Could Detroit host the Big Ten Tournament?
- Jim Delany
Would think they'd add Detroit and NYC at some point. I'd go if it were in the Motor City, for sure.
The Big Ten Conference doesn't do the State of Michigan any favors. If the game is in Detroit, any team that plays U of M or MSU is immediately in a road game. It would be exactly like a U of M bowl game.
Unfortunate thing is that Gordie Howe Arena won't even be viewed as a new arena by time that rolls around. Obviously, it will still be in nice shape, but it certainly won't have the same allure.
Sorry but eff NYC and D.C getting this tournament. I'm glad the local fans of the conference's teams get to go watch but it's bullshit to you know, most of the conference's fan base.
Chicago and Indy primarily rotated; with Detroit getting every few years and hell, Minneapolis every 6-7 years.
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Wow, I had not heard that these are the logistics for this next year. What a shit show. If this were the future, we'd already be done playing for the season along with you know, the MEAC and Southland Conference and the Horizon League...and are waiting damn near 2 weeks to play again. How asinine. Delaney strikes again.
Imagine this: Michigan is in the same position next year as they are this year, aka a lock for the tourney but playing on Thursday in the BTT. If they lose on that Thursday and have a first round NCAA game on Friday, a B1G team could end up going over 2 weeks between games. How's that a good idea?
Can Exhibition games be played at the end of the year???
Or some combination of both?
No reason we couldn't schedule regular games. I'm sure many of the mid-majors that sit around during that time anyway would love to play us. Could easily just shift some of those body bag games around Christmas to the final week so we don't go stale.
https://www.stubhub.com/big-ten-tournament-tickets-2017-big-ten-men-s-b…
Can you get into a high school game for that?
When you have Maryland and Rutgers in the conference, I don't see why you can't take those 4 cities and just rotate them every year.
In fact, I think that's exactly what they should do.
NY is stupid, that's Big East (and ACC this year). DC is especially stupid, that's definitely ACC. That would be like the ACC going to Chicago because they have Louisville and Notre Dame.
It's as far west from B1G schools as NYC is east, the only big airline to fly direct is Delta (as opposed to TONS of direct flights from far more cities to NYC), and there are far more B1G alums in NYC than Minneapolis. Minneapolis makes as much or less sense than DC. NYC doesn't make sense unless Barclays is available during championship week.
Detroit is a good idea. It would be as good as Indy. The rotation should be Chicago, Indy and Detroit. Those are the largest cities in the three states that have two B1G teams. They're centrally located in the conference footprint. Detroit at least has an airline hub on one of the big three carriers, which Indy does not.
Yes Chicago, NY, and DC tournaments are all held in arenas with dual nba/nhl tenants
I guess it depends on how you want to classify suburb arenas. The Suns and Coyotes don't share an arena, but the Coyotes are in Glendale, rather than Downtown Phoenix.
Same with the Panthers (Sunrise) / Heat (downtown) and Ducks (Anaheim) / Kings/Lakers/Clippers (downtown),
The only way it would be a favor to Michigan is if we had a bad team and fans who'd take the short trip to Detroit but consider Chicago too far to see a likely loss.
If we're good, we're going to have a strong showing - especially in Chicago, hell, we'll have one in NYC and DC as well.
It would really only affect us in terms of travel costs. But unless you're talking about the people who'd say "sure, why not?" and pick up a cheap ticket to watch an 11-seed Michigan team...Michigan fans will get to other locations beyond Detroit.
Indy is literally the perfect city for the BTT in every way:
- Centrally located
- Great, compact downtown with an arena
- Drinking in the streets is legal (yes, this is true - very underrated)
- Great basketball city
- Big enough to have stuff to do but small enough that it's a marquee event for the city
IMO, Detroit fits a couple of these (1 and 5 - a little bit of 2). I would love it. I think it'd be fun, but I'm admittedly bias bc I live downtown. I think Minny would be cool, too, but it'd be a third option to Indy then Detroit.
Chicago/NY/DC are too big for the BTT to be a marquee event in the city. If you go anywhere in Indy, you know you're at the BTT. Definitely not the case/going to be the case in any of those three. Not to mention, ppl are usually going ham in Chicago for St. Patty's day around that time each year.
I know it won't happen for a while, but they should try Detroit (and Minny) and see how it goes. Otherwise, stick with Indy every year.
and um, record scratch. Drinking on the streets of Indy is legal?!? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I thought this was only possible in Vegas and New Orleans as far as US cities go. Agree that that's underrated for an event like this.
I would have to argue that Detroit has all these other attributes. Not that I'd say it's a "great" downtown, but I certainly wouldn't say that about Indy either. Detroit's downtown casinos are a definite a positive in the "things-to-do" category.
Went to several races at IMS back in the day. Can openly carry beer in the street. My two-fisting then-girlfriend actually tried to hide her beers when passing a gang of troopers, and they clowned her for it (after asking what she was hiding).
I second your post in that you cannot beat Indy for this tournament.
What I would do as commish is give it to Indy every other year, and then in the off years have a Chicago, Detroit, Minny, NYC, and DC rotation for the off-Indy years.
Detroit could but probably won't. Seeing Minneapolis on a suggested list of possible hosts seems absurd given how far out they are located, but then that hasn't been a problem for tournaments in DC and NY.
The new arena in Detroit is a small-time gamechanger, because this used to be an irrelevant question: "Can Detroit host such-and-such an event? No arena." The Joe is not appropriate to host anything above a college hockey tournament, and the Palace is far enough into nowhere that nobody would give that serious thought, either.
Now, though, Detroit is a realistic possibility not only for B1G events but also NCAA basketball regionals (they've moved those out of stadiums) and the Frozen Four again. And in B1G terms the location is pretty good--closer for Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and (less relevantly) Rutgers and Maryland. Only marginally further than Indy for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Still, Indianapolis and Chicago are good locations for these events and I don't begrudge them hosting all that much. The only needle-mover for me is if Minneapolis/St. Paul hosts something, and while the cities and venues are as good as any for this kind of thing, the distance is a real problem that shouldn't be ignored.
The Big Ten and ACC are both stepping outside their true footprint to try to replace the Big East in NYC. It's kind of dumb
they have the transportation with the Qline and People Mover.
Well, kind of. If your hotel is downtown or right on Woodward (for 3 miles) you're good.
I definitely think Detroit could host it and has the capacity to do so well enough, but I don't know that it would ever get the chance anytime soon given how Delany seems to conceive of his own conference. If the criteria of central location is a driving factor at all, Detroit fits that, and there's enough to do in and beyond the city that I think crowds would be satisfied as well. Also, it means that the tournament would be a mere 20 minutes from my house and a 20-minute walk if I happened to be downtown then for a "meeting". Yes, a meeting....
maybe
The People Mover is a joke and is NOT a selling point for holding a tournament in the D.
Bad idea putting it in washington dc
keep it in the midwest base--detroit, chicago, indianapolis, minneapolis
Not as bad as the ncaa putting the ice hockey championship in tampa though
(1999)
I used to think that, but the Frozen Fours in Tampa have actually done pretty well