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Post by wh on Sept 1, 2006 17:23:06 GMT -5
Since we only have to suffer through one more Mid Con Tournament on Tulsa's "neutral" court, I started wondering how the Horizon League handles its conference tournament. According to last year's summary (below), first round games were held at the higher seeded schools, second round and semifinal games at Milwaukee, and the championship game at the home of the higher remaining seed.
Tournament Schedule
First Round (at campus sites) - Tuesday, February 28
Game 1: #4 Loyola 76, #9 Youngstown State 61 8 p.m. EST
Game 2: #5 Detroit 92, #8 Cleveland State 58 7 p.m. EST
Game 3: #6 UIC 77, #7 Wright State 64 8 p.m. EST
Second Round (Milwaukee, Wis.) - Friday, March 3
Game 4: #3 UW-Green Bay 76, #6 UIC 66 5:30 p.m. EST Recap
Game 5: #4 Loyola 64, #5 Detroit 55 8 p.m. EST
Semifinals (Milwaukee, Wis.) - Saturday, March 4
Game 6: #2 Butler 73, #3 UW-Green Bay 51 4:30 p.m. EST
Game 7: #1 UW-Milwaukee 80, #4 Loyola 66 7 p.m. EST
Championship Game (at home of higher remaining seed) - Tuesday, March 7
Game 8: #1 UW-Milwaukee 87, #2 Butler 71 9 p.m. EST
The first thought that comes to mind - I wonder if second round and semifinal games are always held at Milwaukee? Do they rotate sites? Might they have a bidding process like the Mid Con?
I also noticed that of 4 rounds of games, UW Milwaukee and Butler as the No.1 and No. 2 seeds didn't even have to start playing until the semifinals (round 3). It seems pretty amazing that in a 9-team league, UW Milwaukee only had to win 2 games to go to Big Dance.
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Post by valpo89 on Sept 1, 2006 18:06:33 GMT -5
That's part of the philosophy of giving your best teams the best chance to win, instead of having one team get hot at the right time and then possibly not being the best representative for your conference. Sound familiar? (Oakland 2005). I like the idea of giving your two best teams a bye.
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Post by wh on Sept 1, 2006 18:55:44 GMT -5
I like the idea of giving your two best teams a bye. I don't disagree. I just thought it seems strange that the top 2 seeds each get 2 byes. |
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Post by ml on Sept 1, 2006 19:34:16 GMT -5
The quarter and semi finals are held on the campus of the #1 seed. The championship game is played on the campus of the highest seed in the game.
The tournament is structured to get the best possible team into the NCAA post-season as often as possible and get other top seeds positioned for possible at-large bids. It is also structured to produce full gyms, which in turn creates a post-season atmosphere for all games. That provides all the teams and all the student-athletes with a better post-season expereince.
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Post by wh on Sept 2, 2006 12:37:18 GMT -5
The quarter and semi finals are held on the campus of the #1 seed. The championship game is played on the campus of the highest seed in the game. How awesome would that be to hold the #1 seed and host the quarter's, semi's and championship game at the ARC! I can just imagine the buzz and excitement on campus, around town, and throughout the Region. A boost for the area economy, a good recruiting tool, a legitimate reason to consider expanding the ARC - nothing but exciting positives! I wish we were starting this year! |
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Post by bigd on Sept 2, 2006 13:44:27 GMT -5
Many HL fans feel the HL tourney format needs some improvement. The only fans that seem to like it are those that cheer for the 1st place team, because the rest of the teams have very little chance of winning. Maybe that's what the HL wants but to put every other team at such a serious disadvantage starts to take the fun away from the fans of those teams.
We used to do a rotating, single-site format. Each team would get a chance to host. The year after UIC beat Loyola (two lower seeded teams) in the finals in Cleveland (where attendance was pathetic), the format was changed. The thought was more money could be made and that the best team should have a better shot to make it. Unfortunately, the league has gone overboard.
It's one thing to give the regular season champ home-court advantage (which I agree with), but to also give it two byes into the semifinals is borderline ridiculous. I guess the thought is to reduce the number of games played by the #1 team so that not only are they less likely to lose, but their RPI will not drop as much due to playing more games against lower-seeded opponents (this could help them draw a better seeding).
I'm curious to see what the format will be when Valpo enters this mix. Lecrone has hinted that the format will be similar. I like this format more than the single site, but I feel that too much advantage is given to the best team. Make them play another game!
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Post by chucka on Sept 6, 2006 15:48:51 GMT -5
Even with Valpo in, LeCrone will pretty much stick to the present format. The thought is to avoid what happened in 2002. Granted it was the 5th & 6th seeded teams (Loyola & UIC) playing for the HL championship, but teams from the other schools went home. Those that were there were a few fans from Loyola, Chicago and Cleveland State.
The regular season champ deserves home court advantage throughout, but it won't be straight to the semis when Valpo comes aboard I'm guessing.
The home court games for seeds 3-6 was a good idea. It helps those teams with the advantage. Let's face it, how many times have any of us sat and watched all of the games of the tourney? I mean, I did when the tourney was in Chicago, but that's just me. We usually go to the games that our team is playing. With the game at the higher seeded team, the theory is that the home team will have most of the fans anyway. If we're on the road, I'm just going to see my team and don't have to wait around for other games to finish up.
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Post by cigarboy on Sept 20, 2006 15:42:30 GMT -5
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Post by cigarboy on Sept 20, 2006 16:06:33 GMT -5
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Post by uwmpantherholic on Oct 26, 2006 9:58:03 GMT -5
Men's basketball notebook: Tourney format takes shape By Rob Demovsky rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com The Horizon League has settled on a format for its men's basketball conference tournament when Valparaiso becomes the conference's 10th team next season. Under the current format, the top-two seeds receive byes in the semifinals while the No. 3 seed gets a pass into the quarterfinals. Teams that finish fourth, fifth and sixth host opening-round games against the teams that finish ninth, eight and seventh, respectively. The No. 1 seed hosts the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the championship game is played at the highest remaining seed. The only significant change under the new format for the 2007-08 season is that the No. 3 seed no longer receives a bye. The top-two seeds still receive byes into the semifinals and would need to win only two games to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The other eight teams would have to win four games to win the tournament. "We'll be playing an eight-team bracket to get down to two," Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone said on Tuesday. "The two teams that come out of that bracket will meet up with the No. 1 and No. 2 (seeds)." Under the new format, the teams that finish third through sixth will host opening-round games against the teams that finish 10th through seventh. Still to be determined is where the second-round games will be played. LeCrone, who was in town for basketball media day at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the addition of Valpo was five years in the making. "Ten (teams) is the perfect number for us," LeCrone said, "and Valpo is the perfect 10." www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/GPG020101/610250590/1229/GPGsports |
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Post by vufan75 on Oct 26, 2006 10:08:07 GMT -5
Thanks for the article link, information and update on next seasons HL tourney, pantherholic! Appreciate it.
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