GW Hoops / Conference Tournament Chaos

**Posted by BGF** 1/26/2025 1:51 pm

Have you seen what the Sun Belt is doing?

This is crazy but might be brilliant marketing and give the conference a better chance at getting an upset win in the NCAA.

https://www.sbnation.com/2025/1/24/24349710/sun-belt-royal-rumble-conference-tournament

**Posted by PKGW** 1/26/2025 3:40 pm

Extreme but I like the thought of trying to change something. The tournament money that conferences make by advancing is huge for their budgets so getting a team to the 2nd or 3rd round would be huge

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 1/26/2025 6:00 pm

PKGW wrote:
Extreme but I like the thought of trying to change something. The tournament money that conferences make by advancing is huge for their budgets so getting a team to the 2nd or 3rd round would be huge

i wonder what are the additional travel/hotel/arena rental/team per diem costs for this arrangement?

**Posted by DC Native** 1/27/2025 9:28 am

Looks smart to me. Small, single bid conferences should want their best team in the NCAA Tournament. They should actually give their auto bids to their regular season champs. But the NCAA won’t let them have a conference tournament if they do that and they won’t get rid of their tournaments because money…

**Posted by Ralphie** 1/28/2025 1:49 am

Seems impractical. Why bother including teams that would have to win 7 in a row to win the tournament. That probably ain't gonna ever happen. The admin expenses and time away from campus for the lowest seeds just doesn't appear worth it - especially if your aim is to get your highest seeds to the NCAA's and prioritize the importance of League regular season play.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 1/28/2025 9:58 am

I think the old West Coast Conference got it right. Take your top team or teams and start them in the semifinals. 7 games in 7 days sounds pretty barbaric.

I'd also invite most but not all teams to the conference tournament (in a larger conference), placing more of a premium on regular season results. In the 15 team A10, my bracket would look like this:

12 team field

First round: 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11, 7 plays 10, 8 plays 9
Quarterfinal: 3 plays highest remaining seed (worst remaining team), 4 plays second highest, two matchups based on first round winners with lower remaining seed playing higher remaining seed
Semifinal: 1 plays highest (worst) remaining seed, 2 plays other remaining team

So, 1 and 2 go straight to the semis, 3 and 4 go straight to the quarters, and 13-15 don't qualify.