Tip times for the seeds are locked in ahead of time this year. It was agreed at C-USA meetings that the 1 seed should get the most rest between games. So as soon as your team's seed is locked in, you'll know almost exactly when they will play.

I'm just hoping ODU can get the #4 spot. going to be down to the wire.

(02-10-2016 09:01 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  Tip times for the seeds are locked in ahead of time this year. It was agreed at C-USA meetings that the 1 seed should get the most rest between games. So as soon as your team's seed is locked in, you'll know almost exactly when they will play.

Good changes. Wish it was that way last year.

I'm just blown away that Marshall has a real shot at finishing the regular season top 4 in the conference, giving us that key bye. With our lack of depth, that will be key for us to have a real shot at winning the CUSA tournament. IMO, lack of a bye was a big reason we were just totally curb-stomped by Memphis in the CUSA Championship game back in 2012 (coupled with the 3OT round 2 game vs Tulsa that finished after midnight). Our guys basically played 3 games in 36 hours, IIRC.

Even if we have a tough stretch here near the end and don't finish in the top 4, this season has been a pleasant surprise for Marshall fans. D'Antoni seems to be able to really turn things around in conference play. Here's hoping he can keep building the roster with his type of players so we can turn things around a little earlier next season.

(02-10-2016 09:12 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  I'm just blown away that Marshall has a real shot at finishing the regular season top 4 in the conference, giving us that key bye. With our lack of depth, that will be key for us to have a real shot at winning the CUSA tournament. IMO, lack of a bye was a big reason we were just totally curb-stomped by Memphis in the CUSA Championship game back in 2012 (coupled with the 3OT round 2 game vs Tulsa that finished after midnight). Our guys basically played 3 games in 36 hours, IIRC.

Even if we have a tough stretch here near the end and don't finish in the top 4, this season has been a pleasant surprise for Marshall fans. D'Antoni seems to be able to really turn things around in conference play. Here's hoping he can keep building the roster with his type of players so we can turn things around a little earlier next season.

Didn't we go to OT with USM also????

(02-10-2016 09:12 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  I'm just blown away that Marshall has a real shot at finishing the regular season top 4 in the conference, giving us that key bye. With our lack of depth, that will be key for us to have a real shot at winning the CUSA tournament. IMO, lack of a bye was a big reason we were just totally curb-stomped by Memphis in the CUSA Championship game back in 2012 (coupled with the 3OT round 2 game vs Tulsa that finished after midnight). Our guys basically played 3 games in 36 hours, IIRC.

Even if we have a tough stretch here near the end and don't finish in the top 4, this season has been a pleasant surprise for Marshall fans. D'Antoni seems to be able to really turn things around in conference play. Here's hoping he can keep building the roster with his type of players so we can turn things around a little earlier next season.

I have been going to the tournament for many years when I knew we didn't have a shot at winning. To be in Birmingham this year and know we have a decent chance will be great. Like the old Southern Conference days in Ashville, NC. Instead of the usual 12-15 Herd fans at the tournament it will be very nice to see a decent contingent of Kelly green clad Herd fans.

I would like to see good traveling groups from several fan bases. I really think there are a half-dozen teams that can win it if they get hot.

What is basketball

(02-10-2016 09:20 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 09:12 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  I'm just blown away that Marshall has a real shot at finishing the regular season top 4 in the conference, giving us that key bye. With our lack of depth, that will be key for us to have a real shot at winning the CUSA tournament. IMO, lack of a bye was a big reason we were just totally curb-stomped by Memphis in the CUSA Championship game back in 2012 (coupled with the 3OT round 2 game vs Tulsa that finished after midnight). Our guys basically played 3 games in 36 hours, IIRC.

Even if we have a tough stretch here near the end and don't finish in the top 4, this season has been a pleasant surprise for Marshall fans. D'Antoni seems to be able to really turn things around in conference play. Here's hoping he can keep building the roster with his type of players so we can turn things around a little earlier next season.

Didn't we go to OT with USM also????

Not according to the few sites I was able to check for reference. I remember playing Tulsa at just before 4PM local time and that game going to 3OT. I can't remember what time it finished, but it had to have been like a 4+ hour game or something. Then we played Southern Miss the next day at 4PM, won that game in regulation, THEN had to play Memphis at 10:30 or 11:30AM local time that next morning. I mean, even if we had been 100%, that Memphis game was going to take everything we had. We had no shot in that game from the beginning, starting as a 6-seed and the Tulsa 3OT is what really killed us IMO.

None of that really pissed me off. I was just happy to be in the CUSA title game. What REALLY pissed me off was the Athletic Department BUSSING us to/from Memphis. That's an 8 hour drive in a regular vehicle, so let's say 10 hours in a bus with no stops, so we got back to Huntington (at best) sometime super early morning 3/11. The team had 1 day to rest, watch the TV announcement that we got totally overlooked for the NCAA tournament, but got an NIT bid at Middle Tennessee that was scheduled for 3 and a half days after our game vs Memphis. THEN the Athletic Department decided to bus the team to Murfreesboro for the 3/13 game. At most, the team had 24 hours in Huntington to relax for a bit and recuperate from a grueling CUSA tournament run before hopping back on a bus to Murfreesboro. We had no shot at beating in Middle Tennessee after all that, IMO. I was so pissed off that we chose to bus the team all over the damn place over the course of that week.

(02-10-2016 09:46 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 09:20 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 09:12 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  I'm just blown away that Marshall has a real shot at finishing the regular season top 4 in the conference, giving us that key bye. With our lack of depth, that will be key for us to have a real shot at winning the CUSA tournament. IMO, lack of a bye was a big reason we were just totally curb-stomped by Memphis in the CUSA Championship game back in 2012 (coupled with the 3OT round 2 game vs Tulsa that finished after midnight). Our guys basically played 3 games in 36 hours, IIRC.

Even if we have a tough stretch here near the end and don't finish in the top 4, this season has been a pleasant surprise for Marshall fans. D'Antoni seems to be able to really turn things around in conference play. Here's hoping he can keep building the roster with his type of players so we can turn things around a little earlier next season.

Didn't we go to OT with USM also????

Not according to the few sites I was able to check for reference. I remember playing Tulsa at just before 4PM local time and that game going to 3OT. I can't remember what time it finished, but it had to have been like a 4+ hour game or something. Then we played Southern Miss the next day at 4PM, won that game in regulation, THEN had to play Memphis at 10:30 or 11:30AM local time. I mean, even if we had been 100%, that Memphis game was going to take everything we had. We had no shot in that game from the beginning, starting as a 6-seed and the Tulsa 3OT is what really killed us IMO.

None of that really pissed me off. I was just happy to be in the CUSA title game. What REALLY pissed me off was the Athletic Department BUSSING us to/from Memphis. That's an 8 hour drive in a regular vehicle, so let's say 10 hours in a bus with no stops, so we got back to Huntington (at best) sometime super early morning 3/11. The team had 1 day to rest, watch the TV announcement that we got totally overlooked for the NCAA tournament, but got an NIT bid at Middle Tennessee. THEN the Athletic Department decided to bus the team to Murfreesboro for the 3/13 game. At most, the team had 24 hours in Huntington to relax for a bit and recuperate from a grueling CUSA tournament run before hopping back on a bus to Murfreesboro. We had no shot at beating in Middle Tennessee after all that, IMO. I was so pissed off that we chose to bus the team all over the damn place over the course of that week.

I found it... We won 73-62, but the game was a lot closer as I remember it. That 3 OT game was awesome...

And I'm with you...I was just happy to be in the CCG and get a bid to the NIT.

If the season plays out as KenPom projects, the match-ups would be:

March 8th:
12 Rice (4-14) vs.
13 UTSA (2-16) 4:00 PM

March 9th:
8 Western Kentucky (8-10) vs.
9 UTEP (7-11) 12:00 PM

5 Louisiana Tech (12-5) vs.
TBD (12/13) 2:30 PM

7 Charlotte (10-8) vs.
10 Florida Atlantic (6-12) 6:00 PM

6 FIU (11-7) vs.
11 North Texas (5-13) 8:30 PM

March 10th:
1 UAB (15-3) vs.
TBD (8/9) 12:00 PM

4 Marshall (12-6) vs.
TBD (5/12/13) 2:30 PM

2 Middle Tennessee (14-4) vs.
TBD (7/10) 6:00 PM

3 Old Dominion (13-5) vs.
TBD (6/11) 8:30 PM

(02-10-2016 09:36 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  I would like to see good traveling groups from several fan bases. I really think there are a half-dozen teams that can win it if they get hot.

I too would love that. Back in our old Southern Conference days we had nice fan bases from several schools. We have never see that in CUSA. The only crowds are the game in which the host team plays. It makes it all so much more fun when there are butts in the seats.

(02-10-2016 10:18 AM)Herdmeister Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 09:36 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  I would like to see good traveling groups from several fan bases. I really think there are a half-dozen teams that can win it if they get hot.

I too would love that. Back in our old Southern Conference days we had nice fan bases from several schools. We have never see that in CUSA. The only crowds are the game in which the host team plays. It makes it all so much more fun when there are butts in the seats.

A big problem with CUSA tournament attendance, IMO, is that Memphis was too dominant to justify fans from schools that had seeds 5 or lower to even bother. Having Memphis be so good was a double edged sword: it gave CUSA a lot of great exposure, but it didn't allow a lot of parity in the conference from a championship contention perspective. Couple that with the fact that this conference is pretty geographically spread out, it's pretty costly for ECU fans from Greenville area to get to Memphis to watch their 10-seed team play Rice in round 1 of the tournament knowing they'd end up playing the #2 seed team in the next round (just as an example).

Finally, this conference isn't exactly stacked with strong basketball programs (historically), so there's not a pedigree of expectation at a conference tournament. Starting with the last conference lineup to now, Memphis, UTEP, Houston, UAB, WKU, and to a lesser degree Charlotte and LaTech all have strong-to-decent basketball histories but that's 7 programs out of an overall lineup of like 21 or so programs that would've/should've cared to some degrees each year about basketball.

TL;DR: CUSA has always been too spread out, and dominated by too few basketball powers in recent years to really expect fans from basketball programs with less history/success to really attend regularly.

(02-10-2016 09:36 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  I would like to see good traveling groups from several fan bases. I really think there are a half-dozen teams that can win it if they get hot.

Well if a 16-15 (3-7 in last 10 coming into tourney) muts team

and a

16-15 (6-4 in last 10 coming into tourney) uab team can play for the cusa championship..

Most everyone still has hope...

(02-10-2016 10:32 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 10:18 AM)Herdmeister Wrote:  

(02-10-2016 09:36 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  I would like to see good traveling groups from several fan bases. I really think there are a half-dozen teams that can win it if they get hot.

I too would love that. Back in our old Southern Conference days we had nice fan bases from several schools. We have never see that in CUSA. The only crowds are the game in which the host team plays. It makes it all so much more fun when there are butts in the seats.

A big problem with CUSA tournament attendance, IMO, is that Memphis was too dominant to justify fans from schools that had seeds 5 or lower to even bother. Having Memphis be so good was a double edged sword: it gave CUSA a lot of great exposure, but it didn't allow a lot of parity in the conference from a championship contention perspective. Couple that with the fact that this conference is pretty geographically spread out, it's pretty costly for ECU fans from Greenville area to get to Memphis to watch their 10-seed team play Rice in round 1 of the tournament knowing they'd end up playing the #2 seed team in the next round (just as an example).

Finally, this conference isn't exactly stacked with strong basketball programs (historically), so there's not a pedigree of expectation at a conference tournament. Starting with the last conference lineup to now, Memphis, UTEP, Houston, UAB, WKU, and to a lesser degree Charlotte and LaTech all have strong-to-decent basketball histories but that's 7 programs out of an overall lineup of like 21 or so programs that would've/should've cared to some degrees each year about basketball.

TL;DR: CUSA has always been too spread out, and dominated by too few basketball powers in recent years to really expect fans from basketball programs with less history/success to really attend regularly.

That was the one really cool thing about the MAC tourney. All of the schools were in close proximity and could travel. I think if it had been more centrally located...like Columbus or Dayton, there might have even been a bigger turnout.

(02-10-2016 09:40 AM)eagle04 Wrote:  What is basketball

Some sort of exhibition sport before the start of baseball season, I think.

I can't stand that we let all 13 teams into the tournament. What's wrong with 8 and a double bye system? Sets three different levels that keep the regular season exciting and meaningful down the stretch - making the tourney, getting a bye, and getting a double bye. I know I know - it's all about hotel rooms and that BS.

(02-10-2016 12:04 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I can't stand that we let all 13 teams into the tournament. What's wrong with 8 and a double bye system? Sets three different levels that keep the regular season exciting and meaningful down the stretch - making the tourney, getting a bye, and getting a double bye. I know I know - it's all about hotel rooms and that BS.

I thought most conferences have gone to the full team-tournament now?

(02-10-2016 12:04 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I can't stand that we let all 13 teams into the tournament. What's wrong with 8 and a double bye system? Sets three different levels that keep the regular season exciting and meaningful down the stretch - making the tourney, getting a bye, and getting a double bye. I know I know - it's all about hotel rooms and that BS.

I like everyone getting in. As a fan, I like to make reservations in advance.
For instance, the 2 times the tournament was in El Paso, I would have had to make flight reservations at the last minute. Flights are expensive enough months in advance.
It's also tough for some people to schedule vacations at the last minute.

(02-10-2016 12:04 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I can't stand that we let all 13 teams into the tournament. What's wrong with 8 and a double bye system? Sets three different levels that keep the regular season exciting and meaningful down the stretch - making the tourney, getting a bye, and getting a double bye. I know I know - it's all about hotel rooms and that BS.

Of course a middle fan doesnt want everyone to get in. They have never won a tournament championship so they want less games to make it easier. I swear those guys could go 28-2 in the regular season and still wouldnt win the tournament.