(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

50+ is your prime consumer group. Bar hopping is not a prime concern, a decent restaurant with beer, wine, and mixed drinks suffices.

(03-18-2015 11:12 AM)panama Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 11:05 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Macon was good location for the A-Sun tournament... lets not stoop to the level of the A-Sun tournament.

The only place in Georgia outside of Atlanta that could be fun for a tournament would be Savannah. Tournament time is right when St. Patrick celebrations are kicking off, so that could be a fun environment. Take a horse carriage from the River Street to the Savannah Civic Center.

Not a place to do it every year, but would be fun in a rotation.

Now for my best George Bush impersonation...

Wouldnt the tournament get lost in the St Patrick Day festivities. Practically what happened in NOLA this year with Spring Break and St Patricks Day. And I saw nothing in NOLA advertising that the SBC Championships were going on.

Maybe, but I'm sure we would go unnoticed in most large cities.

I'm not sure if it would overlap every year. The St. Patrick's Day parade was yesterday. I'm sure River Street was booming starting last week.

I think the city could see some value in promoting it since March Madness is heating up. After all, it can only bring in more revenue (hotels/restaurants/bars) for the city. Also Savannah is not so big that you feel you won't see everything. There is enough to do and see around to fill up the time between games.

Can rent a house on Tybee Island during the Tournament if you'd like. Family options.

I do like the bar scene around the downtown area and have felt very safe in the middle of the night.

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

Additionally, very few people are going to voluntarily take a 4-day trip to a place that is the same as, or has fewer options, than the place they live all year. Who in their right mind is going to travel 400 miles to drink Miller Lite at a Chili's?

(03-18-2015 11:14 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

50+ is your prime consumer group. Bar hopping is not a prime concern, a decent restaurant with beer, wine, and mixed drinks suffices.

yep

(03-18-2015 11:41 AM)wb247 Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

Additionally, very few people are going to voluntarily take a 4-day trip to a place that is the same as, or has fewer options, than the place they live all year. Who in their right mind is going to travel 400 miles to drink Miller Lite at a Chili's?

Ever BEEN to a conference tournament?

The middling Tex-Mex place across from Summit Arena did a booming business between sessions. Old guys drinking Mich Ultra and their wives drinking margaritas who raved about what a great place it is.

You don't sell to 30 year olds thinking like a 50 year old and you don't sell to the 50+ crowd thinking like a 30 year old.

This isn't the local food, craft beer crowd, posting pics of their food on Instagram.

(03-18-2015 08:57 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 07:01 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  The one good thing the MVC does is its tournament in St. Louis. Just a great event all around.

Great location and the Valley is full of high attendance schools. While St. Louis is a metro of nearly 3 million, St. Louis within the city limits has less than 400k and has very little tourism business outside summer months sort of a perfect storm.

3 hour drive of 6 schools along with being a major alumni hub for the majority of the schools helps as well. Not to mention its essentially the Valley's schools bowl game.

(03-18-2015 11:41 AM)wb247 Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

Additionally, very few people are going to voluntarily take a 4-day trip to a place that is the same as, or has fewer options, than the place they live all year. Who in their right mind is going to travel 400 miles to drink Miller Lite at a Chili's?

I think you forget that very few young people attend conference tournaments. They are mostly meant for older adults who are retired and have time to travel for several days for these things. They aren't looking for a bar. Going to sit at a local Chili's is perfectly fine to them.

This isn't college football

(03-18-2015 11:14 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

50+ is your prime consumer group. Bar hopping is not a prime concern, a decent restaurant with beer, wine, and mixed drinks suffices.

My wife was ready to "party" after the UALR women won on Saturday night. Most of the traveling fans were ready for bed. But, I really didn't want to travel to Bourbon Street (after having been there all day) since our hotel was about 20-30 minutes from downtown. If there had been a sports bar near the arena that would have been perfect. But the only decent restaurant near the arena (East of Italy) closed at 9 pm. I would think any city that has been mentioned would have some decent restaurants/sports bars near their arenas that would be open past 9 pm. UNO has none nearby, that our fans would feel safe going to, that I could find. Most fans are going for the basketball. All I am looking for is some decent restaurants, possibly with some local cuisine. Most cities we are talking about have a nice mall or two, and some local culture (museums, landmarks, local shops/galleries) to explore. Just don't think us "over 50's" are looking for a lot more than that. If we were in Huntsville, I'd enjoy going to the Space Center- of course, once might be enough. But, then again Bourbon Street gets old after 2 or 3 years as well. I think it needs to be moved around with an East/West format making the most sense for all involved.

(03-18-2015 12:34 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 11:41 AM)wb247 Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

Additionally, very few people are going to voluntarily take a 4-day trip to a place that is the same as, or has fewer options, than the place they live all year. Who in their right mind is going to travel 400 miles to drink Miller Lite at a Chili's?

I think you forget that very few young people attend conference tournaments. They are mostly meant for older adults who are retired and have time to travel for several days for these things. They aren't looking for a bar. Going to sit at a local Chili's is perfectly fine to them.

This isn't college football

WKU and MTSU brought decent sized groups to Hot Springs, UNT did OK, but you saw few students, because few students even pooling their money can afford three or four nights of hotels and eating restaurant food.

And forget people with kids in school. Few people pull the kids from a couple days of school for basketball. We have people complaining about the kids missing the first day back from Christmas break and miss the bowl game.

(03-18-2015 12:27 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Ever BEEN to a conference tournament?

Yes, several. For multiple conferences. What's your point?

Chili's, etc is going to be anywhere and likely an acceptable solution for, "Honey, I'm tired, let's get something quick and go to the hotel." However, my experiences show the event is more fun with schools renting out a portion of a restaurant for multiple pregame and postgame events every day. Chili's is not an acceptable solution for that. Not because it won't work, but because they won't risk turning down business. Bar-hopping isn't absolutely necessary, but a "home" bar is necessary. That means you need enough for every team in the conference and, at the same time, not shut down every restaurant in town for the locals and other visitors.

Beer/wine/liquor and delivery in the hotel room is perfectly acceptable for 1 or 2 days, but boring every day. Part of the appeal of a conference tourney is interacting with fans of your school and other schools. Part of it is young alumni networking with old alumni.

It's no real problem to cater to the 50+ crowd. Just go somewhere that isn't exactly like home or doesn't make them feel like they're on a business trip. The city then comes in with their own hype machine to show them that their attendance is appreciated and make them not feel like an afterthought in the planning process.

(03-18-2015 12:34 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  I think you forget that very few young people attend conference tournaments. They are mostly meant for older adults who are retired and have time to travel for several days for these things. ...

This isn't college football

Maybe that's the problem.

If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  We have a long way to go.

And with only a donkey to ride on.

(03-18-2015 02:12 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  We have a long way to go.

And with only a donkey to ride on.

and a blind donkey at that.

(03-18-2015 01:36 PM)wb247 Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:27 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Ever BEEN to a conference tournament?

Yes, several. For multiple conferences. What's your point?

Chili's, etc is going to be anywhere and likely an acceptable solution for, "Honey, I'm tired, let's get something quick and go to the hotel." However, my experiences show the event is more fun with schools renting out a portion of a restaurant for multiple pregame and postgame events every day. Chili's is not an acceptable solution for that. Not because it won't work, but because they won't risk turning down business. Bar-hopping isn't absolutely necessary, but a "home" bar is necessary. That means you need enough for every team in the conference and, at the same time, not shut down every restaurant in town for the locals and other visitors.

Beer/wine/liquor and delivery in the hotel room is perfectly acceptable for 1 or 2 days, but boring every day. Part of the appeal of a conference tourney is interacting with fans of your school and other schools. Part of it is young alumni networking with old alumni.

It's no real problem to cater to the 50+ crowd. Just go somewhere that isn't exactly like home or doesn't make them feel like they're on a business trip. The city then comes in with their own hype machine to show them that their attendance is appreciated and make them not feel like an afterthought in the planning process.

(03-18-2015 12:34 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  I think you forget that very few young people attend conference tournaments. They are mostly meant for older adults who are retired and have time to travel for several days for these things. ...

This isn't college football

Maybe that's the problem.

First. This is 2015. Any city of 100,000 or more has some really good independent restaurants.

Second. My point is that a comfortable place with a credible meal and drinks is essential. After that its freaking gravy. If someone is wanting to take a trip to experience fine dining they go NY, LA, SF and yes New Orleans, but that's not what sells tickets to a basketball tournament.

The primary sales point is watch your team, most people watch more than just their team play, they watch other games as well. At the core the city needs basic amenities (ample supply of good reasonably priced hotels, a basketball venue, places to eat and shop near the venue).

If a city offers world class food but it takes a half hour to get to it from the arena and the only thing close is McDonalds and Subway fans hate it because there is no good food nearby.

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

(03-18-2015 03:09 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

I would assume that a ULL vs. ULM final would have brought a pretty darn good crowd to Lakefront. Two Ga teams aren't going to do it. If you don't have ULL, ULM, or USA in the final, Lakefront is guaranteed to be more than 80-90% empty. Is there a city in the South where folks really love college basketball and would come out just to see some good midmajor basketball? Kind of like Dayton for the First Four? I don't think there is, but if there was, that's where we should hold our tourney.

(03-18-2015 03:09 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

Still would have had several thousand more than we had. Simply no comparison.

(03-18-2015 03:37 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 03:09 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

I would assume that a ULL vs. ULM final would have brought a pretty darn good crowd to Lakefront. Two Ga teams aren't going to do it. If you don't have ULL, ULM, or USA in the final, Lakefront is guaranteed to be more than 80-90% empty. Is there a city in the South where folks really love college basketball and would come out just to see some good midmajor basketball? Kind of like Dayton for the First Four? I don't think there is, but if there was, that's where we should hold our tourney.

Memphis
Birmingham

(03-18-2015 04:40 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 03:37 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 03:09 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

I would assume that a ULL vs. ULM final would have brought a pretty darn good crowd to Lakefront. Two Ga teams aren't going to do it. If you don't have ULL, ULM, or USA in the final, Lakefront is guaranteed to be more than 80-90% empty. Is there a city in the South where folks really love college basketball and would come out just to see some good midmajor basketball? Kind of like Dayton for the First Four? I don't think there is, but if there was, that's where we should hold our tourney.

Memphis
Birmingham

I've always said the Landers Center in Southaven would be great for the Sun Belt (especially when MTSU and WKU were in). It's out in suburban sprawl land but about halfway between Beale Street and the Mississippi casinos.

(03-18-2015 05:05 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 04:40 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 03:37 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 03:09 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 02:03 PM)panama Wrote:  If anyone Has the Watch ESPN app, go take a look at the replay of the AAC Championship game . We have a long way to go.

Wasn't that played in Hartford CT with UConn playing in the finals? That's like a half hour from UConn's campus in a city I'll wager has the highest population of UConn alums. If it had been SMU vs. Tulsa in Hartford do you think it would have been the same?

I would assume that a ULL vs. ULM final would have brought a pretty darn good crowd to Lakefront. Two Ga teams aren't going to do it. If you don't have ULL, ULM, or USA in the final, Lakefront is guaranteed to be more than 80-90% empty. Is there a city in the South where folks really love college basketball and would come out just to see some good midmajor basketball? Kind of like Dayton for the First Four? I don't think there is, but if there was, that's where we should hold our tourney.

Memphis
Birmingham

I've always said the Landers Center in Southaven would be great for the Sun Belt (especially when MTSU and WKU were in). It's out in suburban sprawl land but about halfway between Beale Street and the Mississippi casinos.

It would certainly be great for AState. But, I also think it is a site we should look at. Seems like about as central a location as we could get. I'd like to know if King Karl will be ready to open up discussions about moving it someplace other than New Orleans. I have to admit, I've had fun down there, but it stinks having it in a city that couldn't care less if we were there or not. Also the costs are too much for your average Sun Belt fan.