First Four leaving Dayton?

[CPJays]

I bet it would do well in Omaha, but now that we are in a power basketball league I don't think Omaha is the best fit. The First Four rings out "not quite big time". Dayton would be a good fit or maybe Des Moines or Wichita.

Des Moines, Wichita, Tulsa and Lincoln are all smaller markets with less competition that would embrace the event. It would be the biggest show in town.

I too would rather keep Omaha in the 2nd-3rd round rotation every 3-4 years with a volleyball final and wrestling final sprinkled in. Also give us a Frozen Four!

[tsmithoiho12]

ok everbody
Dayton has hosted more NCAA mens basketball tournament games than any other site. Repeat, **any** other site. including such long standing venerable locations such as Rupp Arena. Why is that ? The answers are as follows: The UD arena is like no other, the sight lines are spectacular, the sound system is 1st class, the fan base is knowlegeable, the travel logistics are perfect, (air and ground), Southwest Ohio, and Ohio in general, is densly populated (unlike Nebraska), plus lots of other attractions nearby. I could go on and on. These are the same reasons that the 1st four is held in Dayton every year, and most likely will continue. There is no reason not to continue as before. If there way, UD would not continue to hold 1st and 2nd round regular NCAA mens basketballl tournament games, year after year, generation after generation, when you have all the domed staduiums that have been built across the US over the past 20 years.

[Chalmers0]

The UD arena is like no other

And this is where you lost me (although I can make a case against a few of those other reasons as well). I've been to UD Arena for a few games and saying "UD Arena is like no other" is absolutely comical. I would honestly say it is slightly above average. To say it has "spectacular sight lines" is even funnier. From the upper deck you can't even see a majority of the scoreboards (disclaimer, I've obviously never had premium seating there). Whenever a game is broadcast from UD arena it seems to have weird camera angles (seems sort of zoomed out). Like I said, I'm not trying to bash the place as I've been to worse places (US Bank Arena comes to mind) but to claim that it is a top echelon arena and that the NCAA has no choice but to continue to host tourney games there is absolutely insane.

[tsmithoiho12]

mr /mrs chalmers - obviuosly a xavier fan
I will balance your opinion of the UD arena against the millions of dollars of ad revune and everything that CBS sports and the NCAA has had at risk every year for the past 40 years..

[Muskie]

I can think of other arenas in the same geographic area that would also support the product very well (Banker's Life Fieldhouse comes to mind in Indianapolis). I'm also not saying that Dayton does a bad job at hosting. But I can understand the NCAA wanting to spread the attention around.

[butlerguy03]

Potentially, this could rotate between many good college basketball mid-sized cities.

Dayton
Omaha
Lexington
Fort Wayne
Albuquerque
Memphis

Those come to mind off the top of my head, especially if the NCAA wants to keep it in collegiate arenas.

[gmoser1210]

Perhaps the NCAA wants to move all of the games to arenas where the stanchions supporting the backboards are not so close to the baseline where injuries are more likely to happen. Yes, I am referring to the Rotnei Clark incident, but I don't mean it as a slam against UD or their arena. I'm just throwing out a possible reason for the switch.

It's not just Dayton's arena, either. The same problem caused an injury last year during the UK/Florida game on 2/12, causing an injury to Nerlens Noel's ACL. He didn't hit the post, but he was injured trying not to run into it.

I don't even know if Dayton's is "too close" (the recommendation is no less than six feet from the baseline and I think Dayton's is about 4 feet but I've never measured), but it is definitely closer than in other arenas.

[trephin]

the article says Dayton made a proposal to extend the agreement without going thru the normal process and that it was rejected and because the school had to follow the established bidding process rules. The writer says "others believe" the First Four should rotate but never says who "others" are... not even vagaries like "a committee member" etc. He then later states his own opinion that it should rotate.

In short, the proposal was rejected for trying to circumvent established protocols. Despite the inference, there doesn't seem to be any bias against Dayton keeping the games (or for) and I'm sure money is criteria #1 and #2 (which attendance would contribute to)

[Dew]

To increase interest in these games they need to figure out a way to incorporate them into the standard NCAA bracket contests and pools. Seriously. I don't have any data but I feel pretty confident saying a large part of the interest in the tourney comes from gamblers and those who otherwise don't watch NCAA basketball except when they have something riding on it. Very few people really know anything about the first four but that could be increased dramatically if ESPN for example forced contestants to pick winners for those games.

[jayelan]

Met with a few alum's here in St. Louis and the discussion went to the NBE with varying ideas etc as to why only ten teams etc. Everyone has an opinion of course but it was very interesting when the topic came up about Dayton not getting the extension it asked for the "First Four". Actually it seems most were in some form of agreement that it had nothing to do with Dayton particularly but with the question..."Will there even be an NCAA after 2015?" With all the talk of the big five possibly leaving, the committee's could be taking a wait and see attitude as to the future of the NCAA.

However, rotating the event would not be a bad idea. A year ago Des Moines or Ames Iowa was seeking to host the event purporting to have Pepsi as an endorser guaranteeing a sell out and noting that they had more hotel/motels than Dayton. Their bid was quickly shot down as it was stated 1) Dayton does not need corporate sponsorship to fill the arena and 2) hotel/motel was a moot point since those attending were Dayton area residents. Only visitors were the competing schools. So Dayton's success is legend, however it would still be nice to see the event rotate north east west and south to give it more of a national event.

There are also rumors Dayton is planning to build a new arena to hold upwards of 18-20k to meet the NCAA requirements for later round hosting. Seems like a lot money to spend to just add another 4500 seats.