$6 tickets for tomorrow's basketball game - you are an idiot, Delaney
Michigan will survive whether or not cable tv subs continue to crash, but oh my god I hope Delaney is booted because of it. That can't happen soon enough.
I don't think the noon Thursday session is going to be a tough ticket anywhere in the country. I'm a fan of the east coast rotation, and next year at MSG will be really awesome.
That is rough. I was not aware of that. That gives bubble teams from different conferences the last say. Not a good idea.
Seriously? What are they doing about the regular season then? Gonna be playing games even more often?
Y'all realize many other conferences have their tournaments over at this point, so it's already a tested model. I don't think it's the right decision, and i wouldn't recommend the B1G modelling off of the MEAC, but people who can't wrap their noodle around how this will work really aren't paying attention to college basketball more broadly.
I think the point is that there's a lot of juggling, adjustments and concessions that need to be made just to have the Big Ten Tournament in NYC in 2018. Traditionally one of the last games that leads up to selection show, the Big Ten Championship was center stage for the basketball viewing public at the time when March Madness interest is at its peak.
To allow for the Big Ten to be in NYC in 2018, the B1G will now have a regular season schedule that's paced one week faster, to hold its tournament when no other major conference championship is happening, to be the third fiddle in NY as the ACC and Big East will be at Barclays and MSG (respectively) during traditional championship weekend, which 6/7/8 Big Ten teams will then sit for 12-14 days before their next tournament game.
Tournament seedings are subjective. The Big Ten cedes momentum and recency bias in the eyes/minds of the selection committee. Why not just wait a year after the ACC leaves NYC and do it at Barclays in 2019? I like the idea of having it in NYC one year, but this seems hastily planned.
The logistics can be done, I'm not sure that's what people aren't wrapping their noodle around... it's more akin to why does it have to be done and at what expense?
The Big Ten cedes momentum and recency bias in the eyes/minds of the selection committee.
I think that's my main worry enxt year no matter how well the tournament goes once it begins. It seems like this set up pushes some teams down lower in the NCAA seeding and it risks putting any bubble team firmly on the outside of the bubble having been out of the news for a week as other conference tournaments are played. This could cost us a couple teams in the tourney and I don't like it.
The point is, no conference that gets as many at-larges as the Big 10 gets is going as early as we will next year. It is a tested model, but not on this stage. Also, I am a little worried about the potential for a 2 week break between playing games. When guys are used to playing 2-3 games a week, a 2 week break is surely going to lead to lots of rust and not do us any favors in a tournament setting.
I understand the concern and I'm not a fan at all of moving up the BTT, but I don't think rust is an issue. Wichita State and Gonzaga do just fine on the first weekend of the tournament coming off an extended break. I would rather play after a 10-12 day break than play 3 days after going 4 games in 4 days.
Wow, are you Jim Delany or a relative? Your point is valid from a tiny school perspective. No Power 5 conference would allow their teams to play a tourny early and then sit on their asses for a week. You could have teams not play for two weeks. But keep on coming up with those brilliant ideas Delany.
Wonder if Big Ten teams could use the week and a half between our MSG tourney and the NCAA to travel to Europe and play a few exhibitions there? D League NBA teams?
There's always the opportunity to stay fresh by playing the Harlem Globetrotters!
Nice comment / Username synergy.
Sweet, so Delaney just made the BigTen the MEAC for a season.Also, conference games will now have to begin before Christmas break or will they have to stuff the same amount of games into one week less? Not a great idea for a handful of reasons. That said good for our NYC area alumni...
Other conferences like the Horizon, MAAC, Sun Belt and A-Sun.
Not the SEC, Pac-10, ACC or Big 12 though.
No high-major conference holds their tournament during the timeframe that the B10 will be doing so.
Unless they are going to drop the number of conference games next season (have heard zero indication of this) then it would only seem logical that the 18-game conference slate will have to be compacted over one less week's worth of time, resulting in less time off between games for the league's student-athletes.
The non-conf games may be more compacted with the B1G schedule starting early (3-7 days). Say starting 12/26.
BTW - the 17-18 schedule includes UCLA at home and the Maui/Chaminade tournament.
I think this is a bad idea because most teams will have a 2-week layoff before the NCAA Tournament. That's the real issue. Playing an extra conference game or two and scrubbing a MEAC school from the schedule isn't the worst thing that could happen.
They could have just played it at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but no, Delany had to have "the world's most famous arena." So we get this awesome bye week in March.
Someone please tell this man to retire.
was tired of Indy. Everything about the BTT had become "routine." I think this will be a welcome change.
I hope breaking out of the Chicago/Indianapolis rotation to include Washington D.C and New York also means they will be willing to host in places like Detroit and the Twin Cities as well. That's my only complaint. For years it was only held in two centralized cities. If they are now willing to go all the way to the east coast, they should be willing to go other non-centralized locations as well.
After NYC in 2018, the Big Ten Tournament goes back to Chicago and Indianapolis for the next four years, so if they do move it again, it won't be for 6 years from now.
You can sort of justify NYC/DC , despite their out-of-the-way locations, because they are tourist destinations. Minneapolis, while a nice city, isn't that great to visit in early March.
Detroit though is centrally-located enough to be justifiable.
Milwaukee, Cincy, Cleveland and possibly Pittsburgh. All of those cities have experience hosting NCAA tournament games and are a one day drive for most of the conference teams.
Plus, you can boost the economies of the states that hold B1G teams. MD and NJ will only get a fraction of the financial benefit that DC and NY will receive.
Agreed, as much as Delaney is a foil for many things bad in the B1G, empty seats during mid-day weekday tournament games isn't one of them. This type of game, dating all the way back to the United Center, would be an easy and cheap ticket to score.
It is a week earlier, so they may be sitting around not having played a game in 2 weeks before the NCAA tournament. The guy is an idiot. Why would you take second place to the Big East in booking this venue. Go somewhere else for god sakes!
If you include the $735 dollar plane ticket to get to D.C., what other conference can claim $741 for a first round game ticket?!?
I'm guessing most fans of the Oregon and Washington schools that go to Vegas for the conference tourney fly rather than drive. I'm guessing fans of BC and Miami that go to the ACC tourney fly instead of drive. Next year when the ACC tourney is in New York, I'm guessing that vast majority of people will be flying to NY. With the Big 12 tourney in KC, I bet most fans from the Texas schools fly rather than drive.
Sounds like you have a gambling problem.
And $11.29 for center court lower bowl. That's crazy
Where's that? I'm in D.C., so I'm planning to go tomorrow.
Waaay overspent, paying $25 for second level seats. I guess I should have waited two more days...
Yeah. I got good, lower level seats for $13 each yesterday.
I get what you're saying...but Delaney is still an absolute Muppet.
Don't think anyone expects the first rounds to be big draws or money makers. Why not fill as many seats as possible?
They're dirt cheap. And yet I think the tourney will survive. This is just a particularly crappy matchup, the 8-9 game, first round, middle of the work day, in a pretty mediocre conference.
Plus, and i know it's cool to knock Delaney and cable TV, but this isn't like football or hockey where higher seeds could host at home sites. They have to hold it some single location, so a large metropolitan city is a pretty good option.
Do you think there would be increased attendance to watch, say, Nebraska and Penn State if this was held in Chicago or Indianapolis?
I am one of a number of DC area Michigan fans very happy to have the BTT local, and I will be there. They shouldn't do it that often, but I like the idea of having the tournament at a different location every 5 years or so. It gives fans in different areas an opportunity to go. Indianapolis isn't very convenient for Maryland, PSU and Rutgers fans.
What are Rutgers fans?
Apparently they smell like Axe body spray, have a surplus of teadybears, and write poorly worded letters.
...they're exactly like Sparty fans?
Tell that to any Minnesota or Nebraska fan who wants to travel to DC. Looked it up earlier this morning. Las Vegas is about 10 miles further from Lincoln than DC.
Inconvenient for Maryland/Rutgers fans is a feature, not a bug.
How are most tickets sold? A good number of tickets are sold for the entire tournament, no? It's the rare person that can and wants to watch 13 games over the course of 5 days. Resale tickets for certain sessions of these tournaments are always going to be fairly cheap.