Valley leaving St Louis????

[rlh04d]

Is there any evidence that St. Louis was soliciting the SEC tournament before the announcement of the SEC tournament being held in St. Louis?

[valleychamp]

Is there any evidence that St. Louis was soliciting the SEC tournament before the announcement of the SEC tournament being held in St. Louis?

Nope. Therefore (DJA logic), it didn't happen. It just magically appeared yesterday through the grace if God (also a BJ fan obviously).

[siufan4life]

They would have done the same thing whether or not Creighton left for the Big East. I think I saw a move like this coming from the SEC due to the failures of their tournaments in Nashville, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Let me remind all of you the SEC is a FOOTBALL conference and could care less about basketball. I am pretty sure most people would rather see an MVC game then Auburn vs Mississippi State.

[m-v-c]

After Wichita State wins the National Championship next season, Scotttrade may have to turn people away in the future.

I think a lot of fans here are downplaying the loss of CU and the effect of that on Arch Madness. Drop out 6K fans, their ticket sales, their hotel room and meal revenues, their shopping dollars, and the value of Arch Madness to St. Louis is reduced by about 1/3.

I quoted the message above because, while it was meant as an insult, it is actually pretty close to the best thing the tourney has to attract new ticket sales next year. If WSU is looking good going into Arch Madness, their F4 run last year will attract a lot of local fans to the venue, even though those people are not fans of any Valley school.

There are a lot of basketball fans who might want to watch a previous year's F4 team if that team is looking at 30+ wins going into NCAA tourney play. That's the only hope for replacing even a small fraction of the fans lost with CU's departure.

I don't think people are underestimating the loss of Creighton. But the Jays leaving isn't the biggest issue with attendance for Arch Madness. The biggest issue is simply that the conference overall has to get better.

Seems people forgot rather quickly that this tourney was selling out the semifinals not that long ago. And it wasn't because Creighton was sending 15,000 fans to the games, it was because the conference was stronger and deeper than it is right now. More good teams=more interested fans=more likely to travel=more people at Arch Madness. It's that simple. If anything, considering how relatively close it is to St. Louis and how its fans turned out when it was a consistent MVC contender, might say that SIU getting its program back at or near the top again will just about replace those CU fans. And if Bradley, Ill. St., MSU or even UNI can get back to competing for NCAA tourney bids...CU's fan base won't be replaced easily, but it certainly can be done.

Less worrying about what the MVC doesn't have. More focus on improving what it does have.

[Redbird Recon]

If anything, considering how relatively close it is to St. Louis and how its fans turned out when it was a consistent MVC contender, might say that SIU getting its program back at or near the top again will just about replace those CU fans. And if Bradley, Ill. St., MSU or even UNI can get back to competing for NCAA tourney bids...CU's fan base won't be replaced easily, but it certainly can be done.

MVC fan A: "I could see the Illinois schools finishing 7-10."
MVC fan B: "Yeah... I could see that."
MVC fan C: "Wouldn't shock me..."

Bad for business.

[Lou_Valley]

They league tournament is leaving St. Louis about the time Saint Louis University will be "on the market"?

Coincidence?