OT: Big Ten to hold MBB tournament in NYC in 2018

Submitted by ixcuincle on

RT @SIPeteThamel SOURCES: Big Ten to host basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden in 2018. http://t.co/UAiRRw7Fvy

Felix.M.Blue

December 6th, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^

I went to Indy a few years back. A few people on the radio there was saying that Indy is very popular because of everything be so close. Hotels, resteraunts, arena etc.

They said Chicago was horible because it was the exact oposite. You have to drive to arena and there was nothing around there.

Maybe someone could confirm this. I've been to Chicago a few times but not to the arena or anywhere around there.

Probably would be expensive but B10 Tournament in NYC sounds like a great vacation.

1974

December 6th, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^

It's true that there's not much to do right around the United Center, but that's changing for the better. The immediate area and West Loop are much safer than they were in the past and there are plenty of places to eat along Madison and even Ogden.

No nightlife, true ... still, it's not like you'd have to drive there. It's within a couple of miles of downtown and is served pretty well by the CTA.

WindyCityBlue

December 6th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^

The UC is very close (I.e. Walkable) to the west loop, which has some of best dining and nightlife in the city. Beyond that, things are a cab/cta ride which isn't too bad. Having been to NYC and msg countless times, there is MUCH more to do around the UC than msg, at least stuff that is worth doing.



With that said. Indy is the best place I have been for college sport stuff. I wouldn't mind if Indy was the permanent location for conference tourney activities (both football and basketball).

APBlue

December 6th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^

I get what you're saying, especially the money factor that the large alumni bases near NYC represent.
However, this is still collegiate athletics and how are the students from the core B1G footprint supposed to make it so far away from their campuses for the tourney?
Is the tournament for the students, or alumni?

funkywolve

December 6th, 2014 at 10:03 PM ^

Almost half the schools in the Pac-12 are fairly close to Vegas.  USC, UCLA, ASU and UA aren't very far away and Utah isn't that bad of a distance either.  Not sure if it's changed but when I lived in the Bay Area you could get fairly cheap airfare to Vegas - $150 or less.

michmaiku

December 6th, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^

But I agree that it's strange and am among the majority that didn't want Maryland and Rutgers any where near the conference.

Still, many on this thread are acting like the tournament's been permanently moved to Manhattan. More than likely it's a one-off, possibly a less frequent member of an Indy, Chicago rotation. 

Here's the situation now: Lincoln and Minneapolis are 9 hours from Indianapolis. State College is 8 hours from Indy.  How many students from those campuses are making the drive?  From Maryland and Rutgers over 10.

So I don't feel it's unreasonable that every several years, if that, a different group of student bodies have a longer drive, or flight, to make if they actually want to go.

And, honestly, how many people would go every year, in any case?  Isn't the Big 10 Tournament an "I'd like to go to that once" kind of occasion?  In any case, the regular season championship means many times more to me than a win in Indy ever would.  Who had a more successful season last year, Michigan or Michigan State?

 

 

Blue_Sox

December 6th, 2014 at 6:10 PM ^

The title game will be a FULL WEEK before selection Sunday. 

Sets up an 11 day+ layoff for all of our teams before the NCAA Tournament. 

That is just a terrible idea. 

ghost

December 6th, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^

The other way to look at that is you get the stage pretty much to yourself.  Also the Big10 title game will really matter in terms of seeding where in past years its been up for debate how much it could really factor in to the committee's decisions given how late in the day it is.

Blue_Sox

December 6th, 2014 at 6:28 PM ^

I'd buy that argument if the Big Ten Tourney didn't consistently have the highest TV ratings of any of other tourney. Last year's title game was the highest rated non-NCAA Tourney game except for regular season Duke-Syracuse. 

In 2013 both of the Big Ten Semi games had higher ratings than ANY other conference tourney game, including every other Title game. 

I don't think seeding impact of one game between two good teams is really that great either. If anything I think you'd have some luster lost by having all the teams be off for a whole week. 

ghost

December 6th, 2014 at 6:46 PM ^

The Big East has St.John's has been basically awful for quite a while.   Otherwise they have no NY teams.  Syracuse was a big draw at the Garden, but now there in the ACC.  If you are going to one of the tournaments at MSG the Big10 tournament will be way better than the Big East.