what a difference

[nasdadjr]

What a difference it is playing a conference tournament in front of 20 thousand people in new York City where it is loud and electric instead of playing in 75% empty Atlantic City u dump arena and so on. I'm definitely getting used to this high level of exposure

[Muskie]

What a difference it is playing a conference tournament in front of 20 thousand people in new York City where it is loud and electric instead of playing in 75% empty Atlantic City u dump arena and so on. I'm definitely getting used to this high level of exposure

AC was also in a ballroom wasn't it? I remember it having some sort of weird stage at one end?


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[XU Cowbell Kid]

AC was also in a ballroom wasn't it? I remember it having some sort of weird stage at one end?


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Boardwalk Hall was the worst! One year, the A10 tournament had a rain delay (yes, you read that correctly) because of the leaking roof.

[nasdadjr]

Guess we came a long way from rain delayed conference tournaments

[SemajParlor]

Second year in a row of going to the games at MSG. Quickly becoming one of my favorite weekends of the year. Can't say enough how great it is to be able to play here.

[markchal]

I agree with the sentiment but I heard our game was very under-attended. Can anyone confirm? I heard it was barely a third-filled. I mean, it makes sense since no team in our conference draws/travels well and both of these teams were from the Midwest (following a game between a team even farther away and a team that can't even fill up home games).

[D-West & PO-Z]

Playing in the Mecca is awesome. I am definitely going one of the next two years.

I have seen a Knicks game there before several years ago.

[Masterofreality]

I agree with the sentiment but I heard our game was very under-attended. Can anyone confirm? I heard it was barely a third-filled. I mean, it makes sense since no team in our conference draws/travels well and both of these teams were from the Midwest (following a game between a team even farther away and a team that can't even fill up home games).

13,245 for the evening session after 15,200 for the afternoon.

[SemajParlor]

I agree with the sentiment but I heard our game was very under-attended. Can anyone confirm? I heard it was barely a third-filled. I mean, it makes sense since no team in our conference draws/travels well and both of these teams were from the Midwest (following a game between a team even farther away and a team that can't even fill up home games).

A good amount of people from the previous game left at halftime. Was not very full at all. 9:30 start on Thursday didn't help.

[Masterofreality]

A good amount of people from the previous game left at halftime. Was not very full at all. 9:30 start on Thursday didn't help.

Not unusual for tournament games. Key is the session attendance. 14,000 average for the 2 sessions yesterday.

[paulxu]

Just think...you could be in Brooklyn...or Hartford.

[markchal]

Anyone think BE could stay there long-term? While it's a great basketball conference, we just don't have enough big schools (or especially close schools) to really fill that place every year. I know the ACC was trying to make a play for MSG at one point, I wonder how long we can fight that off.

[Masterofreality]

Anyone think BE could stay there long-term? While it's a great basketball conference, we just don't have enough big schools (or especially close schools) to really fill that place every year. I know the ACC was trying to make a play for MSG at one point, I wonder how long we can fight that off.

2026. As long as the contract is for. The league will keep building. I'm sure MSG is happy. It's not like we're putting 2,000 in there.

[X-Fan]

Anyone think BE could stay there long-term? While it's a great basketball conference, we just don't have enough big schools (or especially close schools) to really fill that place every year. I know the ACC was trying to make a play for MSG at one point, I wonder how long we can fight that off.
I believe it will come to a head in a few years. My guess is the Big East will counter with rotating the tourney to DC, NJ, Indy, or Cincy.

A few pieces have already been announced:
ACC to Barclays in 2017 & 2018
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303779504579463651085428102

Big Ten to MSG in 2018 BUT playing a week earlier. That is the strangest thing I've ever heard. So, they cut off the season a week early, AND their teams will be off for 11 days?!? How is this ok with B1G schools?
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/12/06/madison-square-garden-hosts-big-ten-tournament-2018

IMO, unless the Big East teams start to make a continual national statement (i.e. Tourney success & multiple teams nationally ranked during the season) they will eventually be forced out of MSG. As of right now I feel very good about the Big East's future. They had great recruiting classes this past year, and most teams have a lot coming back next year. The important piece is the support from Fox Sports 1. If that somehow falls through or is weakened, it will hurt the conference to an significant degree (unless ESPN were to re-partner). I'm not saying I know anything about this happening, but I would imagine the ratings for FS1 have to get better for the current deal to be sustained.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Yeah and its not like MSG is ginormous. It only seats about 19,000 and change for basketball I believe. So 15,000 for yesterday session is pretty good.

[SemajParlor]

Yeah and its not like MSG is ginormous. It only seats about 19,000 and change for basketball I believe. So 15,000 for yesterday session is pretty good.

Providence St Johns was packed. PC travels well. Looking forward to seeing them vs Nova tonight.

[JTG]

I believe it will come to a head in a few years. My guess is the Big East will counter with rotating the tourney to DC, NJ, Indy, or Cincy.

A few pieces have already been announced:
ACC to Barclays in 2017 & 2018
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303779504579463651085428102

Big Ten to MSG in 2018 BUT playing a week earlier. That is the strangest thing I've ever heard. So, they cut off the season a week early, AND their teams will be off for 11 days?!? How is this ok with B1G schools?
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/12/06/madison-square-garden-hosts-big-ten-tournament-2018

IMO, unless the Big East teams start to make a continual national statement (i.e. Tourney success & multiple teams nationally ranked during the season) they will eventually be forced out of MSG. As of right now I feel very good about the Big East's future. They had great recruiting classes this past year, and most teams have a lot coming back next year. The important piece is the support from Fox Sports 1. If that somehow falls through or is weakened, it will hurt the conference to an significant degree (unless ESPN were to re-partner). I'm not saying I know anything about this happening, but I would imagine the ratings for FS1 have to get better for the current deal to be sustained.

Not gonna rotate to either Indy or Cincy. A) It would be crickets in Indy, plus the BIG is back in Indy in a few years. Plus most of those East Coast teams would never stray farther west than DC. It's beneath most of them to venture into areas where real people live.

[xudash]

I agree with the sentiment but I heard our game was very under-attended. Can anyone confirm? I heard it was barely a third-filled. I mean, it makes sense since no team in our conference draws/travels well and both of these teams were from the Midwest (following a game between a team even farther away and a team that can't even fill up home games).

Do you not get that it was the last game of the day? Did you bother to look at your watch to check the time once the game ended?

[X-Fan]

Not gonna rotate to either Indy or Cincy. A) It would be crickets in Indy, plus the BIG is back in Indy in a few years. Plus most of those East Coast teams would never stray farther west than DC. It's beneath most of them to venture into areas where real people live.

Yeah, I was openly speculating. I don't see them leaving the East Coast for the Tourney.

[xudash]

Not unusual for tournament games. Key is the session attendance. 14,000 average for the 2 sessions yesterday.

Exactly.

[xudash]

Anyone think BE could stay there long-term? While it's a great basketball conference, we just don't have enough big schools (or especially close schools) to really fill that place every year. I know the ACC was trying to make a play for MSG at one point, I wonder how long we can fight that off.

The BE will stay there long term. MSG is a strategic asset to the conference. The BE Tournament is a NY tradition. The brand will continue to build and Xavier will come out way ahead in all this.

[muskieindent]

Are they getting good crowds? The place is so dark it's hard to tell how many people are there.By the end of the X game it looked like the there were a lot of empty seats down low.

[xudash]

Are they getting good crowds? The place is so dark it's hard to tell how many people are there.By the end of the X game it looked like the there were a lot of empty seats down low.

There were. It was after midnight. Please refer to MOR's post about 14k for the quarterfinal round. Tonight should post solid numbers.

[SemajParlor]

There were. It was after midnight. Please refer to MOR's post about 14k for the quarterfinal round. Tonight should post solid numbers.

Lowest stuff on stubhub was 62 this morning. Up to 113 now.

[markchal]

Do you not get that the teams that are farther away might naturally have less fans traveling to NYC to begin with, compared to a St. Johns?

[xudash]

Do you not get that the teams that are farther away might naturally have less fans traveling to NYC to begin with, compared to a St. Johns?

Do you not get that that is obvious, but that the more important issue is overall attendance for the day?

[markchal]

Do you not get that that is obvious, but that the more important issue is overall attendance for the day?

Do you not get that your first post was needlessly condescending, given that I was asking a question and also posting the other reasons our game might be light?

[LA Muskie]

We sure are a testy bunch this week.

[XUFan09]

We sure are a testy bunch this week.
Just this week?

[nasdadjr]

Yeah 14 k attendance would not be beaten by big ten schools unless ohio state was playing. With msg being a home court for a big east school and the fact the sessions are still pretty full I can't imagine the big 10 has so much more leverage that they can't get the big east forced out. Rutgers isn't exactly a huge draw. I anticipate that tonight's two semi finals out draw the damn knicks

[xudash]

Do you not get that your first post was needlessly condescending, given that I was asking a question and also posting the other reasons our game might be light?

I'm tired of the negativity.

We had a huge win last night. Some of you people can do no better than to wonder about calling timeouts, whether we should have done better to this point with our regular season record, whether we're doomed to live around the bubble each season, whether the BE can stay in New York for its conference tournament.....

Obviously, you're free to post whatever you want. You're also free to keep some of your "concerns" to yourself. Who here doesn't know that it's likely that an Eastern school is better positioned to put more butts in the seats than a Midwestern school. Who doesn't understand that an all day session will experience attendance run off as the evening gets long in the tooth.

Now, my my apologies for being condescending. I don't enjoy lashing out at fellow fans. But I think it's fair to suggest to some around here that they should keep certain moments in context. We enjoyed a great win last night. Improvement. And at a key stage of the season. Frankly, too much bitching about this and that after last night's victory just looks ridiculous around here.

[wkrq59]

Yeah and its not like MSG is ginormous. It only seats about 19,000 and change for basketball I believe. So 15,000 for yesterday session is pretty good.

I think MSG for hoops is 17,000 and low change, so I believe saying one-third full last night is a bit of a stretch. Know this. MSG is and always will be the citadel for post-season college basketball and tournaments. Remember, the NIT was once the top post-season in the college game and every game was in the Ghadens ! It is the one factor of the Big East that makes the league unique. Don't kid yourselves. just remember the tournaments that were held in Dayton and the Riverfront Mausoleum and even the NBA arena in Indy before Canseco. This is only the second season of the religious affiliated BE. And the comish has said expansion not likely any time soon. For years when Xavier was in the MCC and the A10 most on here clamored for the BE. Now we've got it and we're one of 10 elite teams. And six of us have been projected to play in the NCAA tournament. Xavier has had more recognition the past two years than it had in the previous 20. Baby Steps, people; Baby Steps

[American X]

Baby Steps, people; Baby Steps

Nah, let's Euro-step to the Big East Championship.

[markchal]

I'm tired of the negativity.

We had a huge win last night. Some of you people can do no better than to wonder about calling timeouts, whether we should have done better to this point with our regular season record, whether we're doomed to live around the bubble each season, whether the BE can stay in New York for its conference tournament.....

Obviously, you're free to post whatever you want. You're also free to keep some of your "concerns" to yourself. Who here doesn't know that it's likely that an Eastern school is better positioned to put more butts in the seats than a Midwestern school. Who doesn't understand that an all day session will experience attendance run off as the evening gets long in the tooth.

Now, my my apologies for being condescending. I don't enjoy lashing out at fellow fans. But I think it's fair to suggest to some around here that they should keep certain moments in context. We enjoyed a great win last night. Improvement. And at a key stage of the season. Frankly, too much bitching about this and that after last night's victory just looks ridiculous around here.

You're really projecting a lot onto my question that wasn't there. I wasn't harping about timeouts or being doomed to the bubble or any of that, and it's not like this is the first post I made after the win. I didn't even say I was "concerned" we didn't have enough people there. I said I heard it was lightly attended and asked if anyone could confirm (you know, like one of the many x alums we had at the game) and then I asked a question about the future of the tournament there.

I was legitimately curious, given that I've heard rumblings about the ACC making a play for it and knowing we don't have the traditional BE schools that used to really draw well there. I learned some things I didn't know, like the length of the current contract (2026), the fact that the average session attendance is what's most important, and the fact that the numbers were pretty good compared to what MSG seats for basketball. Discussion, and asking questions, is the entire point of a message board.

Sorry if it didn't live up to your standard of what this board should be.

[MuskiePimp23]

Yeah 14 k attendance would not be beaten by big ten schools unless ohio state was playing. With msg being a home court for a big east school and the fact the sessions are still pretty full I can't imagine the big 10 has so much more leverage that they can't get the big east forced out. Rutgers isn't exactly a huge draw. I anticipate that tonight's two semi finals out draw the damn knicks

I don't think the Big Ten schools would outdraw us even if OSU is playing. This is not football it is basketball. Football they travel among the best in the country, basketball, not so much. Half of their "fans" don't even know where, what time, or who they are currently playing today. I asked 6 "die-hard" OSU fans these questions over the past few days to test my theory and not one of them knew the facility they are playing the Big Ten Tourney at. 3 of them did not know what time they play today or who they are playing. They said they were going to "check the schedule later". I have also traveled to several NCAA tourney venues and OSU fans do not travel that well.

For example, when we lost to them in Lexington in 2007, Louisville had by far the most fans at Rupp Arena. Followed by Xavier, then OSU, then Texas A&M. Yes Xavier is a little closer, but if this were Football, OSU would have easily had the most fans. Their fans just don't care nearly as much about basketball.

[MuskiePimp23]

I think MSG for hoops is 17,000 and low change, so I believe saying one-third full last night is a bit of a stretch. Know this. MSG is and always will be the citadel for post-season college basketball and tournaments. Remember, the NIT was once the top post-season in the college game and every game was in the Ghadens ! It is the one factor of the Big East that makes the league unique. Don't kid yourselves. just remember the tournaments that were held in Dayton and the Riverfront Mausoleum and even the NBA arena in Indy before Canseco. This is only the second season of the religious affiliated BE. And the comish has said expansion not likely any time soon. For years when Xavier was in the MCC and the A10 most on here clamored for the BE. Now we've got it and we're one of 10 elite teams. And six of us have been projected to play in the NCAA tournament. Xavier has had more recognition the past two years than it had in the previous 20. Baby Steps, people; Baby Steps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden

I didn't go to MSG's website, but 19,812 for hoops per Wikipedia.

[xudash]

You're really projecting a lot onto my question that wasn't there. I wasn't harping about timeouts or being doomed to the bubble or any of that, and it's not like this is the first post I made after the win. I didn't even say I was "concerned" we didn't have enough people there. I said I heard it was lightly attended and asked if anyone could confirm (you know, like one of the many x alums we had at the game) and then I asked a question about the future of the tournament there.

I was legitimately curious, given that I've heard rumblings about the ACC making a play for it and knowing we don't have the traditional BE schools that used to really draw well there. I learned some things I didn't know, like the length of the current contract (2026), the fact that the average session attendance is what's most important, and the fact that the numbers were pretty good compared to what MSG seats for basketball. Discussion, and asking questions, is the entire point of a message board.

Sorry if it didn't live up to your standard of what this board should be.

How's this: I've gone back through this entire thread and I can absolutely see where you're coming from. I apologized once and I will do it again.

When it is all said and done, I think I ended up venting about all the negativity in the game thread here when I thought that the tournament was now being called into question with respect to attendance and sustainability. I know you weren't the one analyzing the use of our time outs. I know you weren't the one bitching about Chris Mack and how we should have had a better W/L mark at this point in the season.

I will be more careful about where I place my venting posts in the future. But I damn well believe that there is a lot of needless negativity going on around here for such an important victory last night.

[xudash]

BTW, the place looks full tonight. It certainly isn't embarrassing.

[LA Muskie]

This game has been a lot of fun to watch. Cooley really has done a marvelous job w/ Providence.

[chico]

This game has been a lot of fun to watch. Cooley really has done a marvelous job w/ Providence.

It sure has. Providence is going to do some damage in the NCAA's. Cooley is a very good coach.

[nasdadjr]

Cooley is definitely one of my favorites

[Cheesehead]

Cooley is definitely one of my favorites

I know he has some type of condition but his hair still freaks me out. I think I would shave my head.

[Drew's Crew]

Yeah, I think it's Alopecia but I'm not sure.

I agree that if he shaved it or even buzzed it really short like Mack it would look better. Kudos to him though, he might be my favorite BE coach not named Mack.

[BandAid]

If I was a recruit and picking on coach alone, Provodence would definitely be one of the finalists. I have nothing but respect for Cooley. I would've been beyond pissed after that call last night, but he was cool as a cucumber in his post game lockerroom

[Masterofreality]

Cooley is definitely one of my favorites


I know he has some type of condition but his hair still freaks me out. I think I would shave my head.

No doubt. I'd probably just get a transplant or something.

But Ed Cooley is one of the best coaches I have ever seen. His teams are well prepared, tough, and he makes great in-game adjustments. Nothing but props to him. Total Class Act.

I like Providence's program and fans too.