RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Captain Marvel]

From the NCAA today:


INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, with approval by the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, announced that beginning in 2009, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will feature 16 pre-determined first- and second-round sites with four teams assigned to each in order to enhance the student-athlete experience and attendance.


The 10-person committee spent considerable time examining and identifying operational, logistical and growth initiatives at its recent summer meeting, and had recommended the change from the current format of eight sites with eight teams, to the 16-site format, which was last used during the 2004 championship. The all-time record for first- and second-round attendance came in 2004 when 214,290 fans (6,696 average) attended 32 sessions at 16 pre-determined sites.


The committee will solicit bids and select eight additional first- and second-round sites for both the 2009 and 2010 championships.


"As a coaching community we need to support the move to 16 pre-determined sites," said Charli Turner Thorne, head coach at Arizona State University and a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Board of Directors. "This move will be a win-win for the student-athletes, coaches and fans. We anticipate larger crowds, increased excitement and better television coverage during the first and second rounds. The big winner overall will be women’s basketball."


The committee also revised the bracketing principles to provide more flexibility to assign teams to sites in closer geographic proximity. The revision eliminated the principle that stated “the first three teams must be separated from a conference,” but maintained that conference teams will not meet until the regional final game. All other principles will be applied while placing teams in the bracket.


“The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee is committed to the growth of the game and the championship,” said Judy Southard, senior associate director of athletics at Louisiana State University and chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “We will continue to work with membership groups to assess, identify and provide answers to our future growth initiatives. All of these changes will help tremendously in this regard. ”

[p_d_swanson]

Because having only eight venues plagued by low attendance wasn't good enough...

[Captain Marvel]

Actually, the theory is that attendance will go up, as schools that get the pre-determined sites will also likely get bids to the tournament. This is the old wolf where the top 16 seeds got to host first and second round games, only it's dressed up in different sheep's clothing.

[bullsky]

I think it'd be cool of they gave sweet sixteen teams(from the previous year) the first two rounds at home. Even if they don't get there, at least they'd get to host it.

For instance, if they did that, this year's first and second round hosts would be in Chapel Hill, Washington DC, Athens, West Lafayette, Knoxville, Poughkeepsie, Norman, Oxford, Storrs, Raleigh, Baton Rouge, Tallahassee, Durham, New Brunswick, Tempe, Bowling Green.

_________________
"Don't do something until you get it right, do it until you can't do it wrong."
- Geno Auriemma

[ucdt3]

I have said this over and over to friends.....


The women's tourney should be incorporated with the men's if it wants to do the pre-determined site thing.....take the 8 Best markets (i.e. - NY (City), IN, NC, LA, Chi(IL), Bos(MA), Atl(GA), and Hou(TX)) for both the men and women and stick them together (alternating days) and keep playing the 1st and 2nd Rd's at the SAME 8 sites EVERY year....then do the same for the 4 Sweet 16 sites (keep them at the same 4 venues (NYC, LA, Ind, and Hou) EVERY year) and then keep rotating the Final 4 like it is NOW but have the MEN and WOMEN's Final 4 in the same city and the same venue!!!!!

_________________
#UConnbias

http://uconnwbball.blogspot.com/
http://wnbamockdraft.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/uconntj323

[Kelli]

[pilight]

[bullsky]

True. I actually like ucdt's idea kind of. I mean, it would be cool if the WCBB tourney had yearly visits to WNBA cities. It would create interest and buildup to the WNBA season.

_________________
"Don't do something until you get it right, do it until you can't do it wrong."
- Geno Auriemma

[beknighted]

I suppose this might help attendance, but it's only going to make the problem of playing on a lower seed's home court more common. At least with 8 sites, you had a minimum of 8 brackets where the home team wouldn't appear. With 16 sites, it's likely that you'll have at least 12 sites every year where the home team is playing, and I'll bet that half a dozen of them will be 5 seeds or worse.

Edited to add:

I forgot to say that the change in the seeding principles should give the committee some more flexibility, but I really don't trust them not to abuse it horribly, given the wacky way they've interpreted the seeding principles in the past. I foresee a lot of situations where the #2 and #4 or #1 and #3 seeds in a region come from the same conference, and maybe even some #1 and #2 combinations to "make it easy" for fan to attend regional games, most of which likely will be hundreds of miles away from home.

[Grumps]

[Kelli]

[beknighted]

[ucdt3]

[RedEqualsLuck]

well, flexibility is what the coaches WANTED to give the committee, since the rules are there to "be followed" not interpreted.... therefore "logical" choices were dictated by the rules (even if, perhaps, the person speaking to the press was unclear about the rules...Mary Alice)... of course, having set up a rigged set of rules to avoid "bias," giving flexibility invites claims of bias...


i'm interested to see how 2009 sets up --- glad they listened to the complaints of the fans, coaches and got ESPN to go along with it....

_________________
When Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," he didn't include the word "except."

[Thrillrider08]

[ucdt3]

[Michael]

[Thrillrider08]

[ChipperF1]

The need to get back to the old formula. Move selection day back to Sunday and have the top 16 seeds host first two rounds.

No system will be perfect but that is the best thing from an attendance standpoint and a competition standpoint. You have fans in the seats who want this attraction. You also have an additioning thing to play for during the season. Playing for those home seeds. Everybody has an equal shot at it (Granted some shots are more equal than others).

This predetermined site idea? Never liked it.

_________________
The players are the game. Dont take distaste of a group of fans out on the game.

[ucdt3]

[Queenie]

Except that a lot of major cities don't have appropriate sites for the Men's Final Four. Remember, they play in domed football stadiums for that tournament.

Also, they can't put it in New York. Conflict with the NIT, which would put the two tourneys in competition with each other.

_________________
Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

[PRballer]

[quote="ucdt3"]

[ucdt3]

[quote="PRballer"]

[Richyyy]

I hate to suggest what to me seems the stark staringly obvious, but prior to the Final Four, could each game not just be played on the home floor of one of the two teams involved? Either lower seed always at home to make it more exciting, or higher seed always at home because they've 'earned' it, or randomly draw who gets home advantage to add that extra frisson of excitement.

You should end up with better crowds if one of the teams involved is on their own floor, and you could have a week between games to sell tickets, organise travel, build publicity etc. Maybe it's just too simple.

[Stephen Shirley]

I went into a long rant in a previous thread about the locations for the tournament.

http://boards.rebkell.net/viewtopic.php?p=290285&highlight=#290285

I still like my idea of eight regions with with each region guaranteed to host games. It's still mind boggling that the 2007 tournament didn't have a single site within 6 hours driving of the Nashville market.