Let the school that wins the regular season championship pick the site for the following year.
Accept bids. Middle Tennessee gets to pick which bid we accept.
Next years winner picks the winning bid the next season.

Stupid? Probably. But hella incentive.

Top 8 teams, higher-seed hosts.

Chatanooga. Just saying, pretty central, neutral site, decent arena, some stuff to do, no body else (other conferences) using it.

(03-11-2018 11:17 PM)banker Wrote:  Chatanooga. Just saying, pretty central, neutral site, decent arena, some stuff to do, no body else (other conferences) using it.

Huntsville.

Split the men and women. Do that, and locations open up exponentially.

(03-11-2018 11:17 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 11:17 PM)banker Wrote:  Chatanooga. Just saying, pretty central, neutral site, decent arena, some stuff to do, no body else (other conferences) using it.

Huntsville.

About the same as Chattanooga. We need somewhere that the east team fans can more easily drive to, especially considering all 4 top seeds were from the east and likely could be next year also. We need to quit hosting things in Texas just to make it convenient for our worthless league office.

I vote Charlotte. Easy flights if needed by teams in the west, plenty of hospitality/hotels, great venues and relatively cheap. All eastern teams' fans could make the drive w/ relative ease/cost. I think rotating between East/West venues would be the best compromise personally and will defer to our western members wherever the hell to put it on the off years.

I'd love New Orleans. But the SBC already has Lakefront locked up and I doubt CUSA could get the SKC.

Top 2 seeds get double byes.

Next 2 seeds get single byes.

Conference tourneys are just "money grabs" anyways.

(03-11-2018 11:40 PM)Von-Bek Wrote:  I vote Charlotte. Easy flights if needed by teams in the west, plenty of hospitality/hotels, great venues and relatively cheap. All eastern teams' fans could make the drive w/ relative ease/cost. I think rotating between East/West venues would be the best compromise personally and will defer to our western members wherever the hell to put it on the off years.

Dallas in the new Dickies arena 13k seats opening in 2019. The AAC has their 2020 tournament there. Rotate between there and Charlotte, where you have Spectrum arena or recently renovated Bojangles Colosseum, which holds 9k and would be the perfect size for CUSA.

(03-11-2018 11:45 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  I'd love New Orleans. But the SBC already has Lakefront locked up and I doubt CUSA could get the SKC.

They could probably get what Ive always called "The Baby Dome", but I doubt they would want to pay what the City wants for it. That was the main reason ECHLs New Orleans Brass left town, the city of New Orleans parks and comm. who runs both the Dome and Baby Dome wanted 45K per night from the Brass in 2004 for 35 dates or 1.575 million dollars a year. We are now talking prices 14 years later for it, its hard to tell what they want per night now.

Nashville, Nashville, Nashville

(03-12-2018 08:11 AM)Theflash Wrote:  Nashville, Nashville, Nashville

Get our AD's off their arses and make it happen.

Where would we play in Nashville. The only arena I can find seats 20,000 and they are home to the Nashville Predators. They just hosted the SEC womens tournament and I doubt they are going to send the Predators on the road for 10 straight days for CUSA. Is there another (more suitable) venue there?

(03-12-2018 09:15 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  Where would we play in Nashville. The only arena I can find seats 20,000 and they are home to the Nashville Predators. They just hosted the SEC womens tournament and I doubt they are going to send the Predators on the road for 10 straight days for CUSA. Is there another (more suitable) venue there?

Municipal Auditorium downtown. Holds 9,700 which would be about the right size for any game other than a MT vs WKU matchup, which would not be big enough. It's an older facility bit is no worse than the facility we played at in Birmingham.

(03-12-2018 09:52 AM)MT FAN Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 09:15 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  Where would we play in Nashville. The only arena I can find seats 20,000 and they are home to the Nashville Predators. They just hosted the SEC womens tournament and I doubt they are going to send the Predators on the road for 10 straight days for CUSA. Is there another (more suitable) venue there?

Municipal Auditorium downtown. Holds 9,700 which would be about the right size for any game other than a MT vs WKU matchup, which would not be big enough. It's an older facility bit is no worse than the facility we played at in Birmingham.

Yep, that would work. Even if MT plays WKU, most people that want to go will be able to. The CAA championships in Richmond with ODU and VCU held 11,992 and that was the perfect amount. This place is a little short of that, but if demand is high enough, the market will sort it out and either you will be happy to have a seat or happy to have the money you sold your seat for.

Mileage-wise, Little Rock and Memphis are the two most central locations... but I also like Biloxi or Gulfport.

If you take out the Texas and Florida schools, the midpoint is exactly in Chattanooga. Little Rock is way too far West. Needs to be either Nashville or somewhere on the line between Huntsville and Roanoke. Maybe rotate between Huntsville for the West schools (UAB, MTSU, WKU, USM, LT) and Roanoke for the East schools (ODU, Charlotte, Marshall). Or that Bristol arena is opening in 2020 and renderings look nice, just too much of a hike for the casual USM and LT fans. May need to start a new conference, let the Texas and Florida schools disperse to the Sun Belt and MWC, and add JMU and App State or Liberty to the East to have 10 for a football championship game. That would be well attended in Roanoke as well as Huntsville.

East
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
JMU
App State

West
MTSU
WKU
LT
USM
UAB

Time for an airport meeting.

Edit: In fact, if we alternate which side hosts the tournament, the Geographical midpoint of the East is between Roanoke and Richmond. Closer to Roanoke if you use App State and Closer to Richmond if you use Liberty. The geographical midpoint of the West is between Tupelo and Huntsville, closer to Tupelo.

(03-12-2018 10:22 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  Mileage-wise, Little Rock and Memphis are the two most central locations... but I also like Biloxi or Gulfport.

Have you ever been in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, I have. Unless its been majorly renovated in the last 12 years its not worth it. And well it also had/has some kinda strange smell in it, no one in our group that used to go could ever pinpoint what it was.

If it's going to be neutral site, it has to be somewhere that is a destination... somewhere the family and I want to visit regardless of the chances of the basketball team we support. When I told my wife we were playing in Frisco this season, her first response was "Where?" then "Will it be on TV?"
Nashville or New Orleans would be great. Being able to walk from the arena to restaurants and hotels is a major plus.