They do play the NCAA MEN'S basketball tournaments in neutral locations, but
the WOMEN'S tournaments have prelims at the home site of the higher seeds. In
the past, I thought this was in part due to the lack of popularity of the sport
and the inability to obtain sites for the initial rounds. Unfortunately,
college hockey is in the same boat right now and I don't know how many big city
arenas would commit to a four team regional. The current format has six teams
at each regional, and over the last six or seven years have been rotated
between a couple sites. In the East, the main sites have been the Centrum in
Worcester and the Pepsi (Knickerbocker) Arena in Albany. Now let's take a look
at what the sites are thinking:
First, which teams tend to draw a base of fans in their area....
The Centrum - BU, BC, UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, UNH, Vermont, Providence,
Brown, Harvard, Northeastern, RPI, Union
The Pepsi Arena - RPI, Union, Cornell, Clarkson, Colgate, SLU, and all of the
above (Albany is a very easy trip from Boston)
Now that we see this list of hockey fan draws from the specific areas, let's
break down that list to who will likely make the regionals. You'll notice that
in each of the past years (at least since 1990), not only 1, but 2 of these
teams ended up in the regionals. From my experiences at the regionals, BU, BC,
UNH, Clarkson, Cornell, Vemont, and RPI all bring a significant number of fans
to the regionals. This will help those who plan events at these arenas ensure
that there is a good size crowd.
Now, let's take a 16 team tournament. If you're going to send 4 teams to each
regional, you're starting with a deficit of 2 teams to begin with. Now we can
come up with hypothetical brackets (not moving any teams east or west) based on
this year's pwr rankings and automatic bids.
1E Boston University
8E University of Minnesota - Duluth
4E UNH
5E Yale
and
2E Boston College
7E Northeastern
3E Clarkson
6E Princeton
I don't know if either of these regionals would be able to sell a huge draw in
Albany. Whichever regional ended up in Worcester would be ok with either BU
and UNH or BC and Northeastern. Albany would probably do best with the BC
regional, but I still don't think it would be as attractive as the following:
BU, Wisconsin, UNH, Clarkson, CC, and Boston College...the current format of
teams attending the regional. This has 4 strong draws for the site in Albany
and would have three for the Centrum (Clarkson has a lot of great fans, but
it's one heck of a ride from Potsdam to Worcester, trust me).
Your only other choices would be to have 8 team regionals or 4 team regionals
at home site locations. Considering both options:
First an 8 team regional. Adopting a 4 day format (I don't think you'd want to
play 4 games in 1 day) would result in Thursday games, bringing down attendance
and a commitment to hold the arena for one game on Saturday and Sunday (which
may not be attractive to the arena). The upside is a lot more fans and the
fact that the arena might be willing to settle for a lower draw on Thursday to
have something there on Thursday to begin with.
Second with 4 home site regionals. The disadvantage is you don't know where
the regionals are going to be until that fateful day of selection. Second, you
tend to be in a smaller market and smaller arenas with a lot of teams. The
upside is that you're pretty much guaranteed good attendance and actually would
have to fight for tickets in some locations. This would show better for
college hockey's future, rather than playing to half-filled arenas. Most of
the arenas have the facilities to hold 4 teams, the other things that come with
the regionals may be a little stressing. As far as hotels, etc., I can't see
that being a problem. I went to one of the smallest schools in D-1 hockey, and
we hosted 2 other teams every weekend in hotels with their fans (considering
SLU is only 10 minutes from Clarkson, we would likely be using the hotel
resources from both towns). All of the D-1 college hockey teams have to make
similar arrangements on other ocassions to house a lot of people, ie
graduation, etc. I'm sure if Clarkson can hold the families of a graduating
class, they could surely handle 3 hockey teams and their fans. (Excuse me for
using Clarkson as an example, but Potsdam is about the smallest town you'll
find in college hockey).
My vote would be for the 4 home site regionals. This would provide the best
fit, IMHO, for college hockey at this time. As we expand in popularity, maybe
it could grow out of the home sites to larger arenas. This future may not be
too far away, with some of the bigger colleges (like OSU) putting together
better programs. Who knows, maybe we'll see Big Ten hockey someday.
By the way, I was able to get my college hockey fix yesterday when I caught the
CCHA championship game on replay on MSG here in NY. I'm sure you won't see a
lot of stuff live in this area, but does anyone know if MSG or FSNY (formerly
known as SportsChannel NY) is planning on showing any games out of prime time?
[log in to unmask] on 03/25/98 11:03:50 AM
Please respond to [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject: Re: 16 team tourny
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joseph M LaCour [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 1998 11:25 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 16 team tourny
>
> IF (a big if) the NCAA went to a 16 team tourny, should the regionals be
> on campus or at a neutral site?
>
> If we went to campus sites, my only concern would be lack of hotel rooms
> and transportation at a particular school/town. Most can handle one or
> two teams in town, but 3 teams, plus fans, plus TV and NCAA crews may put
> a strain on small town and the NCAA resources.
>
> I would have to agree with you on this one. A neutral, big city
would be much more suitable for 3 teams, fans, and media. Plus there would
be no "home ice advantage" either. They play the NCAA basketball tourneys
in neutral locations. Why not do it with hockey? :)
Just my 2 cents worth.
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Michael "Go Tigers" McClellan
Network Administrator * Fischer & Company Real Estate
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