:  Lets cut to the chase. The problem is our conference is too spread out. Let's compare;

UConn vs. Memphis in Orlando. Memphis is about 700 miles away and Storrs is nearly 1,200 miles away.

Seton Hall vs. Villanova in Manhattan. SHU is literally 30 minutes across the Hudson and Nova is a short train ride away.

Kansas vs. West Virginia. KU is literally right down the road and Kansas City is their biggest alumni base. West Virginia had a handful of fans in the arena; likely far fewer than UConn has in Orlando.

Michigan State vs. Purdue. Purdue is an hour away and Indianapolis is loaded with Purdue fans. Michigan State is just 3-4 hours away. Easy drives for both fan bases.

Utah vs. Oregon. Salt Lake to Vegas is just over 5 hours but the state line of Utah is just an hour away. Oregon is quite a bit further and hence why the Ducks were so outnumbered.

Announcers yesterday said that UCONN had the most fans at the tournament this year.

They easily did...and have also had the largest crowd for UCONN games at UCF's on-campus arena too...as UCONN doesn't even need 1 fan from CT to fly down for the tourn...as there are soooooooooooooooo many alumni (and non-alumni fans) that live in the Central FL area that they are coming out in large numbers (relative...as even 1,000 UCONN fans looks like 10,000 if the game was played in a crowded arena.

Snowbirds flocking!!

Isn't it a basic truth that wherever it's held, early afternoon tournament games with low seed teams located far from the host city will not be well attended? It's a tournament not a stand alone game. Marquis games in prime time are always better attended. I get tired of seeing these pics slapped in our face as if it's representative.

Plus, lets face it after only 3 years we just don't have the long histories yet that build up support. For where we are at 3 years, we're doing great, but to expect low seed early tourney games to be packed is ridiculous.

All that considered, I think Orlando will do very well, as would Tampa. Who does not want a trip to Florida in March???

(03-13-2016 10:59 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(03-13-2016 10:55 AM)CornellCoog Wrote:  Lets cut to the chase. The problem is our conference is too spread out. Let's compare;

UConn vs. Memphis in Orlando. Memphis is about 700 miles away and Storrs is nearly 1,200 miles away.

Seton Hall vs. Villanova in Manhattan. SHU is literally 30 minutes across the Hudson and Nova is a short train ride away.

Kansas vs. West Virginia. KU is literally right down the road and Kansas City is their biggest alumni base. West Virginia had a handful of fans in the arena; likely far fewer than UConn has in Orlando.

Michigan State vs. Purdue. Purdue is an hour away and Indianapolis is loaded with Purdue fans. Michigan State is just 3-4 hours away. Easy drives for both fan bases.

Utah vs. Oregon. Salt Lake to Vegas is just over 5 hours but the state line of Utah is just an hour away. Oregon is quite a bit further and hence why the Ducks were so outnumbered.

Announcers yesterday said that UCONN had the most fans at the tournament this year.

I read that UConn has about 2,500 fans there.

(03-13-2016 10:17 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  The AAC needs to get away from Orlando ASAP. This tournament show-out has been embarrassing. Move it back to Connecticut or up to Cincinnati.

Same night as the Memphis/Tulsa and Houston/Tulane Quarterfinal games above on Friday night...1 mile down the street over 29,000 fans showed up for the MLS game at the Citrus Bowl between Orlando and Chicago. (29,000 is actually on the smaller Orlando City crowds as most home games on Saturday/Sunday draw larger crowds).

Will Cinch still be a member in 2018? That's a bigger question.

I said it before and I'll say it again, move it to New York/NJ or Philly.

(03-04-2016 11:33 AM)MemphisTigerFreak Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:13 AM)uhmump95 Wrote:  Is Memphis not bidding on this? I think they would be a good tourney destination.

What is basketball?

The thing where Memphis wins hardware.

(03-13-2016 09:54 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  AAC Tourn is now a laughing stock on national sports talk radio and social media because of poor tournament attendance.

With "dozens" of fans in attendance for the Quarterfinals on Friday Night and for the 2nd Semi-final game on Saturday, both of those games on ESPN2 became a laugh track to others wanting to rip on the conf.

Regardless if the City of Orlando/Central Florida Sports Org that "bought" the 2016 and 2018 tournaments...should the AAC "buyout/cancel" the 2018 and place it in say Cincinnati, that will be reopening their on-campus arena after an almost $90 Million re-do?

Are anyone but Big East fans (and fans of AAC schools down on the AAC) doing the laughing? Because we might not be the most unbiased evaluators when it comes to you guys.

AAC...lol

Yeah Amway was a mistake. IF you're going to have it in Orlando, it needs to be on campus at CFE Arena. Yeah it would suck for downtown Orlando access, but meh.

Otherwise it doesn't need to be in Amway again. The only chance the conference has to get good attendance there is if one or both UCF and USF are good. And at least for UCF, that may be awhile.

Serious questions if anyone has the answers at hand--How was attendance in Hartford last year compared to Orlando?

I went to the tourney in Memphis 2 yrs ago--both the Memphis-Uconn and the finals with Louisville-UConn drew over 10,000 as I recall. But aside from those I think attendance was pretty awful.

I suspect the non-UConn games at Hartford weren't well attended as well.

This just isnt the kind of conference that's going to draw well outside a home crowd favorote given how distant the schools are. SEC in Nashville does ok--half the league is an easy 4 hr. drive away.

(03-13-2016 01:01 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:33 AM)MemphisTigerFreak Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:13 AM)uhmump95 Wrote:  Is Memphis not bidding on this? I think they would be a good tourney destination.

What is basketball?

The thing where Memphis wins hardware.

Hey, we won an AAC co-champ in FB in 2014, plus the Miami Beach Bowl trophy.

UCONN fans sounded pretty loud during that timeout. ...

(03-04-2016 11:33 AM)MemphisTigerFreak Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:13 AM)uhmump95 Wrote:  Is Memphis not bidding on this? I think they would be a good tourney destination.

What is basketball?

After football is over they do this thing where they push a pumpkin down a hard floor. People in Houston seem to like it. I've seen dozens of people gather to watch this strange event. Cheers!

(03-13-2016 01:56 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  Serious questions if anyone has the answers at hand--How was attendance in Hartford last year compared to Orlando?

I went to the tourney in Memphis 2 yrs ago--both the Memphis-Uconn and the finals with Louisville-UConn drew over 10,000 as I recall. But aside from those I think attendance was pretty awful.

I suspect the non-UConn games at Hartford weren't well attended as well.

This just isnt the kind of conference that's going to draw well outside a home crowd favorote given how distant the schools are. SEC in Nashville does ok--half the league is an easy 4 hr. drive away.

I'll look for the numbers but do think it was better in Hartford overall.

Raleigh

I thought Memphis was a good location.