Let's hope KnickSaint is finally right

[statefan]

about something when he posts on the Siena Forum that the Albany - Siena game will be Saturday, December 2. I hope it's not an afternoon like last year, but even if it is, it beats a Wednesday night.

[Dane Pound]

Story in today's TU about the whole deal. UAlbany balks at Siena's Pepsi event-TU

[Dane96]

Story in today's TU about the whole deal. UAlbany balks at Siena's Pepsi event-TU

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Coach Brown is a smart puppy. The best part about this....Siena (and the article) seems to be slightly miffed by this.

 

Well....what do you expect...schools to jump at your beck and whim!?!?

[NYR]

setting the whole sticking it to Siena thing aside...I am a bit disappointed Albany will not be part of this event. Four years from now I suspect we will see this thing done the right way in Albany.

 

As for Dec 2...it's a no brainer that this needs to be a night game.

[Patch]

UAlbany balks at Siena's Pepsi event-TU

 

I love the TU - their headline make it sound like UA was complaining or did something inappropriate. When it was Siena/MAAC being very slow getting their ducks in a row.

 

Coach Brown saying that UA can't work into their schedule because they have already contracted games is not BALKING it's stating facts. It sounds like the Siena beat writer is trying to place some of the blame for this Exempt Tourney having scheduling problems on UA instead of on Siena.

 

Originally (a while back) Brown in the TU said in theory the tourney was a good idea but because of scheduling maybe they should hold off until next season so Siena shouldn't be surprised at UA's current situation.

 

Why don't they invite NJIT and just don't schedule them against Siena unless Siena wants to play them a possible three times.

 

Maybe D'Argenio should take some heat. He ought to work on learning how to be an AD. It's evident he having a hard time running a primarily one sport program.

 

It's hard to expect people to commit to a Tourney when their is no idea who will be in it and when schedules are primarily made well in advance it's hard for schools to change dates and find new dates for prescheduled/contracted OOC games.

 

I'm sure Coach McCaffrey is having major scheduling problems because he has games he needs and can't commit to dates because he may or may not be hosting an exempt tourney.

 

When they do get a field of teams it should be interesting how they are paired being it is not a true Championship Tourney Format.

[statefan]

Question: At the Times Union, do the reporters write their own headlines?

 

I feel today's article was pretty fair and seems to be accurate, but that the headline does not reflect the content of the article. While the reporting shows that UAlbany made efforts to re-work existing contractual commitments, but wasn't able to, the headline uses the word "balks", which has a different connotation. Also, as Tony has lectured us, the event is not a "Siena" event, it is a "MAAC" event, so the headline is inappropriate in that manner as well.

 

Just imagine next year, when the Times Union will have extra incentive to create interest in the arena.

 

NYR - the question of night or day game usually depends on the minor league hockey schedule. Minor league hockey gets preference over Siena basketball.

Edited May 17, 2006 by statefan

[Gorvy]

Question:  At the Times Union, do the reporters write their own headlines?

 

I feel today's article was pretty fair and seems to be accurate, but that the headline does not reflect the content of the article.  While the reporting shows that UAlbany made efforts to re-work existing contractual commitments, but wasn't able to, the headline uses the word "balks", which has a different connotation.  Also, as Tony has lectured us, the event is not a "Siena" event, it is a "MAAC" event, so the headline is inappropriate in that manner as well.

 

Just imagine next year, when the Times Union will have extra incentive to create interest in the arena.

 

NYR - the question of night or day game usually depends on the minor league hockey schedule.  Minor league hockey gets preference over Siena basketball.

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To answer your question, editors write the headlines and I agree it was a poor one. Personally I've never been a big fan of this tournament, for the simple reason that there is little incentive for teams to participate if schedules have already been made. Apparantly Albany falls into this category. Unless a miracle happened, there was no way that 8 different conferences would be able to commit their top teams to the tourney. So what is left but a conglomerate of teams that doesn't make sense. It was a good idea that came too late due to the NCAA's tardiness in finalizing the rule on allowing the extra exempt tournaments and games. It is too bad that Siena could not have been involved in the tourney next year with better teams due to their participation in the NIT. Perhaps Ualbany can next year (at a different arena) if better teams commit.

 

JG

[olddog71]

I'm not going to get into the blame game here on the lack of success this tournament seems to be having. The NCAA simply made the decision to offer this type of tournament too late for many teams to organize an event for next season. Many teams have scheduled too many games even years in advance to organize this type of tournament. On this point, Gorvy is very much correct.

 

Kudos to Brown for not simply succumbing to this tournament idea and swallowing it whole. Kudos to him for trying to make reasonable accommodations to allow our participation. He is merely doing what is best for UAlbany.

 

I don't understand why this tournament is being labeled in some quarters a "MAAC event." It is my understanding that various teams from a single conference may participate in this type of tournament in the same year; the conference cannot send multiple representatives to the same tournament. So why is this a "MAAC event" and not merely a "Siena event?"

 

There has been considerable discussion on the Siena site about the Saints' schedule for the coming year. The school seems to be having difficulties with getting games for next season. Who is to blame for this problem so late in the year? Most of the discussion seems to be centered on not being able to find opponents with decent RPI's, while Siena has to commit to brand new D I teams.

 

Since UAlbany, in relative infancy at our level of competition, was able to play name schools last season, such as Florida, San Diego State, and UCLA, why is Siena having so much trouble?

 

While I'm not dismissing the type of tournament that was attempted this year per se, I'm glad we're not participating in it this year. As others here have posted, one of the sacrifices of our participation in the tournament would have been a weekend game against Siena. My opinion is only that, but I would think that a packed arena on a weekend against our archrival would generate more interest in the Capital District and on the national scene than a multiple-game underattended tournament.

 

Just a couple observations on this topic.

[megowen70]

The NCAA simply made the decision to offer this type of tournament too late for many teams to organize an event for next season. Many teams have scheduled too many games even years in advance to organize

 

 

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It might just be "Location, location, location". The MAAC...helped by ESPN...seemed to have no problem setting up this tournament. Or finding enough teams to play.

Two weeks deeper into the season may be a factor...more time for practice to prepare a team for serious games. As well as media exposure.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2448990

[NYR]

If the exempt event at the Pepsi was going to be televised on ESPN I'm sure they would have no problems scheduling teams. I would also guess that Albany would have found a way to be involved.

 

The MAAC has a nice deal with ESPN... as far as I understand it they have a Friday night TV package with ESPNU, they get full participation in the bracketbusters with guaranteed home games for each team every other year, and now they teamed up to create an exempt event with TV coverage.

 

I'd just like to see the AE have their Championship Tournament sponsored next year

[Patch]

I guess Marist is the new "Standard of the MAAC" or the new "Crown Jewel"....

 

From Newsday....

ESPN, MAAC to Start Thanksgiving Tourney

 

Associated Press

 

May 18, 2006, 11:35 AM EDT

 

BRISTOL, Conn. -- West Virginia, which reached the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament last season, headlines the eight-team field for the inaugural ESPNU Classic to be played Thanksgiving weekend at Orlando, Fla.

 

Three other teams from last season's NCAA field of 65 -- Arkansas, Montana and Southern Illinois -- are also in the field for the tournament, which was announced Thursday by ESPN Regional Television, which will own and operate the event, and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the sponsoring conference.

 

The other teams in the field are Marist, Minnesota, Virginia Tech and Western Michigan.

 

The tournament will be held Nov. 23-25 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ESPN Regional Television owns and operates three other basketball events -- the O'Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic, Pape Jam and the Spartan Clash.

[Gorvy]

I'm not going to get into the blame game here on the lack of success this tournament seems to be having. The NCAA simply made the decision to offer this type of tournament too late for many teams to organize an event for next season. Many teams have scheduled too many games even years in advance to organize this type of tournament. On this point, Gorvy is very much correct.

 

Kudos to Brown for not simply succumbing to this tournament idea and swallowing it whole. Kudos to him for trying to make reasonable accommodations to allow our participation. He is merely doing what is best for UAlbany.

 

I don't understand why this tournament is being labeled in some quarters a "MAAC event." It is my understanding that various teams from a single conference may participate in this type of tournament in the same year; the conference cannot send multiple representatives to the same tournament. So why is this a "MAAC event" and not merely a "Siena event?"

 

There has been considerable discussion on the Siena site about the Saints' schedule for the coming year. The school seems to be having difficulties with getting games for next season. Who is to blame for this problem so late in the year? Most of the discussion seems to be centered on not being able to find opponents with decent RPI's, while Siena has to commit to brand new D I teams.

 

Since UAlbany, in relative infancy at our level of competition, was able to play name schools last season, such as Florida, San Diego State, and UCLA, why is Siena having so much trouble?

 

While I'm not dismissing the type of tournament that was attempted this year per se, I'm glad we're not participating in it this year. As others here have posted, one of the sacrifices of our participation in the tournament would have been a weekend game against Siena. My opinion is only that, but I would think that a packed arena on a weekend against our archrival would generate more interest in the Capital District and on the national scene than a multiple-game underattended tournament.

 

Just a couple observations on this topic.

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I will try to answer a few of your questions. The reason why this tournament is considered a MAAC event is that all exempt tournaments are sponsored by conferences, not individual teams.

 

In regards to your scheduling questions, it is not very hard to schedule major division I teams in their building, especially if you are a newer D1 program. Because home teams win 70% of the time in college basketball, many of those types of teams schedule games against teams they percieve they can easily beat to build their win total before their more rigorous conference schedule. It's also not to your advantage to schedule very many of these types of games in one season. For example, had your team scheduled more "winnable" games against quality teams from mid major conferences, your team probably would have had a better RPI and a better seed in the NCAAs. Now that your team has had a successful season, you may find it harder to schedule these games or you may want to move away from that scheduling policy and try to build on RPI for postseason considerations.

[Patch]

Gorvy - thanks for the info, but let me ask some other questions.....

 

1. Can a Conference sponsor more then one exempt tourney a year. I would guess the answer is yes if the Saints are still working to host one?

 

2. I believe our RPI was hurt more by our in conference teams then by our OOC schedule. In fact Siena's RPI was improved greatly by losses to in conference teams, I think you guys went 2-7 against teams with 127 or less RPIs (in conference) and then another game that was scheduled for you was the bracketbuster where you drew Hofstra. So do you really believe OOC schedule that you guys put together was that important to your RPI?

 

Your input is appreciated.

[Gorvy]

Gorvy - thanks for the info, but let me ask some other questions.....

 

1. Can a Conference sponsor more then one exempt tourney a year. I would guess the answer is yes if the Saints are still working to host one?

 

2. I believe our RPI was hurt more by our in conference teams then by our OOC schedule. In fact Siena's RPI was improved greatly by losses to in conference teams, I think you guys went 2-7 against teams with 127 or less RPIs (in conference) and then another game that was scheduled for you was the bracketbuster where you drew Hofstra. So do you really believe OOC schedule that you guys put together was that important to your RPI?

 

Your input is appreciated.

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Patch - to answer your questions:

 

1) Yes. The only requirements are that only one team from each conference can play in an exempt event, and the same team can not play in the same event more than once in four years. This is one reason why the conferences host the tourneys -- it's the only chance they can keep the event going from year to year.

 

2). You are correct, in your team's case your RPI was hurt more by your in conference teams than your games against the biggies, but there is not much you can do about that in the short run. In fact, it may be one reason why the schedule was made -- to balance out the RPI Strength of Schedule. However, what I am saying is that your RPI may have been helped more if you replaced two out of three of the games scheduled against the top 50 with a few more quality but winnable away games, for example teams ranked 50-150 and won them. This is because the NCAA puts a premium on winning away games. The key is if you schedule that way you have to win the games (hence Siena's RPI). Now, if you were to win the away games against the top 50, that would be the ultimate - but I think we can agree that it would be tough to win 2 out 3 games in that scenario.

 

JG

[Patch]

Gorvy,

 

I believe your thought process is sound but in UA's case I think they are almost mandated to play atleast 2 money games to help ease the overall cost of running the program.

Remember UA is still in its infancy in DI Hoops, a couple of solid seasons, an improved fan base, more sponsorships and the thought process may change.

I would believe top 30 teams pay significantly more the top 50+ teams. This is still a business a true money driven business. Also UA is trying desperately to develop name recognition and having the Big Names on the schedule does draw the attention of some recruits.

Thanks for your responses.