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Big Sky Tournament Format


kingranch

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Once again you don't need to worry the enjoyment UND fans are having. We are having a lot of fun. Maybe you didn't know this but we have of all our contests on the road in all sports available on video. We are able to watch them ALL. You should of been in Grand Forks yesterday. We just watched our women punch a ticket to the Dance. We absolutely love that the conference champs hosts the tournament at the end of the year. The Big Sky is great. Quit worrying about us. When you look at the total picture, overall the Big Sky situation it is much better than the Summit. Remember the Summit is the conference NDSU wanted to get into bad.

Did you go to the womens game?

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There is a lot more to the big picture than one seed in one sport in one year. There a lot of varying factors. Like I said, it is the conference NDSU would of killed to get into. I believe NDSU tried a couple of times to get into it. You are right. The Big Sky is a whole .lot more stable. You have one fact right.

NDSU wanted to get into the Big Sky during the time when they had no football conference home (aka Great West). After NDSU accepted an MVFC invite, they made no attempt to move to the Big Sky. Get YOUR facts right. In 2010, NDSU, SDSU, and USD could all have easily moved to Big Sky if they had any desire to do so. None of them did. Those are the facts.

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NDSU wanted to get into the Big Sky during the time when they had no football conference home (aka Great West). After NDSU accepted an MVFC invite, they made no attempt to move to the Big Sky. Get YOUR facts right. In 2010, NDSU, SDSU, and USD could all have easily moved to Big Sky if they had any desire to do so. None of them did. Those are the facts.

Outside of USD, do you have any proof of this or is it just conjecture on your part? And I believe USD had a strong desire to move to the Big Sky, the SD Board of Regents denied them in doing so.

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While I do see your point and it can be inconvenience for the fans, I prefer that the regular season winner actually gets an advantage. It makes the regular season worth something.

I don't like the conference winner hosting. The advantages for the hosting team are just too numerous in my opinion. Also makes it more difficult for the fans of the rest of the teams in the tournament field to plan travel.

That said, I don't think it would matter at all where Weber played this year.

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I don't like the conference winner hosting. The advantages for the hosting team are just too numberous in my opinion. Also makes it more difficult for the fans of the rest of the teams in the tournament field to plan travel.

That said, I don't think it would matter at all where Weber played this year.

I agree with your point on fan travel. Outside of it ever being hosted in the state of Montana or Greeley I don't know how many UND fans will ever attend a conference tournament.

To the point of lower seeds having to overcome a lot to win the tourney, there are other low- to mid-major conferences questioning what they can do to make it easier for the regular season conference champ to advance to the tournament. WIth more conferences getting only one bid, those top teams are the ones that give the conference the better chance at the higher seed and the better chance at winning a game.

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I agree with your point on fan travel. Outside of it ever being hosted in the state of Montana or Greeley I don't know how many UND fans will ever attend a conference tournament.

To the point of lower seeds having to overcome a lot to win the tourney, there are other low- to mid-major conferences questioning what they can do to make it easier for the regular season conference champ to advance to the tournament. WIth more conferences getting only one bid, those top teams are the ones that give the conference the better chance at the higher seed and the better chance at winning a game.

How often is there a clear cut, heads and shoulders above the pack, great team at the top of the league every year? If that's the case most years, I could see wanting to protect that team (forgetting for a moment the validity of a quality team actually needing protection if you think they have a shot at winning a first round tournament game). I just don't think protecting a team should be the point of the league tournament. Putting on a quality league tournament is an end in itself. Plus, usually the teams that get the 1-2 seeds are usually only separated by a couple of games at the end of season standings. I have a big problem with a stated or unstated goal of tournament organizers of protecting a regular season champion that might have won the league by a game or two, or even a tie breaker. If that's the case, then why engage in the charade of a league tournament? Award the bid to the champion and be done with it.
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This has nothing to do with ndsu, I just think belonging t a conference in your own geography is good for traveling to away games. If you guys are fine with the travel situation you are in awesome. I am not trying to convince you otherwise

How many NDSU basketball games have you gone to this year KINGRANCH....be honest.

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How often is there a clear cut, heads and shoulders above the pack, great team at the top of the league every year? If that's the case most years, I could see wanting to protect that team (forgetting for a moment the validity of a quality team actually needing protection if you think they have a shot at winning a first round tournament game). I just don't think protecting a team should be the point of the league tournament. Putting on a quality league tournament is an end in itself. Plus, usually the teams that get the 1-2 seeds are usually only separated by a couple of games at the end of season standings. I have a big problem with a stated or unstated goal of tournament organizers of protecting a regular season champion that might have won the league by a game or two, or even a tie breaker. If that's the case, then why engage in the charade of a league tournament? Award the bid to the champion and be done with it.

In a lot of the one bid conferences the difference between the regular season champ and some team that gets hot for 3 or 4 games can be pretty substantial. It can be the difference between the conference tourney champ getting a 12 seed or a 16 seed. One of those at least gives you a chance.

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I don't like the conference winner hosting. The advantages for the hosting team are just too numerous in my opinion. Also makes it more difficult for the fans of the rest of the teams in the tournament field to plan travel.

That said, I don't think it would matter at all where Weber played this year.

I think it makes the regular season more meaningful.

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Regular season is plenty meaningful the way it is..... Bad records get worse seeds in conference tourney and in NCAA tourney.

What means more a conference tourny at a neutral site or a conference tourny at the home of the regular season champ. If UND played WSU in say Deven or Seattle the outcome may have been different than in Ogden.

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I agree with your point on fan travel. Outside of it ever being hosted in the state of Montana or Greeley I don't know how many UND fans will ever attend a conference tournament.

To the point of lower seeds having to overcome a lot to win the tourney, there are other low- to mid-major conferences questioning what they can do to make it easier for the regular season conference champ to advance to the tournament. WIth more conferences getting only one bid, those top teams are the ones that give the conference the better chance at the higher seed and the better chance at winning a game.

Some year, I actually plan to make it to a Big Sky Tournament. I think we have great travel options, especially if you're going to make a vacation out of it. Most of the Big Sky college campuses are close to ski resorts, major metro areas, and National Parks. Can't say the same with the Summit.
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Some year, I actually plan to make it to a Big Sky Tournament. I think we have great travel options, especially if you're going to make a vacation out of it. Most of the Big Sky college campuses are close to ski resorts, major metro areas, and National Parks. Can't say the same with the Summit.

Well Sioux Falls is near the Corn Palace, and they have the state pen. Talk about post card options from there. ;)

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15 Sioux fans in the stands for UND's biggest game ever, you guys need to be in the summit league, Sioux falls would at least have had a 1,000 or more fans.

Unfortunately North Dakota rarely gets even 2,000 fans to show up in Grand Forks. Therefore I find it unlikely that Sioux fans would show up in droves to Sioux Falls. But when we host it at the Sioux Center it could fill it up. I like the current format.

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15 Sioux fans in the stands for UND's biggest game ever, you guys need to be in the summit league, Sioux falls would at least have had a 1,000 or more fans.

So what was NDSU's reason for their !@#!$ turnout in Sioux Falls this year? This year was better than last year (which didn't take much) but still really sad numbers since the :"thundering road head" claim to be the best traveling fan base....

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Ndsu wanted to get in with Sdsu as a travel partner, right now und is to the big sky what Alaska anchorage was to the wcha. no travel partner way outside the footprint.

WOW, This could be the most ridiculous thing I have read in a while. Keep up the good work!

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So what was NDSU's reason for their !@#!$ turnout in Sioux Falls this year? This year was better than last year (which didn't take much) but still really sad numbers since the :"thundering road head" claim to be the best traveling fan base....

As much as Bison fans love to label a large portion of our fanbase as "hockey only" fans, there are just as many, if not more, "football only" fans at NDSU.

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The reality of the situation is that when it comes to basketball the majority of your fans are probably going to stay home and watch the game on TV. At this time of the year weather can be questionable. . I prefer to hopefully have my team win the conference and get to host the tournament. Every situation has it's positives and negatives. Even if you only host the men's or women's tournament once in a while, the enjoyment I get out of having the tournament at home outweighs the situation of always to make a road trip to the event. I am sure their are quite a few of the schools in the Summit that hate the way it is always in Sioux Falls. I admit it isn't to bad for NDSU. It is tough to beat having the tourney at home though.

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I split all of the posts from the Weber game thread that dealt with the tourney format the Big Sky uses over to this thread. Seems like a valid topic, that generates some interest.

I'm on record that I like the way the Big Sky does it. Now having experienced it both ways with the women's team hosting, and the men's team travelling, I feel even more strongly that this is the way the Big Sky should do it.

It does make the regular season very exciting, both in that the venue is up for grabs, and that not all teams make it.

Weber wasn't even a complete lock to host it this year until UNC started to falter the last 2-3 weeks.

Next year, when 8 teams make the tourney, that 1st round bye will be eliminated, and that will mitigate a bit more of the advantage that the host school has.

The vast geography even makes a pre-determined or neutral site of the league no guarantee that it would be better attended. Had 6,000 plus for the men's title game, and 2,000 for the women's. I don't think it would be close to that for either if the tourney were in Denver or Las Vegas which seem to be the two most mentioned possible neutral sites. If it were going to be a neutral site, I really think the best options would be either Boise or Salt Lake City. Boise is reasonably situated between WSU, ISU, UI, UM, MSU, and EWU. SLC would still bring the Weber crowd. But you'd still probably have the same number of UND, PSU, SAC, NAU, UNC fans as you did this weekend. So I like the idea of these schools getting the opportunity to host it once in a while.

And I do like the idea of giving the league's best team the best chance to get into the NCAA Tournament. Weber has an awful seed and matchup this year, but how bad would it be if SUU were included in the field, got hot, and won the tournament?

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