The Big East is having a beast of a time figuring out how to continue their conference basketball tournament. In 2012-2013, the Big East will add TCU into the mix which would make the mega-conference a 17 team league. Now the conference must find a way to either make an already long tournament longer or have to let some teams stay home.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has publically stated that all 17 teams need to be at the Big East tournament in New York and they got to find a way to make it happen. I'm with him. If you are going to have 17 teams in your conference, then you let all of them into your postseason tournament.
I'm against expanding the actual NCAA tournament. But making sure EVERY Division I conference invites all its members to their postseason tournaments kind of let's EVERY team to play its way in. Even if TCU goes 0-18 in their first Big East season, they still deserve an opportunity to go to New York and try to play their way in. Yeah, that would mean the mother of all runs to get into the Big Dance, but that's the way it should be.
It also should be about the student athletes and taking them out of the conference tournament is just wrong. These kids all deserve a shot to play in New York even if their team sucks.
Conference tournament kind of feel like a wedding. You visit the baker for the cake, the tux guy for your tuxedos, your DJ for the music, the caterer for the food, the florist for the flowers, the church for the ceremony, the room for the reception and you have those meet-and-greet of all the family members in the months of planning leading up to the wedding. When that day arrives, all these people and things come together as one. A hoops conference is the same way. Everyone spends two months traveling all over the conference playing games ... which makes it cool when all those teams get together for a four or five day stretch.
To me, it's only fair. The Big East wants TCU in their conference so they can get a top flight football program and a pipeline to Texas. The least they can do is allow the Horned Frogs to compete in the Big East hoops tournament in the spring.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has publically stated that all 17 teams need to be at the Big East tournament in New York and they got to find a way to make it happen. I'm with him. If you are going to have 17 teams in your conference, then you let all of them into your postseason tournament.
I'm against expanding the actual NCAA tournament. But making sure EVERY Division I conference invites all its members to their postseason tournaments kind of let's EVERY team to play its way in. Even if TCU goes 0-18 in their first Big East season, they still deserve an opportunity to go to New York and try to play their way in. Yeah, that would mean the mother of all runs to get into the Big Dance, but that's the way it should be.
It also should be about the student athletes and taking them out of the conference tournament is just wrong. These kids all deserve a shot to play in New York even if their team sucks.
Conference tournament kind of feel like a wedding. You visit the baker for the cake, the tux guy for your tuxedos, your DJ for the music, the caterer for the food, the florist for the flowers, the church for the ceremony, the room for the reception and you have those meet-and-greet of all the family members in the months of planning leading up to the wedding. When that day arrives, all these people and things come together as one. A hoops conference is the same way. Everyone spends two months traveling all over the conference playing games ... which makes it cool when all those teams get together for a four or five day stretch.
To me, it's only fair. The Big East wants TCU in their conference so they can get a top flight football program and a pipeline to Texas. The least they can do is allow the Horned Frogs to compete in the Big East hoops tournament in the spring.
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