https://x.com/munzly/status/1928467160109662478
Thoughts?
It does give the host teams and anyone within a reasonable drive a competitive advantage, but perhaps it will result in some actual fans in the stands.
We did it this way in CUSA 1.0 I think through 2005 when we left…
Tiger High fans already whining that it’s not in Memphis.
I’m thinking that these programs / cities had to bid or at least indicate an interest in hosting, with financial guarantees, and Memphis might not have been interested.
Beats the crap out of anything way out in Texas. The fact that the Memphis fans are upset is icing on the cake.
Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth is a really nice facility but its location was not ideal. Nary a hotel within 2 miles and the point about being so far away from the other schools was valid. In 2024, we were the #3 seed and we had about 8 fans there all week. Hell, we even had to HIRE a pep band and I’m not certain that Norm was really Norm.
I welcome Birmingham hosting next year’s tourney. It reminds me of the 1999 tourney when we won four straight games, culminating with beating Louisville in the Saturday finals.
I have fond memories of watching the all-time great Niner fan Nick Weeks holding the arena door open letting angry Cincinnati fans out of the arena after Friday’s game. Consoling them by saying, “Bearcats…tastes like chicken!”
Memphis was only interested in hosting the MBB tournament, so took themselves out of consideration from the start.