New home for Women's tournament

[gmartin]

Has anyone else heard the rumors? Most recently from Fox 36 in Toledo. It has been rumored that the women's MAC tournament will be moved from Cleveland to Lucas County Arena in Toledo next year. Smaller venue but with the close proximity of UT and BG only 15 min away from LCA you can expect overall higher attendance. Plus a more centralized location for the Michigan and schools out West. I like this possible move!

[bgsufalcon24]

GREAT...

Let's just give TSUN the home court advantage. Terrible move, one that could potentially hurt us in the very near future.

[gmartin]

Hate to burst your bubble but Toledo travels just as well if not better than our fans to away games and they out draw us by nearly 800 fans per home game. In Cleveland this week I would expect to see about 2200 - 2500 fans from each school. So to say moving the game to Toledo will give UT more of a home court advantage I don't agree. Either way both schools will still pack the place. It just now makes it more easier for some of our local fans who couldn't make the games in Cleveland. I also feel more fans from the Michigan schools and Ball State will attend.

[VDub26Falcon]

Seems to me that the almighty dollar is what is creating this move. I'm sure rent for the week is MUCH cheaper at LCA. Then again, Dan Gilbert might do something to get them to stay and keep the revenue. He's a smart man.

[Redwingtom]

I would favor the move. It makes sense on too many levels. And no, this would not be a home-court advantage for Toledo as the games would be in a totally separate venue. And you have to think long-term and not just this year or next. BG and Toledo aren't always going to be the 2 best teams in the league.

[HoopsFan]

I remember the games at both Seagate Centre and Batelle Hall in Columbus. If the facility is anywhere close to those two venues, I'd rather drive to Cleveland

Outside of that, the location would be excellent. Too bad the Rossford Ampitheater didn't get built.


HoopsFan

[TG1996]

BG and Toledo aren't always going to be the 2 best teams in the league.

You're right. I don't think Toledo can hold on very long.

[Flipper]

Move it back to the Cobo in Detroit....we might have to throw a tarp over the roof to keep the court dry, but it's doable...

[Redwingtom]

I remember the games at both Seagate Centre and Batelle Hall in Columbus. If the facility is anywhere close to those two venues, I'd rather drive to Cleveland

Outside of that, the location would be excellent. Too bad the Rossford Ampitheater didn't get built.


HoopsFan

The Lucas County Arena is a brand new state of the art facility with suites and a spacious overlooking concourse area and is fairly nice!

[HoopsFan]

Move it back to the Cobo in Detroit....we might have to throw a tarp over the roof to keep the court dry, but it's doable...

It probably isn't as safe as it was years ago, but I LOVED Cobo. Greektown, the Ren Cen, etc. We had some great times there. I just don't want to play any games in a facility that feels like Millett Hall....

[VDub26Falcon]

BG and Toledo aren't always going to be the 2 best teams in the league.

You're right. I don't think Toledo can hold on very long.

Yeah! It could be BG and Ball State or BG and WMU or BG and EMU!

[falconwomenbball]

I have heard that a study was commissioned to find a place for the women's tournament apart from the men's tournament. I don't know if this study has been completed or not. The last I heard the contract for the Q lasted 2 more years (that was last year).

It makes some sense to move it to the new arena in Toledo. I'm not sure that it would automatically give Toledo a home court advantage. Toledo wouldn't use this arena for the regular season, just MAC tournament. Would their fans come out in greater numbers? Perhaps, but who knows? It will be interesting to see how many Toledo fans do travel to Cleveland for MAC tournament. The time of day has something to do with being able to be there. In years past, the Toledo fans didn't travel all that well. Their attendance was great at home but not on the road (except for BG). Will this change with their success and their new coach? Again, perhaps, but we'll have to wait and see.

See everyone in Cleveland.

[98_BG_GRAD]

If they move the Women's tournament to Toledo (or somewhere else) would they also change the date of the tournament so it is not at the same time as the Men's tournament similar to what the major conferences have done in recent years? I would hope they would do so to give fans a chance to attend both tournaments with no conflicts. It would also give the women a chance to have the championship game televised on one of the ESPN family of networks since it would not be played at the same time as the major men's tournaments.

[transfer2BGSU]

GREAT...

Let's just give TSUN the home court advantage. Terrible move, one that could potentially hurt us in the very near future.

Waah, waah, waah. Seems like the only thing I read from you is complaints.

How would this not benefit BGSU? More of our fans would probably go the Lucas County arena for the tournament games than go to Cleveland.

I haven't been to the MAC Tourney. I'm unable to get over to Cleveland due to other commitments. But you put the games up in LCA, I can show up for some of the games (or for a portion of a game). I know many other BG fans in the same predicament.

[MarkL]

I don't like separating the tournaments at all. I believe the reason they chose to return to playing the first round at the schools was to fix the scheduling problem that we've seen in years past - the problem of games starting as early as 11 am and as late as 11 pm.

Imagine us last year. Both teams were #1 seeds, so clearly under the current format would be playing at the tournament. Imagine if all the women's games were in Toledo, and all the men's games were in Cleveland. We've now got to either come up with two different bands and two different sets of cheerleaders, or we've got to bus one group back and forth each day. And you know at some point, there's going to be a conflict where both the men's and women's teams would play at basically the same time so it is impossible to see both.

Or, if they separate the tournaments and also change the dates, now we've got the problem of needing to create bands and cheerleading squads that can cover a longer time span, meaning basically the entire spring break. Both of these solutions sound like logistical nightmares.

The current format favors the fans. It allows the fans to see both of their teams if they both make it far enough, sometimes in the same day. Separating them would be an incredibly stupid move IMO. I think it is only being pondered so that all teams get the opportunity to play tournament games at a neutral site.