BASKETBALL CUSA extends Tourney stay in Frisco, Texas
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
I know Nashville was not a possibility because OVC was in Municipal Auditorium and SEC in Bridgestone, but OVC was in Evansville this year. If CUSA could have swooped in and gotten Municipal Auditorium I would have been okay with that.
No doubt that the Cowboys are about as big a name and brand as there is in all of sports and beyond. I'm just not sure how the Cowboys org is helping C-USA or C-USA is helping the Cowboys org. Sure it's a top of line nice new facility....football facility. Granted, I haven't been there, but on TV it just didn't look like a great fit for basketball.
Dallas is as good of a city as any. Reasonable locale for C-USA. Probably makes good sense logistically for most in C-USA regarding flying and hotels.
Mostly, I'm not much of a fan of the job the commish at C-USA HQ and the job they're doing. So, I'm a little disenchanted and pessimistic with multiple years of the conf tourney being in the commish's backyard.
Dallas is as good of a city as any. Reasonable locale for C-USA. Probably makes good sense logistically for most in C-USA regarding flying and hotels.
Mostly, I'm not much of a fan of the job the commish at C-USA HQ and the job they're doing. So, I'm a little disenchanted and pessimistic with multiple years of the conf tourney being in the commish's backyard.
What gets me is apparently, there was no real pushback from the Presidents or ADs this side of the Mississippi. I'd like to think CUSA university administrators were not happy about it, but it looks like there was not any concern for the basketball fans of the programs that really care about basketball.
I've been to Denton for both men's and women's game. Really not interested in going back to Texas for a basketball tournament.
I've been to Denton for both men's and women's game. Really not interested in going back to Texas for a basketball tournament.
Municipal Auditorium in Nashville is in terrible shape for major college basketball. It wasn’t until final year of OVC Tournament where Municipal had scoreboards that were up to par with what’s found at the local high school. The Player/foul/point panels did not exist. They had two end zone Fair Play Scoreboards. Their shot clock was two digit only model until final year. Would our conference want cinder blocks holding goals down and duct tape markings on court for all the world to see? Municipal may fit for low major or D-II without significant monies invested; it much too low budget and inadequate for our fan engagement.
Ideally, C-USA Tournament needs to be bid to a member school. Or, New Orleans or back to Birmingham. I liked Birmingham as most schools fans can get there decently and there is enough to do there. Don’t like Star configuration very much; reminds me of a larger version of Hot Springs Convention Hall and Sun Belt Conference layout where MT played a few March tournaments ago.
Ideally, C-USA Tournament needs to be bid to a member school. Or, New Orleans or back to Birmingham. I liked Birmingham as most schools fans can get there decently and there is enough to do there. Don’t like Star configuration very much; reminds me of a larger version of Hot Springs Convention Hall and Sun Belt Conference layout where MT played a few March tournaments ago.
FWIW, at least they turned the courts for this year's tournament that looks a little better on tv. It did not seem distractingly bad like last year.
Remember folks, the important thing is that Judy is not inconvenienced. She can get home each night in a timely manner after the day's games.
Remember folks, the important thing is that Judy is not inconvenienced. She can get home each night in a timely manner after the day's games.
Marshall POV:
C-USA lacks answers for indifference to tournament
excerpt:
...First and foremost, there is very little attendance. That’s because just two league members — North Texas and Louisiana Tech — are within reasonable driving distance.
The Mean Green is theoretically the host school, yet North Texas doesn’t have a strong following. It finished eighth in league attendance, averaging 3,364 fans at home. As for LA Tech, it is about a four-hour drive away, but, again, it doesn’t have a lot of support. The Bulldogs finished 10th in C-USA attendance, averaging 2,170 fans at home.
So, unlike when past C-USA Tournaments were held in Memphis, El Paso, Tulsa and Birmingham, there isn’t a “home” team to wear the attendance hat.
That was abundantly obvious this week.
Take Marshall’s 82-73 loss to Southern Miss, for example. It was arguably the best game of the tournament. Yet, there were merely 250-300 fans watching the contest. A quick count totaled about 70 Marshall fans in the stands.
Yet, the official box score listed the attendance as 4,024. Don’t make me laugh, this is too serious a subject.
The Conference USA Tournament doesn’t draw any attendance here, and it’s never going to draw any attendance here. So, by extending the contract for an additional two years, C-USA officials actually are endorsing the concept that fans don’t matter.
That is nothing short of astonishing.
To a somewhat lesser extent, it also sends the message that newspaper coverage doesn’t matter. The Herald-Dispatch was here, along with the Virginian-Pilot (Va.), Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News and Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle.
That’s all.
So, what’s the problem? Distance, first of all. It’s too far to drive and it’s too expensive to fly. I’ve covered previous C-USA Tournaments in Memphis, El Paso, Tulsa and Birmingham, but this is by far the priciest tournament to attend.
So, it doesn’t have many fans or much newspaper coverage, which leaves television. Early games were streamed on ESPN Plus and Stadium. Then, the semifinals and championship were on CBS Sports. But when were the semis played? At 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.
That speaks volumes.
So, what’s the solution to this overall dilemma? Ah, that’s the crux of the matter. There isn’t one.
Nobody is beating down C-USA headquarters’ doors (very conveniently located in nearby Irving, Texas) wanting to host this tournament.
There is no interest. There’s no bidding from other cities. There are no options.
The C-USA Tournament has nowhere else to go.....
C-USA lacks answers for indifference to tournament
excerpt:
...First and foremost, there is very little attendance. That’s because just two league members — North Texas and Louisiana Tech — are within reasonable driving distance.
The Mean Green is theoretically the host school, yet North Texas doesn’t have a strong following. It finished eighth in league attendance, averaging 3,364 fans at home. As for LA Tech, it is about a four-hour drive away, but, again, it doesn’t have a lot of support. The Bulldogs finished 10th in C-USA attendance, averaging 2,170 fans at home.
So, unlike when past C-USA Tournaments were held in Memphis, El Paso, Tulsa and Birmingham, there isn’t a “home” team to wear the attendance hat.
That was abundantly obvious this week.
Take Marshall’s 82-73 loss to Southern Miss, for example. It was arguably the best game of the tournament. Yet, there were merely 250-300 fans watching the contest. A quick count totaled about 70 Marshall fans in the stands.
Yet, the official box score listed the attendance as 4,024. Don’t make me laugh, this is too serious a subject.
The Conference USA Tournament doesn’t draw any attendance here, and it’s never going to draw any attendance here. So, by extending the contract for an additional two years, C-USA officials actually are endorsing the concept that fans don’t matter.
That is nothing short of astonishing.
To a somewhat lesser extent, it also sends the message that newspaper coverage doesn’t matter. The Herald-Dispatch was here, along with the Virginian-Pilot (Va.), Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News and Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle.
That’s all.
So, what’s the problem? Distance, first of all. It’s too far to drive and it’s too expensive to fly. I’ve covered previous C-USA Tournaments in Memphis, El Paso, Tulsa and Birmingham, but this is by far the priciest tournament to attend.
So, it doesn’t have many fans or much newspaper coverage, which leaves television. Early games were streamed on ESPN Plus and Stadium. Then, the semifinals and championship were on CBS Sports. But when were the semis played? At 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.
That speaks volumes.
So, what’s the solution to this overall dilemma? Ah, that’s the crux of the matter. There isn’t one.
Nobody is beating down C-USA headquarters’ doors (very conveniently located in nearby Irving, Texas) wanting to host this tournament.
There is no interest. There’s no bidding from other cities. There are no options.
The C-USA Tournament has nowhere else to go.....
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It’s leadership.
Or lack thereof.
It’s also that our conference is too spread out. But 3 to 500 at a tournament is awful. Laughable.
Or lack thereof.
It’s also that our conference is too spread out. But 3 to 500 at a tournament is awful. Laughable.
Does anyone feel like we bought a lemon when we moved to CUSA?
I have little to no interest in any of the programs west of the mississippi river with the exception of latech. CUSA needs to shed the dead weight and move the conference out of texas and send Judy and her jokers on their way...
Yes sir, I’d like a refund, please! The time zone clocks are difficult to set, cost too much in travel maintenance, and engine is stalling. The 1981 Oldsmobile Regency Diesel looks great with velour pilliow tops, moonroof, and snazzy stereo system. But, all the red and amber warning lights came on abruptly while cruising the highway at 55 mph. My fuel economy gauge says its good. Mr Goodrich, says it’s backed under bumper to bumper warranty with that great GM feeling with genuine GM parts according to the manual. What do ya’ say Mrs Judy on customer satisfaction?
ODU pov:
Frisco May Not Be the Ideal Place to Hold a Basketball Tournament, But It's Time ODU Fans Embraced It
excerpt:
...The C-USA tournament is played in an indoor football stadium, the practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys, with two courts separated by a giant curtain. Most games are held while another is being played. Hearing fans, bands and whistles from another game gives it an AAU tournament feel.
And there's no instant replay screen in the arena, which is an absolute must for a Division I college basketball tournament.
In a perfect world, Conference USA and the Sun Belt would get together and divvy up teams geographically. The four C-USA Texas schools should join Texas State, Arkansas State and the rest of the western schools. Put ODU and Marshall in the same league with Appalachian State, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina and others. It would save member schools millions of dollars in travel costs and would give each league a more geographically logical place to hold basketball tournaments.
But a vast majority of C-USA schools are opposed to any realignment, so as much sense as it makes, it's not going to happen.
We have to deal with the world as it is and not as we'd like it to be. I’ve spoken with three C-USA athletic directors who say nine schools remain firmly committed to playing in Frisco.
I’m told that ODU, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, WKU and Marshall are against playing in Frisco because of the distance their fans must travel. But but not even all of them agree that playing on home courts is a good idea.
So there you have it. For now, at least, it’s Frisco or nothing.
Frankly, other than playing at campus sites, Frisco is as good as any place to hold the tournament. There’s no geographical center to a league that stretches from El Paso to Norfolk.
No other cities are bidding to host the tournament, which is a major reason the league announced the tourney is coming back to Frisco for at least the next two seasons.....
Frisco May Not Be the Ideal Place to Hold a Basketball Tournament, But It's Time ODU Fans Embraced It
excerpt:
...The C-USA tournament is played in an indoor football stadium, the practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys, with two courts separated by a giant curtain. Most games are held while another is being played. Hearing fans, bands and whistles from another game gives it an AAU tournament feel.
And there's no instant replay screen in the arena, which is an absolute must for a Division I college basketball tournament.
In a perfect world, Conference USA and the Sun Belt would get together and divvy up teams geographically. The four C-USA Texas schools should join Texas State, Arkansas State and the rest of the western schools. Put ODU and Marshall in the same league with Appalachian State, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina and others. It would save member schools millions of dollars in travel costs and would give each league a more geographically logical place to hold basketball tournaments.
But a vast majority of C-USA schools are opposed to any realignment, so as much sense as it makes, it's not going to happen.
We have to deal with the world as it is and not as we'd like it to be. I’ve spoken with three C-USA athletic directors who say nine schools remain firmly committed to playing in Frisco.
I’m told that ODU, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, WKU and Marshall are against playing in Frisco because of the distance their fans must travel. But but not even all of them agree that playing on home courts is a good idea.
So there you have it. For now, at least, it’s Frisco or nothing.
Frankly, other than playing at campus sites, Frisco is as good as any place to hold the tournament. There’s no geographical center to a league that stretches from El Paso to Norfolk.
No other cities are bidding to host the tournament, which is a major reason the league announced the tourney is coming back to Frisco for at least the next two seasons.....
ODU, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, WKU and Marshall and a couple of others need to have an 'airport meeting' ala the mtn west schools when they were in the old western athletic conference. reminded of the lyrics from a vietnam era song from the Animals "We gotta get out of this place, If its the last thing we ever do, We gotta get out of this place"
I love the idea of CUSA and the Sun Belt divvying up teams geographically. I have been wanting that for a while.
Conference A
Old Dominion
Western Kentucky
Marshall
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Arkansas State
Little Rock (non-football)
Conference B
Southern Miss
Texas-San Antonio
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
Texas-El Paso
Texas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Alabama-Birmingham
South Alabama
Troy
Texas-Arlington (non-football)
That needs to happen ASAP.
Conference A
Old Dominion
Western Kentucky
Marshall
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Arkansas State
Little Rock (non-football)
Conference B
Southern Miss
Texas-San Antonio
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
Texas-El Paso
Texas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Alabama-Birmingham
South Alabama
Troy
Texas-Arlington (non-football)
That needs to happen ASAP.
Problem with combining/splitting is that everyone has a different preference of who is on each side of the split. I'm sure that's true of each school's Administration and Athletic Dept. In a perfect world we would only associate with those we choose but that's not reality. Additionally, when it comes to athletic conferences, every school would chose members of the conference factoring in the schools most geographically advantageous to themselves. As a fan who travels to away games I would also.
As an example, personally I wouldn't want anyone west of the Mississippi river (possible exception of La Tech - I would be ok with swapping them for Coastal since MT has no history with them), so using crposton's split I would give up both Ak. St. and Little Rock and bring into the east UAB but not Troy (academic reputation) or USA. That would be, for me, the perfect 12 team conference considering today's reality. I don't want any schools which don't have FB no matter their reputation. But that's me. Everyone has different priorities and that's one reason this obvious need to consolidate and then split The Belt and C-USA is not gaining traction.
As an example, personally I wouldn't want anyone west of the Mississippi river (possible exception of La Tech - I would be ok with swapping them for Coastal since MT has no history with them), so using crposton's split I would give up both Ak. St. and Little Rock and bring into the east UAB but not Troy (academic reputation) or USA. That would be, for me, the perfect 12 team conference considering today's reality. I don't want any schools which don't have FB no matter their reputation. But that's me. Everyone has different priorities and that's one reason this obvious need to consolidate and then split The Belt and C-USA is not gaining traction.
Yea that is just me keeping all three Alabama schools together and separating the two non-football members from the Sun Belt. Obviously things can be tweaked. If we switch UALR with USA then one conference has fewer football members. What I did was give each 12 full members and one non-football member each. The Western conference could have both non-football members and put UAB in East and Ark St. in West.
Conference A
Alabama-Birmingham
Old Dominion
Western Kentucky
Marshall
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Conference B
Southern Miss
Texas-San Antonio
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
Texas-El Paso
Texas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama
Troy
Arkansas State
Little Rock (non-football)
Texas-Arlington (non-football)
Alabama-Birmingham
Old Dominion
Western Kentucky
Marshall
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Conference B
Southern Miss
Texas-San Antonio
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
Texas-El Paso
Texas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama
Troy
Arkansas State
Little Rock (non-football)
Texas-Arlington (non-football)
The problem isn't the conference, the problem is many of us are not growing, we are not wining enough meaningful games, we are FBS in name only. Last year MT hosted the CSA conference championship for the first time and 15,000 announced showed up. 15K is our core, it was our core when we went FBS. So 19 years of competing and we are right where we started. For whatever reason people are not that interested in us or other G5 teams.
I don't know the answer, not so sure shuffling the teams around is going to lead MT to averaging 25K per game or a drastic increase in BRAA giving.
I don't know the answer, not so sure shuffling the teams around is going to lead MT to averaging 25K per game or a drastic increase in BRAA giving.
Completely agree that the problem is much deeper than just who our conference rivals are, and IMHO MT has more issues than several of the G5 programs in our conference's footprint.
Bottom line is since the ESPN era began anything other than the elite programs garner no attention from the casual fan. If you didn't attend a Middle Tennessee or a Southern Miss you wouldn't give a hoot in hell about us. If you're a Notre Dame or an Alabama, however, everyone clamors for TVs to watch. Twenty years from now I'm not so sure any schools lower than P5 will even field athletic teams.
