Cheryl A. Morris wrote:
 
> How about St. Paul Civic Center?  The new arena in Columbus, Ohio.
> Cincinnati,...OK forget that one, Chicago?  an attendan$e risk initially,
> maybe it would grow into something, and why not Detroit occaisionally.  I
> still cannot understand why a game between Michigan and Michigan State
> during the regular season in Detroit draws a big crowd, but one
> post-season draws nothing.
 
The St. Paul Civic Center is dead.  (Long live the St. Paul Civic Center, if it gets
funded.)  Chicago would be the worst choice; you're more than two hours from any
campus (except for Notre Dame) and at least four from almost all of them.  Ditto
Columbus, other than OSU.  And I don't know exactly why the regional was a flop in
Detroit either, though I have some ideas.  That just simply is too big an arena, for
one.  One of the seasons, I don't think MSU made the tournament, which didn't help.
On the whole, Detroit is a MSU town, rather than a UM one.
 
> As I recall Michigan State was the #6 seed both times, so it could be
> argued that the competitive difference between the two teams was so great
> that it outweighed the home field advantage.  I can't remember Wisconsin's
> at the time, but I don't think that they were one of the top five teams
> that year.
 
But MSU couldn't even win the first game it played, let alone beat the bye team.
Then again, maybe they're the problem.  They've now demonstrated that they can't win
at home, can't win on the road (Wisconsin upset them in the first round at Madison),
can't win at a neutral site, can't win when they're favored and can't win when
they're the underdog.
 
> Also, one other slight correction.  The attendance for all the previous
> East Regionals was in the 8-10,000 range, with Albany's 1994 doing nearly
> 12,000.
 
But these numbers would not be a success in a 20,000 seat venue.  If it can't draw at
least 16,000-18,000, it isn't going to fly in the large arenas.  And if you get an
anomolous year like this one in Albany, then it'll drown.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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