(03-08-2019 01:04 PM)_x_ Wrote:  That's exactly what they're going to next year right?

All games played on campus sites until the final 4 and it's moving from Lakefront to Smoothie King next year. That's off the top of my head so I could be mistaken, but I believe that's what they're doing starting in 2020.

That's correct. Do the top 2 seeds still get double-byes? If they don't no one can really make advance plane reservations if they don't know they'll be in New Orleans. Even if they do, all the other teams can't make advance reservations. Seems like we should either have a true tournament in a central city or just go to campus sites. I think I like this year's set-up better, with 8 teams going to New Orleans. I guess getting the Smoothie Center for more than 2 days was too expensive.

Exact same format as this year (11 and 12 not invited, 7-10 play in first round, 5-6 byes to the 2nd round, 3-4 double byes to the quarterfinals, 1-2 triple byes to the semifinals).

First round, second round, and quarterfinals will be held on campus sites at the higher seed.
Semifinals and championship at Smoothie King Center.

(03-08-2019 10:08 AM)sdcritter Wrote:  People are tired of New Orleans. It should not be at the site of the #1 seed but there are multiple neutral sites that can be had for the same money spent on that venue. I heard lots of good reviews when the Hot Springs Convention Center hosted here in Arkansas for a couple of years.

Let's just leave it in The Big Easy. There is no better place. Hot Springs? You have to be joking.

(03-08-2019 11:45 AM)grumpdoggMav Wrote:  I'd be in favor of it being in Memphis, but only because I'm only 3.5 hours away in St Louis haha.

I think Memphis would end up being a similar turnout to New Orleans. I think overall the conference fan bases aren't too interested in travelling to watch the tournament. I'd like to see what kind of money they get out of the conference tourney. Unless they have a really good deal on the arena they have to be losing money.

The City of Memphis would never host this thing, but Southaven, MS has a brand new civic center that hosts Minor League Hockey and a G League team. Its about 5,000 seats and would be perfect for this type tournament. And from what I've gathered, I don't think they'd be against hosting a conference tournament if they could get it.

Still, the new Smoothie King format with a bunch of rounds at campus sites is much better than Lakefront

(03-08-2019 01:35 PM)JoeJag Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 10:08 AM)sdcritter Wrote:  People are tired of New Orleans. It should not be at the site of the #1 seed but there are multiple neutral sites that can be had for the same money spent on that venue. I heard lots of good reviews when the Hot Springs Convention Center hosted here in Arkansas for a couple of years.

Let's just leave it in The Big Easy. There is no better place. Hot Springs? You have to be joking.

Joe, I don't know you but your condescending reply is uncalled for.

The Sun Belt hosted the tournament there 2009-2013. While it might not be your dream location the feedback from fans that I spoke to were that they enjoyed it. I'm sure that was primarily because it wasn't in New Orleans again. I was simply pointing out that fans would welcome the change of location.

It probably doesn't matter too much where it is played next year. Two of the teams going probably won't be determined until a week before the tournament. The other two teams won't be determined until three days before the tournament.

What about Niceville, FL? Northwest Florida State Community College has a nice arena and is about 25 minutes from Destin. Fans could be shuttled from beaches to arena. Also spring break might coincide with team's games which would bring out some students.

http://www.nwfraiders.com/athletics/faci...2073642996

The Emerald Coast Classic is held here with some pretty big teams
https://www.emeraldcoastclassic.com/



Chattanooga or Huntsville would be a nice place to host.

(03-08-2019 02:26 PM)sdcritter Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 01:35 PM)JoeJag Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 10:08 AM)sdcritter Wrote:  People are tired of New Orleans. It should not be at the site of the #1 seed but there are multiple neutral sites that can be had for the same money spent on that venue. I heard lots of good reviews when the Hot Springs Convention Center hosted here in Arkansas for a couple of years.

Let's just leave it in The Big Easy. There is no better place. Hot Springs? You have to be joking.

Joe, I don't know you but your condescending reply is uncalled for.

The Sun Belt hosted the tournament there 2009-2013. While it might not be your dream location the feedback from fans that I spoke to were that they enjoyed it. I'm sure that was primarily because it wasn't in New Orleans again. I was simply pointing out that fans would welcome the change of location.

Oh, so sorry, critter, didn't realize you were so sensitive. I still would like for the tourney to remain in New Orleans, but maybe that's just me. Have a nice day, critter.

(03-08-2019 11:38 AM)CajunAmos Wrote:  For a neutral site I wouldn't mind somewhere along the gulf coast. I wouldn't be in favor of a "neutral" site location in the home town or a 20 minute drive of a member institution. Jackson MS or Birmingham AL would be more centralized from an inland perspective. The only other choice might be a vacation type spot that has plenty of cheap air fare options like maybe Orlando.

I wouldn't mind seeing it moved to Biloxi. You've got beaches, a decent airport (Gulfport) and legal sportsbetting at the casinos and I'm sure they'd embrace it as an event. Just a thought.

(03-08-2019 04:33 PM)airtroop Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 11:38 AM)CajunAmos Wrote:  For a neutral site I wouldn't mind somewhere along the gulf coast. I wouldn't be in favor of a "neutral" site location in the home town or a 20 minute drive of a member institution. Jackson MS or Birmingham AL would be more centralized from an inland perspective. The only other choice might be a vacation type spot that has plenty of cheap air fare options like maybe Orlando.

I wouldn't mind seeing it moved to Biloxi. You've got beaches, a decent airport (Gulfport) and legal sportsbetting at the casinos and I'm sure they'd embrace it as an event. Just a thought.

Bingo! Now, there's a great idea. Biloxi has a very nice coliseum, good hotels, restaurants, entertainment and at the Gulf beaches.

This is why I long for the days of Hot Springs being the host site

Never mind my regional bias, it was a perfect set up: tourist destination with a lot for families and traveling fans to do yet small enough to really get behind the tournament itself and blast the hell out of it; with the exception of Troy (a little over 8 hours) and the two Florida schools, the trip to hot springs was pretty manageable for the majority of the Belt, all within 6-7 hours. The venue where it was played was a convention center that had the capability of having two basketball courts with stands (one could hold around 5,000 the other I believe around 2,000?) it offered the unique aspects of not only having multiple games going on but allowing to fans to traverse from one game to another. The times I went on top of the Arkansas schools representing well, i distinctly remember An abundance of WKU, UNT, And MTSU fans throughout the city.

It’s astounding to me how TMO is adamantly against going back to hot springs and is a propnent if staying in New Orleans or moving to the likes of Atlanta or Arlington (I’m not necessarily against Arlington but I think we’d have the same problems in Atlanta that the tournament has in the crescent city, in which nobody knows about it or goes because it’s lost in the shuffle of the gazillion other things going on the both cities)

Chattanooga would be a good place to get the locals involved.

He Southern conference is having their tourney right now in Asheville and the locals welcome it and it's a great event, even in an old arena.

(03-08-2019 05:24 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  The venue where it was played was a convention center that had the capability of having two basketball courts with stands (one could hold around 5,000 the other I believe around 2,000?) it offered the unique aspects of not only having multiple games going on but allowing to fans to traverse from one game to another.

You mean like the CUSA setup people were making fun of a few posts up?

(03-08-2019 06:30 PM)_x_ Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 05:24 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  The venue where it was played was a convention center that had the capability of having two basketball courts with stands (one could hold around 5,000 the other I believe around 2,000?) it offered the unique aspects of not only having multiple games going on but allowing to fans to traverse from one game to another.

You mean like the CUSA setup people were making fun of a few posts up?

I haven’t seen the Hot Springs court setup, but I’m sure it’s not an AAU setup like CUSA has

(03-08-2019 07:32 PM)debragga Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 06:30 PM)_x_ Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 05:24 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  The venue where it was played was a convention center that had the capability of having two basketball courts with stands (one could hold around 5,000 the other I believe around 2,000?) it offered the unique aspects of not only having multiple games going on but allowing to fans to traverse from one game to another.

You mean like the CUSA setup people were making fun of a few posts up?

I haven’t seen the Hot Springs court setup, but I’m sure it’s not an AAU setup like CUSA has

Hot Springs isn't a bad place to be in spring with the horse track and all . . . if there were a rotation for the SBC conference tourney Hot Springs would be a good location to be in such a rotation. Plus there is a gangster museum!

(03-08-2019 02:47 PM)MobileBama1 Wrote:  What about Niceville, FL? Northwest Florida State Community College has a nice arena and is about 25 minutes from Destin. Fans could be shuttled from beaches to arena. Also spring break might coincide with team's games which would bring out some students.

http://www.nwfraiders.com/athletics/faci...2073642996

The Emerald Coast Classic is held here with some pretty big teams
https://www.emeraldcoastclassic.com/



Chattanooga or Huntsville would be a nice place to host.

Where would you host it in Huntsville? The only place would be the VBC. uat has played a couple games there. As any of the Ark State fans have any feedback of them playing uat?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Just like on the CUSA board, the one's complaining about Hot Springs, or two courts....

are the same people that are sitting their asses in front of the TV no matter where it's played. Those same people will say, move it closer to where I live and I will be there. Most of those fans are not even driving across town to see a home game. They sure as hell aren't driving 3 to 6 hours and spending money on a hotel and $25 to $30 for a ticket.

Nope, people like that just want to complain.

Hot Springs was great and personally I loved it. The town got behind the tourney and playing on two courts let you flow between games if your team isn't playing. For most fans it's your first chance to be right on top of the action. With GA tickets, you can sit first row if you get to the seat right after a game ends. No yellow shirt ******** trying to make you sit in the seat number on your ticket...in a 13k seat arena and 500 people there (UAB).

Nope, it's not bigtime, but it's the best damn setup for a smalltime basketball conference (no disrespect on smalltime...CUSA is also). BTW those of you knocking Frisco, dont knock it till you try it. Way better than I thought it would be an from a fan's experience 10x better than playing the tourney in a 14k arena in B'ham.

But hey....complainers are going to complain. The one thing they wont do, attend a conference tourney....no matter where it's at. If it's across town they are going to complain about ticket cost and paying for parking as the reason they aren't going.

I didn't mind New Orleans but I loved Hot Springs. Biloxi would be another great place for a conference tourney and wish CUSA could play there....CUSA needs 2 courts because the Ladies play at the same tourney

(03-08-2019 06:30 PM)_x_ Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 05:24 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  The venue where it was played was a convention center that had the capability of having two basketball courts with stands (one could hold around 5,000 the other I believe around 2,000?) it offered the unique aspects of not only having multiple games going on but allowing to fans to traverse from one game to another.

You mean like the CUSA setup people were making fun of a few posts up?

Hot Springs had 2 courts in separate parts of the same building. One held 5k. The other held around 1500

It wasn’t great but it worked.

(03-08-2019 10:22 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  Just like on the CUSA board, the one's complaining about Hot Springs, or two courts....

are the same people that are sitting their asses in front of the TV no matter where it's played. Those same people will say, move it closer to where I live and I will be there. Most of those fans are not even driving across town to see a home game. They sure as hell aren't driving 3 to 6 hours and spending money on a hotel and $25 to $30 for a ticket.

Nope, people like that just want to complain.

Hot Springs was great and personally I loved it. The town got behind the tourney and playing on two courts let you flow between games if your team isn't playing. For most fans it's your first chance to be right on top of the action. With GA tickets, you can sit first row if you get to the seat right after a game ends. No yellow shirt ******** trying to make you sit in the seat number on your ticket...in a 13k seat arena and 500 people there (UAB).

Nope, it's not bigtime, but it's the best damn setup for a smalltime basketball conference (no disrespect on smalltime...CUSA is also). BTW those of you knocking Frisco, dont knock it till you try it. Way better than I thought it would be an from a fan's experience 10x better than playing the tourney in a 14k arena in B'ham.

But hey....complainers are going to complain. The one thing they wont do, attend a conference tourney....no matter where it's at. If it's across town they are going to complain about ticket cost and paying for parking as the reason they aren't going.

I didn't mind New Orleans but I loved Hot Springs. Biloxi would be another great place for a conference tourney and wish CUSA could play there....CUSA needs 2 courts because the Ladies play at the same tourney

I liked hot springs setup better than yours now. 2nd court was in a separate convention hall, about a 2 minute walk away, so there was no issues with sound carrying over between courts like you guys have now

(03-08-2019 11:20 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(03-08-2019 10:22 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  Just like on the CUSA board, the one's complaining about Hot Springs, or two courts....

are the same people that are sitting their asses in front of the TV no matter where it's played. Those same people will say, move it closer to where I live and I will be there. Most of those fans are not even driving across town to see a home game. They sure as hell aren't driving 3 to 6 hours and spending money on a hotel and $25 to $30 for a ticket.

Nope, people like that just want to complain.

Hot Springs was great and personally I loved it. The town got behind the tourney and playing on two courts let you flow between games if your team isn't playing. For most fans it's your first chance to be right on top of the action. With GA tickets, you can sit first row if you get to the seat right after a game ends. No yellow shirt ******** trying to make you sit in the seat number on your ticket...in a 13k seat arena and 500 people there (UAB).

Nope, it's not bigtime, but it's the best damn setup for a smalltime basketball conference (no disrespect on smalltime...CUSA is also). BTW those of you knocking Frisco, dont knock it till you try it. Way better than I thought it would be an from a fan's experience 10x better than playing the tourney in a 14k arena in B'ham.

But hey....complainers are going to complain. The one thing they wont do, attend a conference tourney....no matter where it's at. If it's across town they are going to complain about ticket cost and paying for parking as the reason they aren't going.

I didn't mind New Orleans but I loved Hot Springs. Biloxi would be another great place for a conference tourney and wish CUSA could play there....CUSA needs 2 courts because the Ladies play at the same tourney

I liked hot springs setup better than yours now. 2nd court was in a separate convention hall, about a 2 minute walk away, so there was no issues with sound carrying over between courts like you guys have now

Anyone that says sound was a problem....must have high pitch ear drums that can hear a dog whistle. I never had a problem with it interfering with the games I watched. At times (timeouts) you can hear some noise but not enough to hurt. Going into the tourney I had the same doubts as Hot Springs...some of the same in this thread. But after going all of those doubts went away and it was just as fan friendly as Hot Springs....

if you are going to spend hundreds or a thousand dollars drive 11 hours (or even 3 UAB) having a nonfan friendly event is not something you want