Muskie
08-19-2013, 11:40 AM
Link (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/23221394/first-four-hosting-duties-no-longer-a-definite-for-dayton)
"Dayton is guaranteed the First Four in 2014 and 2015. The bids on tournament sites for 2016, 2017 and 2018 will happen later this year. This past spring Dayton also hosted -- as it has occasionally in the past -- the first weekend of games. The NCAA is a fan of putting the games there, though there's an argument to be had against what real "brand value" comes from planting a flag in the middle of Ohio every mid-March.I think rotating the First Four is the answer. I've seen others suggest doing it in classic college basketball venues. That is a terrific idea, one that would give innate boost and juice and a great twist to those first two nebulous days of the tournament.
Dayton's had a decade with this event, dating back to when it was a 65-team field and that random play-in game between two no-names was played there. If the NCAA is still a bit sentimental over the site, it can still be involved, but cycling it in (say every four years) seems to be a solution worth considering."
"Dayton is guaranteed the First Four in 2014 and 2015. The bids on tournament sites for 2016, 2017 and 2018 will happen later this year. This past spring Dayton also hosted -- as it has occasionally in the past -- the first weekend of games. The NCAA is a fan of putting the games there, though there's an argument to be had against what real "brand value" comes from planting a flag in the middle of Ohio every mid-March.I think rotating the First Four is the answer. I've seen others suggest doing it in classic college basketball venues. That is a terrific idea, one that would give innate boost and juice and a great twist to those first two nebulous days of the tournament.
Dayton's had a decade with this event, dating back to when it was a 65-team field and that random play-in game between two no-names was played there. If the NCAA is still a bit sentimental over the site, it can still be involved, but cycling it in (say every four years) seems to be a solution worth considering."