To reestablish the long dormant "Big 4 Basketball Classic"

Two games (UB vs Can, Bona vs Niagara) one week after thanksgiving. They will be played back to back at the first Niagara Center in Downtown Buffalo.

http://www.ubbullrun.com/2014/7/29/59489...onaventure

Too bad the idiots scheduled the games for the last Saturday in November. Hello? College football rivalry game day, anyone?

They'll get a few thousand people there, but there will be thousands more sitting at home watching Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Great news. Sleeping giant keeps rumbling.

NEW YORK BULLS!

(08-02-2014 01:28 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Great news. Sleeping giant keeps rumbling.

NEW YORK BULLS!

Sleeping Giant had better not lose again to the little private catholic school across town.

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

(08-07-2014 07:30 AM)7 Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

Better not disagree with him or astericks and CAPITAL LETTERS will start flying **** !!!!


.

(08-07-2014 09:26 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 07:30 AM)7 Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

Better not disagree with him or astericks and CAPITAL LETTERS will start flying **** !!!!


.

******.

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Do they care about an early season "Little 4 Basketball Classic?"

(08-07-2014 10:07 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Do they care about an early season "Big 4 Basketball Classic?"

There's a whole website--on the internet--dedicated to it, so the answer has to be yes.

Find me the "Western New York: Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC" website and we can talk.

(08-07-2014 10:07 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Do they care about an early season "Little 4 Basketball Classic?"

We're going to find out this year I suppose.. UB, Niagara, Canisius, and Bona do get a lot of local press so even a casual sports fan should be aware this is going one

Cleveland Big 4 - Akron, Kent, Cleveland State, YSU

Maybe try that if the Buffalo gig does well.

Cincinnati Big 4 - Miami, Dayton, Xavier, Cincinnati

.

(08-07-2014 07:30 AM)7 Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

Being from Binghamton NY I can tell that upstate NY will watch those games if they are on but they do not give a crap about them at all.

To many New Yorkers college football is similar, though more popular, to minor league baseball.

They may watch due to the hype machine but they could be easily swayed to watch something else if the hype means more to them possibly.

Sadly this would never fly in NE Ohio as they are too brainwashed to watch anything but one school at that time of year.

(08-07-2014 12:19 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 07:30 AM)7 Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

Being from Binghamton NY I can tell that upstate NY will watch those games if they are on but they do not give a crap about them at all.

To many New Yorkers college football is similar, though more popular, to minor league baseball.

They may watch due to the hype machine but they could be easily swayed to watch something else if the hype means more to them possibly.

Sadly this would never fly in NE Ohio as they are too brainwashed to watch anything but one school at that time of year.

I bet you TV ratings tell a different story.

(08-07-2014 12:24 PM)7 Wrote:  I bet you TV ratings tell a different story.

The ratings tell a story of indifference to most college sports, with exceptions regarding the Final 4, BCS Title game, UB sports and Syracuse basketball. Buffalo isn't a 'pull' community for B1G alums and the alumni counts show there are very few living here. And besides UB fans and a few viewers of national games, most people here spend their fall/early winter Saturday's with home and family events, gearing up for a full day of Bills on Sunday.

Nov 5, 2013:The University at Buffalo's 30-3 victory over Ohio University Tuesday night on ESPN2 was a local ratings hit. It averaged a 4.5 rating, which is high by college football standards here - Alan Pergament, Buffalo News

The 2009 International Bowl set the standard for local college football ratings:

The Bulls appearance in the International Bowl against Connecticut saw a huge ratings swing from 2008 to 2009. This year's game got a national rating of 2.12 (or just over two million homes) up 33% from last year's number of 1.59 between Rutgers and Ball State. Locally, the game got a high 18.2 rating (70,400) [16.4 average] in cable households according to Time-Warner statistics. It was the most watched cable show in four years, higher even than the Buffalo Bills Monday Night broadcasts on ESPN in 2007 and 2008. -Billszone.com

And regular season UB basketball draws better ratings than most ranked high-major programs, not named Syracuse or Duke:

(2005) WNLO (Local WB affiliate) filled a hole vacated by the Empire Sports Network on Saturday when it carried [UB] men's basketball team's Bracket Buster game at Fresno State. The game had a 1.7 rating, higher than the national college games carried last weekend by ABC affiliate Channel 7 and CBS affiliate Channel 4. The rating for the UB-Fresno State game wasn't far off the local rating for Sunday's prime-time coverage of the NBA All-Star Game on TNT. It had a 2.7 rating here, well below the record-low national 4.9 rating. It [the NBA All-Star Game] also was well below the 6.3 local rating that the Pro Bowl, the NFL all-star game, had a week earlier. - Buffalo News

Those CBS/ABC national games the weekend of 5/12/05? #20 Wisconsin @ #2 Illinois CBS 1 PM / #16 Oklahoma @ Missouri ABC 12:30 / Colorado @ #15 Kansas ABC 3:30

(08-07-2014 12:24 PM)7 Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 12:19 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 07:30 AM)7 Wrote:  

(08-02-2014 01:25 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Western NY doesn't care about Michigan vs. Ohio State, Auburn vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. USC.

I bet you're wrong.

Being from Binghamton NY I can tell that upstate NY will watch those games if they are on but they do not give a crap about them at all.

To many New Yorkers college football is similar, though more popular, to minor league baseball.

They may watch due to the hype machine but they could be easily swayed to watch something else if the hype means more to them possibly.

Sadly this would never fly in NE Ohio as they are too brainwashed to watch anything but one school at that time of year.

I bet you TV ratings tell a different story.

Well it helps that college football is on easy to find TV while minor league baseball isnt as much.

Also I said that college football is more popular than minor league baseball the point is that New Yorkers treat college football as minor league literally. That includes the big name schools like Penn State, Notre Dame, etc.

If you are not a NFL team then you are minor league and they treat you as such. To NY college football is probably the top minor league to watch (though in some places things like hockey are very popular) but that is what it is to most of the people of NY.

(08-07-2014 10:07 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Do they care about an early season "Little 4 Basketball Classic?"

During the 70's, and the dark days of UB athletics, "Little 3" Basketball nights in Buffalo were a big deal. Many people of a certain age fondly remember them. After the Braves left, Basketball culture kind of fell off, and the series died out.

There has been tepid talk for the past 10 years or so of rekindling the series. There has been some resistance from the 3 Catholics to letting the big, State school join the club. Canisius and Niagara already play each other twice in conference, and UB does schedule all 3 on campus sites every season.


The return of Big 4 Basketball to the Pro arena is a a kind of trial balloon to test the temperature of local fans. If it doesn't draw well, it will not be back next year, but like I said, there is a lot of nostalgia behind it. We just need to see if it takes off.