Face it. The American is a crappy conference and so will never have a great neutral site conference tournament. Either pick a site where it is at least enjoyable to visit, or go to home court venues for tournament games.

(01-10-2017 07:27 PM)rosewater Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 05:28 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 05:19 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  The answer to the "Hartford" question is pretty simple actually.

Back when the AAC was finding itself after the "C-7" departure, they were trying to figure out how the conference tournament would look and work. We gave up MSG in the divorce...probably a good idea since it is a massive facility and we have no real NYC schools (I'm willing to nod to UConn.). The first post-BE tourney was at the Mohawk casino and was poorly attended. I think we lost money on it. Had it been successful, it probably would have been there on a long-term basis.

So hosting was put out to bid. There was a lot of speculation that the Conference was looking at the Palestra in Philly as a permanent site, but that never panned out for a bunch of reasons. Memphis and New Orleans were also discussed as permanent sites but neither were chosen. Orlando got a two year run and then Hartford got the next slot in an attempt to bring the tournament back to the NE. These things are scheduled YEARS ahead of time, and Hartford has been slated for four years now.

Truth be told, Orlando was a complete failure. Attendance was dismal. Hartford would be hard pressed to be worse.

I bolded the last paragraph for emphasis. I think a major factor in the decision making is they wanted to host the tournament in a venue where people would attend. Hosting the tournament in Orlando, New Orleans or even Tampa would be disasterous. Those cities do not support those basketball programs, and more to the point none of those teams have a chance in winning the conference tournament anytime soon.

Realistically the only options for this conference would be Connecticut or Memphis (We don't have a venue to host this tournament so Cincinnati is out and while the people support Temple better than a Tulane, it is not that great in the grand scheme of things).

Why do we not have a venue to host? I attended the Conference USA championship in 93 and 98 and I remember having very good crowds.

US bank arena was rockin for both tournaments and was very well attended.

Nothing screams mid-major like a conference championship game being played in front of 700 people in a cavernous arena. I used to tune in the A10 championship game when X was playing in that kind of venue just for laughs. But a geographic footprint from Houston to Tampa to Hartford doesn't exactly help the AAC either.

Memphis fans love good basketball and it's a fun host city; Cincinnati could host in the new Fifth Third and draw well. Given UCONN's success the past twenty years Hartford should most often provide a full arena.

Beyond the tournament, the best strategy for AAC basketball is to ignore the perennial bottom feeders and push a pretty strong top tier to the best TV games, guaranteed home and home (only one UC/Memphis game this year is crazy) and make a concerted effort to create made for TV matchups with P5 opponents in November/December. Maybe it's the focus on conference football but the AAC hasn't effectively marketed basketball--a young conference that already owns national championships in mens, and womens' b-ball.

Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Jarr "The Greek"

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Is that necessary? There wasn't anything outlandish about his expectation. Are you going to admonish those who thought we'd do better?

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Actually maybe we should give Billy credit for only predicting 6-7 losses. For him that's downright optimistic.

(03-05-2017 04:43 PM)franzeal Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Is that necessary? There wasn't anything outlandish about his expectation. Are you going to admonish those who thought we'd do better?

I'm willing to bet Billy will take the post with the spirit with which it was intended and not get upset about it.

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Congrats. That was the same prediction as the RPI at that point of the season.

(03-05-2017 05:12 PM)payday Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Congrats. That was the same prediction as the RPI at that point of the season.

Well shucks... thanks for ruining my moment payday.

Like pulling teeth with you people...
Spend the season acting like a bunch of hypochondriacs and treating every misstep like it'll end us and then when we do well, you still find a way to be bitchy about it!

(03-05-2017 05:16 PM)jarr Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 05:12 PM)payday Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Congrats. That was the same prediction as the RPI at that point of the season.

Well shucks... thanks for ruining my moment payday.

Well, you never miss an opportunity to spoil Cronin's.

(03-05-2017 05:47 PM)payday Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 05:16 PM)jarr Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 05:12 PM)payday Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Congrats. That was the same prediction as the RPI at that point of the season.

Well shucks... thanks for ruining my moment payday.

Well, you never miss an opportunity to spoil Cronin's.

Sorry, not biting. Why don't you go cat fight with that other dude.

(03-05-2017 04:47 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:43 PM)franzeal Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Is that necessary? There wasn't anything outlandish about his expectation. Are you going to admonish those who thought we'd do better?

I'm willing to bet Billy will take the post with the spirit with which it was intended and not get upset about it.

I appreciate Franzeal's defense. But it's all good. Mark likes to give a good kick to the nuts from time to time. With how they were playing I had them losing @ UCF, @Uconn and thought they'd slip up against Memphis or Houston. Today's game was the real shocker to me. They've been terrible on the road. Hopefully they'll keep it going on friday.

(03-05-2017 04:47 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Actually maybe we should give Billy credit for only predicting 6-7 losses. For him that's downright optimistic.

And you shut it!

(03-05-2017 04:24 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Jarr "The Geek"

Indeed...

(03-05-2017 05:56 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:47 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:43 PM)franzeal Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:19 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2017 02:25 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  I don't think so. Probably 6-7 losses

And lets not waste the opportunity to show Billy's not so great prognostication.

Is that necessary? There wasn't anything outlandish about his expectation. Are you going to admonish those who thought we'd do better?

I'm willing to bet Billy will take the post with the spirit with which it was intended and not get upset about it.

I appreciate Franzeal's defense. But it's all good. Mark likes to give a good kick to the nuts from time to time. With how they were playing I had them losing @ UCF, @Uconn and thought they'd slip up against Memphis or Houston. Today's game was the real shocker to me. They've been terrible on the road. Hopefully they'll keep it going on friday.

To be fair, they did still shoot 36% today

(01-08-2017 06:57 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  In retrospect, these kinds of threads always end in tears.

This guy is a clown. Of course 27-4 is reasonable.

(03-05-2017 06:36 PM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:24 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(03-05-2017 04:13 PM)jarr Wrote:  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I'm just gonna pat myself on the back a little bit.

Jarr "The Geek"

Indeed...

Fine by me, I've been called a lot worse around here lol