Siena tourney at the Pepsi

[UAalum72]

Latest post on their board says the event has 'commitments to participate ...from the AEast (presumably Albany), Ivy, Patriot, Northeast and Colonial' and possibly the A-10. Arent' these leagues (except the CAA) that are so 'inferior' to the powerful MAAC? How are they supposed to draw big crowds with teams that, if they were just regular-season games, would have their fans crying about playing such weak, untalented opponents?

Edited May 7, 2006 by UAalum72

[Patch]

If UA chose not to be involved it would be interesting how Siena's great fan base would support the other games.

 

I don't see any benefit for us to be involved.

[mainejeff]

If UA chose not to be involved it would be interesting how Siena's great fan base would support the other games.

 

I don't see any benefit for us to be involved.

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I agree with Patch. This tournament makes no sense at all for Albany, especially if they have to play Siena, which they already do. Without bg names, this tourney will die a quick death.

[NYR]

I don’t see why everyone is down on this tournament. As an Albany fan I am looking forward to it. It does diminish the Albany/Siena game for one year but it gives us 4 games in the Capital Region against local conferences. (One home, One away (Siena), and two more at the Pepsi). That’s more local games than Siena will get from this touney.

 

Last year’s OOC home schedule included Cornel, Harvard, Sacred Heart and Utah Valley State. The tournament alone matches this for local entertainment value. Add next year’s OOC home schedule that includes VCU, a Thanksgiving weekend road trip to UCONN, and AE play and Albany fans have a lot of good, local games to see.

 

I know Brown sounds down on the tournament but my guess is that he has already done a lot of work on this year’s schedule and he much rather have a head start with the tournament concept for next year’s schedule. I doubt he is down on the tournament concept.

 

For all of you naysayer’s please tell me what I am missing.

[statefan]

THe intersting aspect of KnickSaint's (is it part of the deal that he changes his name to TimesUnionSaint ?)post on the Siena board is that there is a date scheduled in December for the Albany - Siena game. Does anyone know what it is?

[alum73]

I don't the advantage of playing in it. We're invited to make the gate bigger for Siena? We are already scheduled to play them in Dec. I'd rather just play that game by itself.

[UAalum72]

THe intersting aspect of KnickSaint's (is it part of the deal that he changes his name to TimesUnionSaint ?)

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No, or he would have been PepsiSaint for the last 10 years

[Clickclack]

I just don’t see anyway this tournament will work out, this year I’m sure it will do fine. What happens come next year when neither UA nor Siena can participate? Who’s gona go watch a locally held tourney without any local teams in it? Some of us diehards on this or the Siena board might, but that’s not enough. I might go to a game or two if no local team is in, but the community will probably not come out to support this. Unless they market the hell out of it, and find some way to get local hoop fans interested. Just my 2 cents!!!

[alum73]

The plan was for the tournament to move around to other venues , not be in Albany very year.

[SienaTony]

You guys are pretty funny, first of all its not Siena’s tournament, it’s the MAAC. Siena won’t get any more money out of this tournament than Albany or any other team competing in the tournament. Secondly you get to see your team 4 times in a week without leaving the city of Albany. Siena only plays in Albany 3 times (with one road game) Third I agree with you guys if the teams selected to play are weak teams the tournament will die a quick death. It’s not what conference the teams are from but how strong they are. The tournament could be very beneficial for Albany. The more “quality” wins you can get the better the seed you will get should you be fortunate enough to win your league. That’s assuming the tournament has quality teams. A few wins over top 150 programs could do wonders for Ualb NCAA seed considerations. Hey Albany played a nice game against Uconn last year, but a 16 has still never won a game. The difference between a 16 seed and a 14 seed is enormous. Every year it seems a 13 or 14 seed wins a NCAA game. With the AE being down the only way for Albany to improve its possible NCAA seed is to play and win some Out of conference games against top 150 teams. And getting to play top 150 teams in Albany is a tremendous advantage for Ualb. The home team wins like 70% of games in NCAA D1

 

Overall I like the idea of the tournament, assuming the MAAC is able to get quality teams involved. I’ll reserve judgment until the list of teams is released. Other than making the Siena/Ualb game mid week, I really don’t see much downside from a Albany POV. And again that’s assuming we have quality teams in the tournament

Edited May 8, 2006 by SienaTony

[SienaTony]

If UA chose not to be involved it would be interesting how Siena's great fan base would support the other games.

 

I don't see any benefit for us to be involved.

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Patch I don’t think there is any question, Siena fans would not support the opposite bracket in droves. You’d get some die-hards there, but not that many. I would guess if Alb choose not to play in the tournament, A combination of Vermont and Marist ( both teams fans base travel well)in the opposite bracket would bring in close to as many fans as Ualb would. Although obviously from a tournament POV having Albany in the tournament is much more desirable

Edited May 8, 2006 by SienaTony

[bob87]

If UA chose not to be involved it would be interesting how Siena's great fan base would support the other games.

 

I don't see any benefit for us to be involved.

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Patch I don’t think there is any question, Siena fans would not support the opposite bracket in droves. You’d get some die-hards there, but not that many. I would guess if Alb choose not to play in the tournament, A combination of Vermont and Marist ( both teams fans base travel well)in the opposite bracket would bring in close to as many fans as Ualb would. Although obviously from a tournament POV having Albany in the tournament is much more desirable

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My understanding is that the NCAA only allows 1 team per conference in a tournament like this. If that is correct, Marist can't help you with the dismal attendance if Albany doesn't play. Yes, Vermont travels well. But, they certainly travel better for NCAA tournament games and conference tournament games as compared to a potentially weak meaningless tournament. Remember, as proposed now there is not even going to be a tournament winner

[KingDane]

S-Tony, can you speak any more patronizingly? You speak about the great advantages UAlbany will reap by participating. 'Should WE make it back - it might help to get us a better seed'. Don't be lecturing anyone about the advantages of a higher seed - all based on the lightning Siena caught in a bottle one season long ago.

 

Who the hell are you? Should YOU make it back, it might help YOU get a better seed. I'm confident UAlbany will be back long before loudenville.

[SienaTony]

S-Tony, can you speak any more patronizingly? You speak about the great advantages UAlbany will reap by participating. 'Should WE make it back - it might help to get us a better seed'. Don't be lecturing anyone about the advantages of a higher seed - all based on the lightning Siena caught in a bottle one season long ago.

 

Who the hell are you? Should YOU make it back, it might help YOU get a better seed. I'm confident UAlbany will be back long before loudenville.

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Why the attitude King Dane? As for speaking patronizingly? By what saying the tournament has advantages for ualb?? Hey if you don’t want to play in the tournament fine. But only a fool would say it has no advantages ( I guess that explains your take King Dane )

 

Sorry King Dane I didn’t realize making it make to the NCAA tournament was a now a “given’ for Ualb?

 

I leave it at that. Hopefully Albany gets in the Exempt tournament, if not the tournament will still go on. Good luck!!

[megowen70]

If it's a MAAC tournament, that includes Iona and Manhattan in the mix...as well as Marist...all of whom have gained some, if not tons, respect recently. However, none of them really have arenas available to them. Rider has one...but couldn't even fill it for the MAAC tournament for the games they played. Niagara and Canisius has whatever the arena in Buffalo is called this week. Fairfield has Bridgeport...lots of schools in CT who might

bring in some students and alums. Marist students/alums will travel to Albany...it's been proven in the past...as will Iona. So, it leaves the Pepsi/TUC open for other years as well...and if they don't use the Siena/Albany game for the tournament...that's 2 out of 4 years...and one for Marist.

 

Now, what this depends on for you guys...how many fans in the Albany area are simply Siena or Albany fans, and how many are down and dirty college hoops fan. The sweet sixteen sure filled the place. So the secret is to make this a big tournament. The preseason NIT sells pretty good at the garden, and some of those games are pretty ho-hum. If I were close enough to Albany...I would buy lifetime tickets to the tournament. (edited by megowen70 for clarity of message - hadn't finished my cup of coffee!)

 

Another issue is being wary that the NCAA doesn't let this tournament stuff get out of hand...and become meaningless, then they all go bankrupt...except maybe all the sports networks that are thriving on them.