State of Illinois Division 1 Basketball Tournament

[CatJones]

It is time for all the Division 1 basketball teams in the state to have a pre-conference-schedule tournament. This will: 1. Be interesting
2. Stimulate fan interest
3. Prevent the better teams from scheduling a "cupcake" pre-conference schedule
4. Help with in state recruiting
5. TV will be on board
Pre-season ratings will determine seedings. Can't wait to grab a pair of Southern Illinois v. Chicago State tickets.

 

[julescat]

why on earth would TV "be on board"??

 

[CatJones]

...because they are on board for anything.

 

[julescat]

greater fool theory, huh? do you think many people would attend such a tournament?

 

[CappyNU]

It is time for all the Division 1 basketball teams in the state to have a pre-conference-schedule tournament. This will: 1. Be interesting
2. Stimulate fan interest
3. Prevent the better teams from scheduling a "cupcake" pre-conference schedule
4. Help with in state recruiting
5. TV will be on board
Pre-season ratings will determine seedings. Can't wait to grab a pair of Southern Illinois v. Chicago State tickets.

Growing up in Philly, I'd rather see a "Chicago 5" with NU, Depaul, UIC, Chicago St and Loyola than a state tournament.

 

[Bwm57]

I actually like the idea.
Illinois/Chicago is still thought to be one of the top places in the country for HS basketball, yet almost none of the top players stay in Illinois to play.
If promoted correctly over a few years an event like this could create some local interest and hold some of the recruits here in the state.
Maybe not the top of the elite, but, I think you can put a pretty good team together with the second tier players from the area.

 

[Sec.112]

This isn't the first time this has been discussed. It seems every new coach comes into the city and wants to do this. A few years ago, there was even an annual luncheon with many of the coaches advocating the idea.

Then suddenly, the idea disappears until the next coach is hired in 3 or 4 years.

At this point, I'd be interested to know what factors prevent the concept that everybody seems to want.

I know there's an idea (especially from the University of Illinois) that there's no reason for the top teams to play the "lesser" teams and give them the opportunity to move up the ladder. I don't buy that especially from an NU standpoint. If you want to strut and be Chicago's team, build "some toughness" (there's that phrase) and take all comers.

To map the local angle back to the "Question on Schedule" thread, I don't know how this can't be a better financial situation than paying a visiting team $60,000-$100,000. It also helps improve your SOS.

Excuse me for repeating this, but I think these local games offer so many more advantage beyond SOS - drastically reducing travel costs for many of those games; Not paying the visiting team (I assume) while also drawing 500-1000 more visiting fans to your own home game.

 

[NUCat320]

I would prefer something similar in concept, but different in execution and sales. If Northwestern and DePaul are the anchor teams, schedule an annual four-team, one-weekend tournament with Chicago local-ish teams. I'm thinking Marquette or Milwaukee or Bradley or even Xavier or Butler.

Frankly, Chicago State or Loyola or the Flames won't move the needle.

For the big schools, of course, the challenge becomes getting them to commit to something like this. I am assuming this would not be a Thanksgiving tournament, though there aren't many good times to do something like this in December or right at the start of the season.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't mind it if Northwestern and DePaul committed to playing the first round game every year, guaranteeing that "rivalry" game gets played, while also stacking the deck so that a Chicago team was in the "Chicago" tournament final.