(03-11-2018 07:26 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 06:47 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 06:29 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 06:21 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 04:17 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  Great news. Thanks for sharing, King. I have been checking this forum all day to see if there is some news on the matter.

I for one support attending these tournaments. It is not a replacement for making the NCAA and NIT in terms of honor or exposure. But it is set up for the mid majors to have some place to play in recognition of a solid mid major caliber season which came short of a conference championship ( ie EMU this year). If you consider it gratuitous and unnecessary, just ignore it.

(Spending $5k on a bus, some motel rooms, and a few meals is insignificant compared to overall athletic spending. So completely separate conversations imo)

Ramy spending $30K to host a game is also indeed insignificant to the total projected budget that the University faces, it does not even register a percentage figure.

Perhaps I am being over sensitive to the highly vocal yet minority of people who have served to disparage EMU over the years. The Huron logo, the President's House and the recent racist graffiti were all molehills converted into mountains by these people.

I can be accused of having tunnel vision to be sure. The Championship Building Plan is of paramount importance to me, I simply don't want there to be any obstruction to this project that will not only improve the University but more importantly the City and surrounding area as well.

Well said.

My point is there will probably be 500 people at the game. This game means nothing for national exposure.

We need to improve MAC Basketball to become a two-three bid league (2 NCAA, 1 NIT). Take the money and bring in a good mid major to build excitement next season.

Good luck with the MAC getting 2 bids. The big money conferences are doing a good good job of controlling that. If a MAC team went 28-3 they would not get an at large bid because of a weak schedule. But a 20-11 Big 10 team would get in.

To be fair the MAC does not play high quality basketball. The Ohio and EMU runs to the sweet sixteen are not likely to be repeated anytime soon. I think the MAC has been one and done for at least five years now.

The NCAA needs to hire someone from the NFL or for that matter a Dave Gavitt type who ran the Big East years ago. Gavitt insisted that all of the teams in the conference have television exposure and it subsequently elevated the play and attendance for the entire league. The NFL insists on revenue sharing unlike the MLB and now just prints money.

Perhaps someone at the highly dysfunctional NCAA will realize that they are better off growing the brand by putting butts in the empty seats in Ypsilanti rather than expanding the season ticket wait list in Ann Arbor.

This is partly the MAC's fault. Scheduling Rochester, Concordia, etc does not build RPI, does not help recruiting, and brings the MAC quality of basketball down. The MAC conference could collectively help itself by scheduling preseason G5 tournaments, in addition to playing the bigger schools for payoff games......

Can someone post a link to post tournament that Eastern will play in?

Apparently no CBI invite for us. CIT or nothing now.

@TonyPaul1984: Eastern Michigan will join Central Michigan in the CIT. Eagles (21-12) host Niagara (19-13) on Wednesday. Chippewas (19-14) play at Fort Wayne (18-14) at noon today.

We play Niagara at home on Wednesday.

(03-11-2018 09:35 PM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  We play Niagara at home on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/GregSteinerEMU/statu...24768?s=19

Lets hope we get a crowd that is decent like more than 400

(03-12-2018 04:58 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Lets hope we get a crowd that is decent like more than 400

Personally I would rather we just not play in it at all. Save the money that it costs to play in these silly tournaments that nobody cares about anyway, and put it towards something more useful.

(03-12-2018 07:23 AM)mshumaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 04:58 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Lets hope we get a crowd that is decent like more than 400

Personally I would rather we just not play in it at all. Save the money that it costs to play in these silly tournaments that nobody cares about anyway, and put it towards something more useful.

Tim Bond senior day 2.0. Lol.

Wonder if EMU picked up a sponsor for this tournament. Either way, $ is being paid to play in this thing. The team better take it seriously and not lay an egg.

(03-12-2018 07:23 AM)mshumaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 04:58 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Lets hope we get a crowd that is decent like more than 400

Personally I would rather we just not play in it at all. Save the money that it costs to play in these silly tournaments that nobody cares about anyway, and put it towards something more useful.

Tell that to the players. Just because you (and others) don't care, it doesn't mean the players don't deserve to keep playing. If money is such an issue, then schedule an extra paycheck game next year against Ohio State or someone like that. We should have a very experienced team next year that deserves a challenging schedule anyway. And these extra games (and practices) help.

(03-12-2018 07:43 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 07:23 AM)mshumaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 04:58 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Lets hope we get a crowd that is decent like more than 400

Personally I would rather we just not play in it at all. Save the money that it costs to play in these silly tournaments that nobody cares about anyway, and put it towards something more useful.

Tell that to the players. Just because you (and others) don't care, it doesn't mean the players don't deserve to keep playing. If money is such an issue, then schedule an extra paycheck game next year against Ohio State or someone like that. We should have a very experienced team next year that deserves a challenging schedule anyway. And these extra games (and practices) help.

I'm with Sam on this.

The decision to keep playing should be up to the players.

Tim Bond wants to keep playing until there are no more games to be played.

Teams playing as well as ours don't want to quit plaing.

Well I will be there with some friends, so our attendance will be at least 4.

The atmosphere at the Q on Friday was amazing! So many fans all in one area cheering loud and proud. I hope we can give our players that type of support at home on Wednesday. Also, not having to be around Toledo fans who try to start fights will be nice.

I'm always torn on these non-NCAA/NIT tournaments, but the plus definitely is the extra practice time and playing time. Especially if we can give more minutes to McAdoo and Ellison and other bench players. That's a huge leg up on other MAC teams who are finished for the season.

(03-12-2018 09:14 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  I'm always torn on these non-NCAA/NIT tournaments, but the plus definitely is the extra practice time and playing time. Especially if we can give more minutes to McAdoo and Ellison and other bench players. That's a huge leg up on other MAC teams who are finished for the season.

Exactly. The conference is going to be very strong next year. I can't think of one senior-laden team that will be losing more than 2 or 3 rotation guys. Anything that we can do to keep pace and improve is fine with me.

Ball State opted out of tournaments this year (they did CBI in the past) but it looks like they were really limping into the offseason.

This is a young team. Worth it to expose them to one-and-done situations and keep it going. Besides, if I'm trying to keep JTIV in green I would not want to explain to him why we passed up this chance.

(03-12-2018 10:24 AM)Block_E Wrote:  Ball State opted out of tournaments this year (they did CBI in the past) but it looks like they were really limping into the offseason.

This is a young team. Worth it to expose them to one-and-done situations and keep it going. Besides, if I'm trying to keep JTIV in green I would not want to explain to him why we passed up this chance.

Exactly. Nothing says bush league more than to turn down an invite if the team is healthy and playing well.

Sends the wrong signal to the current players and recruits.

BTW, this could be a 3 game tourney - one and done + best of 3 to win the championship. I think.

Only 20 teams in the CIT. I don't know how they're going to format this.

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Colle...Tournament

Some info on formatting. Lots of byes.

Here's a breakdown of the tournament format: https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketb...lts-format

No bracket, re-seeding after the 1st round. 4 teams got a bye from the 1st round.

4 rounds total, so a win this week gets you in the quarterfinals starting next week.

Toledo opted not to go to either the CBI or CIT either. And think they have opted out in past seasons as well.

Interesting that only 20 teams accepted or were eligible. I think having 32 in addition to 16 from the CBI is diluting out any possible semblance of prestige. Perhaps they should go with a 16 team format in the future.

Anyway, I like these tourneys. And surprised by the extent of the negativity. I will be there Wednesday, although a little late.

Well, the CIT is actually at 16 teams. Not sure if they asked 4 to drop out if there were indeed 20 teams at one point.