I say we take the 'Belt's old spot in Hot Springs.
Dawgpix will vote for this.
If only 12 teams will likely qualify for the tournament, you have to look at which teams are most likely not to qualify and which teams are expected to advance.
Official MBB RPI
28. Middle Tennessee
31. Southern Miss
54. Louisiana Tech
68. Charlotte
96. UTEP
111. FIU
145. UAB
149. WKU
208. Marshall
218. Florida Atlantic
247. North Texas
260. UTSA
318. Old Dominion
324. Rice
Old Dominion won't be down there for long. They have been the best new C-USA basketball program over the last five years.
You also have to look at which teams will support their basketball team. No wonder why UTEP is hosting the tournament next year.
Nashville is centrally located to the schools with the best basketball support.
- 30 minutes from Murfreesboro
- 1 hour from Bowling Green
- 2.5 hours from Birmingham
- Drivable from several other schools
Nashville Municipal Auditorium (capacity 9,654)
- Home of the OVC tournament a week before the C-USA tournament.
- Could be home to entire men's C-USA tournament and semifinals and finals of women's tournament.
- First and second rounds of women's tournament could be help at Belmont, Lipscomb, or even Middle Tennessee.
Nashville is a tourist destination.
http://www.visitmusiccity.com/
We already play bowl games in Texas and Florida.
Last edited by Dawg06; 05-15-2013 at 05:09 PM.
Of course I want what's best for Tech, too. That'd be a tournament in Ruston or Bossier City, but I know that won't happen. I'm looking at it from a C-USA perspective, and I have a hard time seeing Texas or Florida land the next C-USA basketball tournament unless it's in El Paso again.
Last time I went to Rodeo San Antonio in 2010 it was at AT&T and it IS A BIG DEAL. Spurs have to leave town for, what, three weeks? Sold out just about every night. Major concert with a different artist after each night rodeo. Pumps millions into a college scholarship fund for students desiring an ag career.
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
Conference basketball tournaments are either about 1) $$$ or 2) a neutral site for fairness in competition. I've never been to a tournament that provided both $$$ and a neutral site. Las Vegas provided a neutral site, but I suspect the $$$ generated was not as high as the tournaments in Reno or Las Cruces. The selection of El Paso as the 2014 tournament site is all about generating revenue, primarily from the fans of UTEP. It seems to me that C-USA has historically chosen tournament sites that generate greater ticket sales. I don't expect we'll see a neutral site for C-USA tournaments.
Something in the redneck Riviera of FloraBama would suffice also
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
So what's coming out of the meetings?
Does Mobile have a nice arena? That is pretty central and close to Florabama.