MW Tournament Dates

This forum is for Basketball discussion only. Other topics will be moved to the appropriate forum.
Rabidchild
Posts: 2719
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 10:22 am
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 130 times

MW Tournament Dates

Post by Rabidchild » February 19th, 2020, 11:13 am

Maybe this has been discussed previously, but I'm just now realizing that the MW tournament is a week earlier than normal - it will conclude one week before Selection Sunday! I assumed that all tournaments were slightly earlier this year due to some oddity in the NCAA calendar, but lo and behold, the Pac 12 is in Las Vegas the week after us, rather than the same week, and we will have a week off between our conference tournament and the field of 68 being released on March 15th.

I guess this explains why we played a couple of conference games in early December, too.

Does anyone know why we are moved up one week this year? I am guessing that it could be something as trivial as the Thomas & Mack Center's availability, but maybe there's more to it than that.


I'm a reasonable man, get off my case.

User avatar
ProvoAggie
Site Admin
Posts: 14947
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 1:00 am
Location: Provo, Utah
Has thanked: 1467 times
Been thanked: 2864 times
Contact:

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by ProvoAggie » February 19th, 2020, 11:17 am

It's because of CONEXPO. The conference realized a couple of years ago that there was a conflict during the normal time and had trouble getting hotel blocks. They surveyed tournament attendees on the concourse and asked if fans would prefer a different date or different location and what other locations people would want. I think they asked about San Diego and Albuquerque. The fans voted to just move it up. This is just a one time move. The WCC finishes before the expo so they weren't affected, the WAC has a deal with the Orleans that includes the hotel and arena so they weren't affected and the Pac-12 has a deal with MGM that includes the arena and hotel blocks so they weren't affected either. Hotels will be more expensive for Pac-12 fans this year though.



stewusu98
Posts: 1619
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 7:42 am
Has thanked: 407 times
Been thanked: 122 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by stewusu98 » February 19th, 2020, 11:20 am

I did notice Hotel prices this year have been cheaper. Which I am a fan of.



Rabidchild
Posts: 2719
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 10:22 am
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 130 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by Rabidchild » February 19th, 2020, 4:47 pm

ProvoAggie wrote:
February 19th, 2020, 11:17 am
It's because of CONEXPO. The conference realized a couple of years ago that there was a conflict during the normal time and had trouble getting hotel blocks. They surveyed tournament attendees on the concourse and asked if fans would prefer a different date or different location and what other locations people would want. I think they asked about San Diego and Albuquerque. The fans voted to just move it up. This is just a one time move. The WCC finishes before the expo so they weren't affected, the WAC has a deal with the Orleans that includes the hotel and arena so they weren't affected and the Pac-12 has a deal with MGM that includes the arena and hotel blocks so they weren't affected either. Hotels will be more expensive for Pac-12 fans this year though.
That makes perfect sense, thanks for the info.

The week off between the tournament and Selection Sunday raises an interesting possibility. Let's say that the Aggies don't win the MW tournament and end up squarely on the NCAA bubble - maybe that they end up likely just outside of the cut line for an at-large bid. Would Utah State be able to schedule a game during that week after the tournament and before Selection Sunday with a team like Stephen F. Austin, or another strong mid-major team who already finished its tournament?

This type of move is not unprecendented. I believe that St. Mary's added a game a few years back in the week following the WCC tournament and before Selection Sunday. I couldn't find any information about it and don't remember who they played or if it helped them or not, but I distinctly remember this discussion several years ago. There could have been a MVC team who did something similar too. Utah State would need to be eligible to play another game, and would need to be able to find a worthy opponent who also has a game available. So it is probably a highly unlikely scenario. But I believe we left one game unscheduled this year, did we not? Of any year to have this extra week available to be able to do something like this, our resume may end up making this worth at least discussing.


I'm a reasonable man, get off my case.

Rabidchild
Posts: 2719
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 10:22 am
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 130 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by Rabidchild » February 19th, 2020, 4:51 pm

stewusu98 wrote:
February 19th, 2020, 11:20 am
I did notice Hotel prices this year have been cheaper. Which I am a fan of.
Indeed, the tournament is usually held during a very busy week - in the past it was on the same week as the NASCAR event, along with all of the other conference tournaments, spring breaks for many universities around the country, along with the normal slate of conventions. Hotel prices vary wildly in this town depending on demand, so it's got to be nice for out of towners to have it moved up a week. One less excuse for us to not have a ton of fans in Las Vegas. :utah: :state: :rock:


I'm a reasonable man, get off my case.

User avatar
ProvoAggie
Site Admin
Posts: 14947
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 1:00 am
Location: Provo, Utah
Has thanked: 1467 times
Been thanked: 2864 times
Contact:

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by ProvoAggie » February 19th, 2020, 4:52 pm

St Mary's scheduled a game with Weber State in 2011 after the conference tournament. If I remember right, they did it because they were short 1 game on their schedule for the season and needed another game to get a player under the threshold for a medical redshirt. I believe that we played a full schedule this season though. If we wouldn't have added the extra D2 game then adding another game might be possible but you'd also have to find another team that didn't play a complete schedule.



Rabidchild
Posts: 2719
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 10:22 am
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 130 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by Rabidchild » February 19th, 2020, 5:08 pm

ProvoAggie wrote:
February 19th, 2020, 4:52 pm
St Mary's scheduled a game with Weber State in 2011 after the conference tournament. If I remember right, they did it because they were short 1 game on their schedule for the season and needed another game to get a player under the threshold for a medical redshirt. I believe that we played a full schedule this season though. If we wouldn't have added the extra D2 game then adding another game might be possible but you'd also have to find another team that didn't play a complete schedule.
Ah yes, it was Weber State that they played. There may have been something related to the redshirt issue - but I distinctly remember that St. Mary's was looking for a quality win vs. a decent opponent, to boost their RPI and increase their chances of getting an at-large bid, after they lost in the WCC tournament to Gonzaga.

St. Mary's did not get an at large bid that year, despite having an RPI ranking of 46, and being predicted to be well within the bubble cut line by Jay Coleman's "Dance Card" model: https://www.unf.edu/~jcoleman/dance2011.htm

Game recap:
https://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticl ... =205114266
From the article:
"Saint Mary’s is expected to receive an At-Large berth into the 2011 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament this Sunday."
That was one of the more surprising snubs in a long time when they missed out that year.


I'm a reasonable man, get off my case.

stewusu98
Posts: 1619
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 7:42 am
Has thanked: 407 times
Been thanked: 122 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by stewusu98 » February 19th, 2020, 5:31 pm

Rabidchild wrote:
February 19th, 2020, 5:08 pm
ProvoAggie wrote:
February 19th, 2020, 4:52 pm
St Mary's scheduled a game with Weber State in 2011 after the conference tournament. If I remember right, they did it because they were short 1 game on their schedule for the season and needed another game to get a player under the threshold for a medical redshirt. I believe that we played a full schedule this season though. If we wouldn't have added the extra D2 game then adding another game might be possible but you'd also have to find another team that didn't play a complete schedule.
Ah yes, it was Weber State that they played. There may have been something related to the redshirt issue - but I distinctly remember that St. Mary's was looking for a quality win vs. a decent opponent, to boost their RPI and increase their chances of getting an at-large bid, after they lost in the WCC tournament to Gonzaga.

St. Mary's did not get an at large bid that year, despite having an RPI ranking of 46, and being predicted to be well within the bubble cut line by Jay Coleman's "Dance Card" model: https://www.unf.edu/~jcoleman/dance2011.htm

Game recap:
https://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticl ... =205114266
From the article:
"Saint Mary’s is expected to receive an At-Large berth into the 2011 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament this Sunday."
That was one of the more surprising snubs in a long time when they missed out that year.
It was the year that Lilliard broke his leg. Weber wanted the extra game to get lillard under the threshold for a medical redshirt.
These users thanked the author stewusu98 for the post (total 2):
ProvoAggieAggieFBObsession



User avatar
SweepDance
Posts: 539
Joined: February 7th, 2011, 12:18 pm
Location: Sandy, UT
Has thanked: 205 times
Been thanked: 236 times

Re: MW Tournament Dates

Post by SweepDance » February 20th, 2020, 1:02 pm

I knew the tournament was a week earlier this year, but until reading this I had thought that all tournaments had been moved up. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. An extra week to adjust back to the Wilson ball before the tournament!



Locked Previous topicNext topic