Based on the recent Big West Conference tournaments, it seems that USU fans travel very, very well, particularly if the school is clearly contending for an NCAA bid. I would expect to see WAC tournament attendance increase with the Aggies in the conference.

I agree - Pan Am renovation was probably a factor, and should look flashy on TV. Particularly if it's full.

And this should benefit Theus' program, as a previous poster mentioned - the road to the NCAA will run through Las Cruces for a few seasons.

Vandal9570 Wrote:the road to the NCAA will run through Las Cruces for a few seasons.

I don't believe that. With recruiting on the upswing, Nevada isn't going to give up the top spot without a fight.

IIRC, USU brought close to 5000 to Anaheim the last few years.

Of course, being in the running for a NCAA Tournament slot helped, as did the proximity to Disneyland. The BW tournament was also usually around the same weekend as Spring Break at USU. I'm sure you could expect a couple thousand from Logan if the team is competative and the games are on the right weekend.

Here's the Smith Spectrum - sorry the first shot is kinda screwy.

"I don't believe that. With recruiting on the upswing, Nevada isn't going to give up the top spot without a fight."

Right - I just mean the literal road. NMSU does get the home court (for whatever it's worth).

as previously mentioned, other wac schools already got a shot at hosting the conference tourney and it turned out to be a big money loser for them when their teams got knocked out early - fresno and nevada. Additionally, the WAC has long followed the pattern of giving the predicted top team in the league the tourney: Tulsa hosted it for years after the split, followed by Fresno and then Nevada - and all were among the top teams when they hosted. Seems to me that the WAC is betting that Theus will turn around the Aggies and have them in contention when the tourney makes its way to Las Cruces. Also, there is the added benefit of keeping the WAC brand in the news in the surrounding El Paso area. After 30 years of membership, there are still many in El Paso who are interested in wac results and it can't hurt to try to keep interest fresh over here.

MinerTavo Wrote:Seems to me that the WAC is betting that Theus will turn around the Aggies and have them in contention when the tourney makes its way to Las Cruces. Also, there is the added benefit of keeping the WAC brand in the news in the surrounding El Paso area. After 30 years of membership, there are still many in El Paso who are interested in wac results and it can't hurt to try to keep interest fresh over here.

I've had similar thoughts after thinking about this for a while. But I still don't see it working Las Cruces. I agree with a New Mag who said that it simply came down to who could win the bid.

BUT, my point is that it shouldn't come down to whoever wins a bid. The fans should be included in this, and Idaho and Utah St fans haven't been kept in mind in this decision, IMHO. As previously stated, Utah St draws well for conference tournaments. We brought about 5,000 to Anaheim last year, despite the fact that Pacific was favored to win the BWT. That would've made a large impact on whether the WAC tournament was successfull in Reno or not.

Further, if you want the best team to host the tournament, why not have the regular season champ host the tournament? Obviously, we're not concerned about the best team hosting the tournament, with the decision that was made, because there are no guarantees that NMSU will have the best team.

Second of all, if this were truely about $$$ then why didn't we wait and see how the attendance for this year's tournament panned out, before we decided that Reno wasn't to be the place? I know, I know, Las Cruces out bidded Reno.

So the fans were left out of this decision.

Like I say, I'll be in Las Cruces next year. But a LOT of fans won't be there, because it is too far away to drive and flying is too expensive for a lot of people. Reno was within driving distance. Opportunity lost. I've probably given much more than my $.02 on this one, so you won't hear another peep from me.

It's interesting many don't think we Las Cruces folks can't bring a good crowd to the Pan Am when we've held many Big West and Sun Belt attendance records. If Reggie has the team I suspect he'll have, the attendance will rise again to our usual 11k+ average.

ejmpalle Wrote:BUT, my point is that it shouldn't come down to whoever wins a bid. The fans should be included in this, and Idaho and Utah St fans haven't been kept in mind in this decision, IMHO. As previously stated, Utah St draws well for conference tournaments. We brought about 5,000 to Anaheim last year, despite the fact that Pacific was favored to win the BWT. That would've made a large impact on whether the WAC tournament was successfull in Reno or not.

Further, if you want the best team to host the tournament, why not have the regular season champ host the tournament? Obviously, we're not concerned about the best team hosting the tournament, with the decision that was made, because there are no guarantees that NMSU will have the best team.

It'll be interesting to see how many Blue Aggies make the trek to Reno this year, without the Disneyland factor. And how next year in LC compares....

I'd personally prefer to see the regular season champ host the tourney, because it would make the regular season title worth so much more, but that makes travel planning very difficult. I doubt we'll see a return to that.

DAggie Wrote:It's interesting many don't think we Las Cruces folks can't bring a good crowd to the Pan Am when we've held many Big West and Sun Belt attendance records. If Reggie has the team I suspect he'll have, the attendance will rise again to our usual 11k+ average.

I don't think anyone's questioning that at all. In fact, NMS could lead the WAC in attendance if they're in contention.

The concern is the effect on attendance by fans from other schools, and that's completely overshadowed by the impact of whether the home team makes the finals or not. I doubt NMS fans would be any better than others about attending without NMS playing.

That's the whole point though, attendance by outside schools is never going to be at high levels, regardless of the site. Maybe Utah State will prove the exception but the WAC is not a bus league, almost every site is going to be a solid drive for other fans and usually a flight for most. Those that are going to make the trip are going to make it no matter where it is.

Hey, at least La Tech didn't get the bid! (no offense Techsters - just distance)