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Alot of time to go before the schedule gets worked out for next season so there's no reason for them to screw this up. I love the tourney @ Moody @ the beginning of the year & want to see it continued. Illinois State was a good team but Alabama State & Houston Baptist don't cut it.
I would love to see a DFW Shootout.

SMU, TCU, UNT & UTA.

Same format as last years tourney. Play all 3 teams with us playing TCU on the last night.

This would be alot of fun for all the hoops funs in the metroplex.

Would be fun, but wouldn't TCU want it to be at their gym, and UNT at theirs?
Everyone always want recruits on their campus.

ponydawg wrote:Would be fun, but wouldn't TCU want it to be at their gym, and UNT at theirs?
Everyone always want recruits on their campus.

Good question. Since UTA will have a new arena I think it would be fun to rotate it every year. Taking it a step further, have the tourney during the holidays & invite 4 top HS or JUCO teams to play in the afternoon prior to the D1 schools tipping off @ 6 & 8.

We don't recruit locally so it would have no impact on us.
TCU, UTA & UNT can fight over the locals .

papawasamustang wrote:

ponydawg wrote:Would be fun, but wouldn't TCU want it to be at their gym, and UNT at theirs?
Everyone always want recruits on their campus.

Good question. Since UTA will have a new arena I think it would be fun to rotate it every year. Taking it a step further, have the tourney during the holidays & invite 4 top HS or JUCO teams to play in the afternoon prior to the D1 schools tipping off @ 6 & 8.

We don't recruit locally so it would have no impact on us.
TCU, UTA & UNT can fight over the locals .

Make it an event, attach a charity to it. Raise some money for a cause, play a bunch of hoops.

Could we beat any of those teams?

I love the idea of a DFW shootout but am concerned about rotating arenas. Reason being is that we probably (shockingly enough ) generate revenue from our tournament. Granted, attendance would be much better in this DFW-centric format but if you only host once every 4 years that really cuts into your slice of the pie.

Great idea though and something I would love for SMU to consider/look in to.

Let's play it at AAC! With 4 local D1 teams, sure we could all sell it out each night .

I like the idea, but just see there as being too many scheduling headaches involved. Would be really hard to convince 3 teams in that pool to play 3 road games on successive days that early in the season. UNT and UTA would probably go for it, but SMU and TCU would probably not want to do it unless it was at their home arena.

bagice wrote:Let's play it at AAC! With 4 local D1 teams, sure we could all sell it out each night .

I like the idea, but just see there as being too many scheduling headaches involved. Would be really hard to convince 3 teams in that pool to play 3 road games on successive days that early in the season. UNT and UTA would probably go for it, but SMU and TCU would probably not want to do it unless it was at their home arena.

I tend to agree with this line of thinking. UNT and UTA would be on board. SMU and TCU would not be on board because they still look at UTA and UNT beneath them, even though all four play each other just about every year or every other year.

If this does happen, I think it would go to rotation but it would not start until UTA's arena is ready.

MustangIcon wrote:I love the idea of a DFW shootout but am concerned about rotating arenas. Reason being is that we probably (shockingly enough ) generate revenue from our tournament. Granted, attendance would be much better in this DFW-centric format but if you only host once every 4 years that really cuts into your slice of the pie.

Great idea though and something I would love for SMU to consider/look in to.

Our tournament is a money loser. We have to pay 3 teams to come play in it, and ticket sales dont cover the cost of turning the lights on.

The XtC wrote: Our tournament is a money loser. We have to pay 3 teams to come play in it, and ticket sales dont cover the cost of turning the lights on.

How dare you say that about the great SMU Tipoff Classic!

I love it, "Tipoff Classic", with such great programs such as Houston Baptist, Alabama State, and Illinois State! Classic.

I like the DFW tourney idea, but I don't know if I would go to Denton to watch a game. That gym is terrible for watching college basketball and I hear the swine flu is rampid up there.

I think what XTC is saying is if we have our own in-house tourney, we should shoot "lights out".

ponydawg wrote:

The XtC wrote: Our tournament is a money loser. We have to pay 3 teams to come play in it, and ticket sales dont cover the cost of turning the lights on.

How dare you say that about the great SMU Tipoff Classic!

I love it, "Tipoff Classic", with such great programs such as Houston Baptist, Alabama State, and Illinois State! Classic.

I like the DFW tourney idea, but I don't know if I would go to Denton to watch a game. That gym is terrible for watching college basketball and I hear the swine flu is rampid up there.

I remember going up to Denton to watch SMU play UNT last time we were there, which I imagine was a few years ago. Seemed like an OK place, nice scoreboards, comfy seats, sit wherever you like...

bagice wrote:I remember going up to Denton to watch SMU play UNT last time we were there, which I imagine was a few years ago. Seemed like an OK place, nice scoreboards, comfy seats, sit wherever you like...

A Rice Owl friend of mine and I went up for that game. The arena itself is very nice, but you feel removed from the action. Seats go back and out, not up like at moody. We were prolly just being picky, but the atmosphere itself was lacking. We are used to seeing our boys playing in packed houses of at least 1,200 timid fans. Moot point really though.

George S. Patton wrote:

bagice wrote:Let's play it at AAC! With 4 local D1 teams, sure we could all sell it out each night .

I like the idea, but just see there as being too many scheduling headaches involved. Would be really hard to convince 3 teams in that pool to play 3 road games on successive days that early in the season. UNT and UTA would probably go for it, but SMU and TCU would probably not want to do it unless it was at their home arena.

I tend to agree with this line of thinking. UNT and UTA would be on board. SMU and TCU would not be on board because they still look at UTA and UNT beneath them, even though all four play each other just about every year or every other year.

If this does happen, I think it would go to rotation but it would not start until UTA's arena is ready.

That's why you make it for a notable local charity. It puts pressure on the teams to attend, market and raise money, or they look awful. John Feinstein has been killing Gtown for 15 years for not playing the BBT Classic in DC. Usually has Maryland, GW, Mason, AU, VCU or some combo. The one team who won't play is Gtown, and they get hammered in the press for it. Hell, Maryland plays every year, hates the tourney, and would love out, but feel compelled b/c its a good cause.

I like the idea of these schools each playing one another every year, but not sure a tourney format is the right way to go...unless all would agree to a 4 team, two round tourney to crown a champion each year. I don't see these 4 schools having enough combined fan support or local interest in our programs to sell 2 nights worth of tickets, much less 3 nights. The other issue is when/where to play.

I think I would prefer everyone scheduling everyone else and if anyone sweeps, they could be awarded the "mayor's trophy" or some such award. Anyone winning that trophy gets to keep it unless/until someone else sweeps the others. Make it a traveling trophy. If all of our programs improve, local media might get interested...especially if one school has held the trophy for several years.

None of our programs have the kind of fan support that can help us schedule quality home games, so this might at least generate a little more interest than playing the likes of Alabama State. Keeping it in the Metroplex might actually generate a little bit of interest for fans of each school to travel to the "road" sites.