2018 - 19 Horizon League News
Jan 26, 2019 13:20:58 GMT -5
Post by wsuraider09 on Jan 26, 2019 13:20:58 GMT -5
I was having a discussion with another league fan last night and we came to the conclusion that this must have been the only legitimate option the league had. The rules clearly outlined that the bid not include a plan to play at a current member's current home arena. The grey area of this is that IUPUI actually has an on-campus home arena, but it only seats something like 1600 people, but the IUPUI ladies basketball team does currently play there. It seems apparent that there wasn't any other legitimate non-home arena option on the table, so the league really had no choice but to roll with this choice (that coupled with the fact that the league offices are in Indy). There are empty arenas elsewhere, but in locations that don't make sense (many of which we've discussed).
I am certainly happy for our local fans and students to have a twoish hour drive to the league tournament. Also, the arena is pretty small, so the laughable attendance at LCA and the array of completely empty sections is hopefully behind us. I think the new arena helps the league draw fans from the entire league, but we're still playing on Monday and Tuesday which makes it difficult to dropping everything and taking 2 or 3 days off on the drop of a dime, but as a long as the Horizon League kisses ESPN's booty for the relatively small amount of money we receive from them, that will not be changing.
My last point is that IUPUI hasn't had 2300 people show up for a single game yet this season. They had just under that earlier this week, but that was 95% elementary school students for an 11am tip. So I don't know that there's any significant advantage for the team to be playing in their own arena; their fans don't come out now, why would they come in droves for the tournament? The other thing to remember is that there's only a 40%, well, let's call it 50% since CSU is firmly affixed as a non-contender, chance to make it to the semifinals anyhow. If the tournament started today, IUPUI is the 8th and final qualifier, so they're staring at a road game against a better team just to have a chance to play back at their home place.
I would have been increasingly weary if a team like NKU won this whole thing and it was at their true home court. They have no problem filling their arena for big games, and currently have the highest attended horizon league home game all season (5848 against us). I think the league would be upset if it was awarded to us for the same reason.
I hope this whole thing continues to tank and we go back to rewarding the 1 seed with hosting the entire tournament. I know that's a generally unpopular opinion, and one that Lecrone and his minions obviously have no interest in returning to. All things considered, I think this works in Wright State's favor, and our students and fans should take advantage of playing closer to home (assuming we get there).
I am certainly happy for our local fans and students to have a twoish hour drive to the league tournament. Also, the arena is pretty small, so the laughable attendance at LCA and the array of completely empty sections is hopefully behind us. I think the new arena helps the league draw fans from the entire league, but we're still playing on Monday and Tuesday which makes it difficult to dropping everything and taking 2 or 3 days off on the drop of a dime, but as a long as the Horizon League kisses ESPN's booty for the relatively small amount of money we receive from them, that will not be changing.
My last point is that IUPUI hasn't had 2300 people show up for a single game yet this season. They had just under that earlier this week, but that was 95% elementary school students for an 11am tip. So I don't know that there's any significant advantage for the team to be playing in their own arena; their fans don't come out now, why would they come in droves for the tournament? The other thing to remember is that there's only a 40%, well, let's call it 50% since CSU is firmly affixed as a non-contender, chance to make it to the semifinals anyhow. If the tournament started today, IUPUI is the 8th and final qualifier, so they're staring at a road game against a better team just to have a chance to play back at their home place.
I would have been increasingly weary if a team like NKU won this whole thing and it was at their true home court. They have no problem filling their arena for big games, and currently have the highest attended horizon league home game all season (5848 against us). I think the league would be upset if it was awarded to us for the same reason.
I hope this whole thing continues to tank and we go back to rewarding the 1 seed with hosting the entire tournament. I know that's a generally unpopular opinion, and one that Lecrone and his minions obviously have no interest in returning to. All things considered, I think this works in Wright State's favor, and our students and fans should take advantage of playing closer to home (assuming we get there).
