• Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.

Missouri Valley Conference announces change to Arch Madness

Does anyone actually think that a Belmont team who got blown out last March in their opening game by Drake
would have done any better if they got a bye all the way to Saturday? They weren't ready to play - and even if they were handed
a pass to the NCAA Tourney, I suspect they'd have been crushed in their first round game by a Big Ten 7th place team or
an SEC 9th place team.
 
Maybe only 3 positives I see in this - just focusing on the men's side...
1) Taking out the 11th team...not a huge +, but...

2) Playing for that elusive #2 seed the last 2-3 weeks of the Valley season is gonna be HUGE!
That's 2 fewer games for the top 2 seeds - gigantic advantage!

3) The biggest plus IMO - Puts a LOT more stock in the reg season for sure bc you have a REAL good shot to make the tilte game as 1-2 seed, making it all the more possible to get to the Big Dance - arguably the biggest highlight for any college player.

A lot more cons that pros tho...horrible mistake I feel! Interest is gonna go down for sure in this format.. and then throwing the women in the mix.

Geez - Doug Elgin days were great!
 
Last edited:
OK-I get having the womens tournament in St Louis. Why all at one site ? Play the first two rounds of womens at another facility in St Louis-SLU, Wash U, UMSL, Maryville, Family Arena in St Charles. There are probably others. I would think renting those for 2 days would be cheaper than Enterprise Center for an additional day. They are smaller but the crowd for the women on Wed will be tiny in Enterprise Center so a smaller venue wouldn’t be bad. You could continue with last years structure and still have all 11 teams in. Combine all in Enterprise for Sat and Sunday. Continue to play Women’s first two rounds on Wed/Thursday. The biggest hassle might be for the Valley to operate 2 venues on Thursday. Tough but I would think enlisting additional help from the Schools could make that work. Let’s be honest the womens attendance would likely be 1000 people max at the alternate venue. Can you tell I hate this ?

I also wonder with this structure if you might actually add to attendance rather than decrease it.
 
houstonbrave said:
OK-I get having the womens tournament in St Louis. Why all at one site ? Play the first two rounds of womens at another facility in St Louis-SLU, Wash U, UMSL, Maryville, Family Arena in St Charles. There are probably others. I would think renting those for 2 days would be cheaper than Enterprise Center for an additional day. They are smaller but the crowd for the women on Wed will be tiny in Enterprise Center so a smaller venue wouldn’t be bad. You could continue with last years structure and still have all 11 teams in. Combine all in Enterprise for Sat and Sunday. Continue to play Women’s first two rounds on Wed/Thursday. The biggest hassle might be for the Valley to operate 2 venues on Thursday. Tough but I would think enlisting additional help from the Schools could make that work. Let’s be honest the womens attendance would likely be 1000 people max at the alternate venue. Can you tell I hate this ?

I also wonder with this structure if you might actually add to attendance rather than decrease it.
Click to expand...
I'm okay with a format that would have four games Saturday and two Sunday, men's and women's. That's actually pretty cool. But how we get there is just a mess.
 
Any idea yet how this impacts ticket sales? In particular all session packages? Separate packages for men’s and women’s? Or one higher priced package that includes both?
 
Maybe I missed it.. but have they said if they are doing men’s sessions, then women’s sessions on Friday and Saturday…. I really hope the sessions aren’t a men’s and women’s game in each session.
I have ZERO interest in watching the women’s game during the MVC tourney… I really wouldn’t even want to go back to ballpark village and watch the screen there… as the outcome does not even effect the men’s team
 
As I think about it (and God knows I have been thinking about it) this reminds me of Glasser not knowing or caring about our history. I’m not sure Jackson knows or cares about our history or our fans. Yes I am mad.
 
Dubl R 1 said:
Maybe I missed it.. but have they said if they are doing men’s sessions, then women’s sessions on Friday and Saturday…. I really hope the sessions aren’t a men’s and women’s game in each session.
I have ZERO interest in watching the women’s game during the MVC tourney… I really wouldn’t even want to go back to ballpark village and watch the screen there… as the outcome does not even effect the men’s team
Click to expand...
Let me modify this.. I would have some interest in BU’s women’s team, but if they aren’t involved my interest returns to zero if not lower than zero
 
A few days ago, I made it clear I am not a fan of the Men's format change (post #4 on the 1st page).
I am equally not a fan of the merging of the men's and women's tournaments into a totally new incarnation of Arch Madness.
Arch Madness has, for many years, been the envy of every other mid-major conference tournament, and by every measure has been highly successful, well attended, and the tournament, the venue, and the entire experience has been loved by fans.
IMO, it is a shame the commissioner and whoever else was involved, felt a need fix what was not broken, and go further by by overhauling the entire tournament experience. Jeff Jackson stated that these changes "enhance" Arch Madness, and improves the MVC chances of getting multiple NCAAT bids. I don't buy that.

I have withheld my comments until now, to gauge what everyone here thought, and to talk to other fans and season ticket holders, including a couple other fans who attended women's games.
I have not found anyone who likes these changes, or who thought this "enhances" Arch Madness (Jeff Jackson's own term).
I have lost faith in the MVC leadership. This would never have happened under Doug Elgin.
 
Further confirmation from the Drake AD:

There was a committee put together and it consisted of a few ADs, women's representation and one head coach. Their priority was to protect the top 2 seeds with the goal of getting the best teams in the NCAA tournament to get more units for NCAA wins.

Their priority is maximizing every last dollar.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2069228915365691781
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top