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The future of WBB regionals - M T - 02-04-2020

I was going to put this in a reply to one of the other topics, but I thought it might distract from their particular subjects.

I was again bothered by the single regional on the west coast, year after year, and looked to see if it might change.  The current format does gives an ongoing benefit to the teams & fans on the East Coast.  Look at what Oregon had to go through to go to play at UConn's home court.

The bid process for future NCAA sites is in process.  Bids were due Monday.  Start following it here
  https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/resources/common/2022-26NCAAChamp_BidCycleAnnouncement.pdf
One document purports to extol their progress.
  http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2020_NCAA_WBB_StrategicPlan_YR1_Progress.pdf
It is full of glowing adjectives saying all they do.  To my mind, the document overflows with BS (first word: Babbling) typical of someone trying to sell something.

Nowhere does it say anything about being fair to the various teams, for any sense of fairness.

The editor should have caught this as I think they didn't mean this to sound the way it does:
    "We’ve set a course that will benefit those who play the game — and those who oversee it" (emphasis mine).
Add to that:
 "Monthly teleconferences are held with leadership of key stakeholders of the game (e.g., WBCA, USA Basketball, WNBA and ESPN) ..."
(Silly me, I thought the colleges & universities are the key stakeholders.)

I hadn't heard this:
  "A new two-site, eight-team per site regional model will be implemented for the 2023 championship."
(If you need an example of meaningless B.S., read the rest of the paragraph after that.)

Let me guess.... Storrs & Las Vegas?   Where ever they have it, some area of the country is probably going to be screwed over.  If it is East & West Coasts, Central Timezone schools will all be under-represented by fans.  If  it is CST & EST, all West Coast schools will bear the burden.  If it is CST & PST, the devil will need to by a new overcoat.  MST & Hawaii & Alaska will likely never have anything nearby.


The impact of this on the players and the fans is going to be significant.   The only ones that will benefit are the sponsors (and airlines & hotels) and the Ct.SPortsNetwork -- I suspect they're the ones pushing this.    No doubt the teams will, on average, have to fly further (more teams flying, fewer driving) and commit to more time out of school.  Fans that might go will have added expense & time away from work.   (Me, I'd probably go to games where I can reasonably return home each night.  I don't see any reason to go to Vegas or L.A. or Seattle.)

RE: The future of WBB regionals - CompSci87 - 02-04-2020

I heard about the 2-regional plan earlier, and I hate it. It's bad for the teams and the fans for so many reasons.

RE: The future of WBB regionals - 81alum - 02-05-2020

This is just "ugh," and I don't really understand the reasons for it. 

Could it bee that by having eight teams instead of four, they are doubling the number of potential fans at the site, and the seats might look a little more full?  Of course, the fans tend to file in and out when their own team plays....

RE: The future of WBB regionals - M T - 02-06-2020

(02-05-2020, 01:49 PM)81alum Wrote:  This is just "ugh," and I don't really understand the reasons for it. 

Could it bee that by having eight teams instead of four, they are doubling the number of potential fans at the site, and the seats might look a little more full?  Of course, the fans tend to file in and out when their own team plays....

I *think* this is two 4-team regionals played at the same site.  So, for each of these 8-team regionals, there would be 4 games of the sweet-16 round (regional first round), followed by 2 games of the elite 8 round (regional finals).  The 4 winners of the regional finals (2 winners from each of 2 regions) goes to the final four.  Presumably they'll do  2 games on Thursday, 2 on Friday, 1 on Saturday(Thursday winners), 1 on Sunday(Friday winners).   Make those people that show up in person buy more hot dogs & beer.

One can see why CtSPN wants it.  They only need 2 crews.  Any facility that wins this will get more money (at the expense of the other facility that didn't get it).  Ditto for the hotels & airlines.   The fans will have to travel further, deal with buying two sets of tickets (or not), possibly stay longer.  But, hey, if they call themselves fans, they'll just have to reach for their wallet.

RE: The future of WBB regionals - oldalum - 02-06-2020

The men's tournament used to group 8 teams at one site for the first 2 rounds, but all 4 first-round games were on the same day, as were the two second-round games. The first round made for a long day of spectating.

RE: The future of WBB regionals - Jskass - 02-06-2020

I have to think they also decrease the costs -- the fixed costs of two locations. That could be savings; also could limit the possibility of places like empty Stockton -- South Carolina and FSU got to fly there and arena was not so well attended. Am intrigued to hear why it is so terrible from others' perspectives because it could add excitement but need certainly to have one Western and one Eastern location.

RE: The future of WBB regionals - Viking_Guy - 02-06-2020

One reason is that one site that is likely to be in HEAVY rotation is Uncasville, Connecticut.  Hey, it will attract fans, because they'll all want to hit the casino afterward.  And will have absolutely nothing to do with its proximity to Bristol and a certain unnamed school.

VG

RE: The future of WBB regionals - Spiny_Norman - 02-06-2020

(02-06-2020, 07:58 AM)oldalum Wrote:  The men's tournament used to group 8 teams at one site for the first 2 rounds, but all 4 first-round games were on the same day, as were the two second-round games. The first round made for a long day of spectating.

Used to? That's exactly how things work now. And the first round can be a great day of spectating for this college basketball fan.

RE: The future of WBB regionals - M T - 02-06-2020

(02-06-2020, 10:34 AM)Jskass Wrote:  I have to think they also decrease the costs -- the fixed costs of two locations. That could be savings; also could limit the possibility of places like empty Stockton -- South Carolina and FSU got to fly there and arena was not so well attended. Am intrigued to hear why it is so terrible from others' perspectives because it could add excitement but need certainly to have one Western and one Eastern location.

So Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, etc would all have to fly either West or East every year?

RE: The future of WBB regionals - BobK - 02-06-2020

2020 NCAA tournament schedule and locations: MEN
DATES ROUND CITY, STATE HOST(S) FACILITY
March 15 Selection Sunday N/A N/A N/A
March 17-18 First Four Dayton, OH University of Dayton UD Arena
March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds Albany, NY Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Times Union Center
March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds Spokane, WA University of Idaho Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds St. Louis, MO Missouri Valley Conference Enterprise Center
March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds Tampa, FL University of South Florida Amalie Arena
March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds Greensboro, NC Atlantic Coast Conference Greensboro Coliseum
March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds Omaha, NE Creighton University CenturyLink Center Omaha
March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds Sacramento, CA Sacramento State University Golden 1 Center
March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds Cleveland, OH Mid-American Conference/Cleveland State Quicken Loans Arena
March 26/28 Midwest Regional Indianapolis, IN Horizon League/IUPUI Lucas Oil Stadium
March 26/28 West Regional Los Angeles, CA Pepperdine University STAPLES Center
March 27/29 South Regional Houston, TX University of Houston Toyota Center
March 27/29 East Regional New York, NY St. John’s University/Big East Conference Madison Square Garden
April 4/6 Final Four Atlanta, GA Georgia Institute of Technology

RE: The future of WBB regionals - oldalum - 02-06-2020

(02-06-2020, 11:23 AM)Spiny_Norman Wrote:  
(02-06-2020, 07:58 AM)oldalum Wrote:  The men's tournament used to group 8 teams at one site for the first 2 rounds, but all 4 first-round games were on the same day, as were the two second-round games. The first round made for a long day of spectating.

Used to? That's exactly how things work now. And the first round can be a great day of spectating for this college basketball fan.
You're right, it's been a long time since I've attended a first-round site! I might have been thinking of the change they made when each first-round site used to comprise 8 teams in the same region, then they changed to 4-team pods so they could have pods from two different regions at the same site.