Ugly Tournament

[soconjohn]

I only pull for schools that have football...Sorry if that "Bucs" the trend, but get a dadgum football program UNCG....sheesh

[Fessor]

The Wofford - UNCG may not have been pretty but it was entertaining and went down to the final shot.

[apaladin]

The Wofford - UNCG may not have been pretty but it was entertaining and went down to the final shot.

Only the last 10 seconds was entertaining when WC missed 3 shots.

[apaladin]

Why was the finals game on at 9pm?

I mean, ESPN 2 or not, but that seems like a super late start.

Pretty disappointing that we only got the one game on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET when other, smaller conferences had semis on ESPNU and a better time slot on ESPN or ESPN2. As great as ESPN3 is, I still would prefer to see games on an ESPNU, and I'm assuming the ratings would show that I'm not in the minority on that.

Since you brought it up it is not just tournament time. Conferences like the Big South,Horizon, Atlantic Sun, NEC, and other small conferences have games on actual ESPN channels(ESPNU, ESPN2 etc) throughout the year. The SoCon had exactly zero!!! Imamoron and his crew are absolutely awful You never hear from them because they don;t d anything.

[fufanatic]

Why was the finals game on at 9pm?

I mean, ESPN 2 or not, but that seems like a super late start.

Pretty disappointing that we only got the one game on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET when other, smaller conferences had semis on ESPNU and a better time slot on ESPN or ESPN2. As great as ESPN3 is, I still would prefer to see games on an ESPNU, and I'm assuming the ratings would show that I'm not in the minority on that.

Since you brought it up it is not just tournament time. Conferences like the Big South,Horizon, Atlantic Sun, NEC, and other small conferences have games on actual ESPN channels(ESPNU, ESPN2 etc) throughout the year. The SoCon had exactly zero!!! Imamoron and his crew are absolutely awful You never hear from them because they don;t d anything.

Certainly is bizarre. I don't understand the business parts of it, but how could those conferences get games on during the year but the SoCon can't? I can't imagine those conferences are paying ESPN for that coverage but who knows. The SoCon should do everything they can to get a few games on a year. I always said Furman should volunteer for that 6 a.m. or 8 a.m. game if ESPN brings back the 24 hours of basketball coverage again. It would absolutely be awful for people that had to work it, but I bet that's one game you could get students out for crazy enough. Come in your pajamas, free breakfast, get on TV, have a DJ. Those small schools are always rocking for it. Plus gets the team and program on national TV.

[The Jackal]

Why was the finals game on at 9pm?

I mean, ESPN 2 or not, but that seems like a super late start.

Pretty disappointing that we only got the one game on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET when other, smaller conferences had semis on ESPNU and a better time slot on ESPN or ESPN2. As great as ESPN3 is, I still would prefer to see games on an ESPNU, and I'm assuming the ratings would show that I'm not in the minority on that.

Since you brought it up it is not just tournament time. Conferences like the Big South,Horizon, Atlantic Sun, NEC, and other small conferences have games on actual ESPN channels(ESPNU, ESPN2 etc) throughout the year. The SoCon had exactly zero!!! Imamoron and his crew are absolutely awful You never hear from them because they don;t d anything.

Had not realized that. Of course, I watch exactly zero-non Furman college basketball, so I don't know who plays when. Not exactly their target market.

[silentbob]

As for the "ugly" tournament, it's called defense people. It's why a team that scored 90 points nine times this year preaches it. Wes Miller - the worst coach in the SoCon for many years - finally got that concept and his team is in the NCAA Tournament now.

As for Furman not caring about attendance at home or the tournament. In this day and age of putting every game for free on a live stream, what exactly should Furman do? They've hired people that have produced some of the winningest teams in school history. Those coaches have recruited great players who are greater men who represent Furman in a first-class way. They consistently do some kind of giveaways for students, who - except for fellow student-athletes - routinely don't show up.
Not much can be done about the fact that Greenville easily has more offerings for things to do than every other SoCon city (with the exception of possibly Charleston and have you seen Citadel's attendance lately)? Nor can Furman really do anything about the apathy of WYFF and the Greenville News.

As for TV game coverage, it think it flips each year between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. starts. What smaller conferences had their semifinals on ESPNU? Genuinely curious here as I wasn't aware. I think the West Coast Conference had their semis televised on some non-streamed version of ESPN, but that league is miles ahead of the SoCon in stature with Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU.

[DungeonRealm]

As for the "ugly" tournament, it's called defense people. It's why a team that scored 90 points nine times this year preaches it. Wes Miller - the worst coach in the SoCon for many years - finally got that concept and his team is in the NCAA Tournament now.

As for Furman not caring about attendance at home or the tournament. In this day and age of putting every game for free on a live stream, what exactly should Furman do? They've hired people that have produced some of the winningest teams in school history. Those coaches have recruited great players who are greater men who represent Furman in a first-class way. They consistently do some kind of giveaways for students, who - except for fellow student-athletes - routinely don't show up.
Not much can be done about the fact that Greenville easily has more offerings for things to do than every other SoCon city (with the exception of possibly Charleston and have you seen Citadel's attendance lately)? Nor can Furman really do anything about the apathy of WYFF and the Greenville News.

As for TV game coverage, it think it flips each year between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. starts. What smaller conferences had their semifinals on ESPNU? Genuinely curious here as I wasn't aware. I think the West Coast Conference had their semis televised on some non-streamed version of ESPN, but that league is miles ahead of the SoCon in stature with Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU.

-

[soconjohn]

Furman brought an arena on campus because there was a belief that more students would attend...Build another arena downtown...When Furman played at the auditorium, it had good attendance no matter what...I have no problems with Timmons Arena, but I do have a problem with only a few games a year being well attended.

[fufanatic]

What smaller conferences had their semifinals on ESPNU? Genuinely curious here as I wasn't aware. I think the West Coast Conference had their semis televised on some non-streamed version of ESPN, but that league is miles ahead of the SoCon in stature with Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU.

It's really hard to find TV listings after the fact without going conference website by conference website (I'm too lazy to search every single one), but the one that stood out was the Horizon League, which I would consider lower than the SoCon and a definite low-major.

http://horizonleague.org/tournaments/?id=2

They had the two men's semis on ESPNU and the women's final on ESPNU. That's three extra games than most of the other small conferences.

[apaladin]

I only pull for schools that have football...Sorry if that "Bucs" the trend, but get a dadgum football program UNCG....sheesh

Sadly UNCG got the baseball bid also and is the favorite to get it again this year.

[FU69]

Why was the finals game on at 9pm?

I mean, ESPN 2 or not, but that seems like a super late start.

Pretty disappointing that we only got the one game on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET when other, smaller conferences had semis on ESPNU and a better time slot on ESPN or ESPN2. As great as ESPN3 is, I still would prefer to see games on an ESPNU, and I'm assuming the ratings would show that I'm not in the minority on that.

Since you brought it up it is not just tournament time. Conferences like the Big South,Horizon, Atlantic Sun, NEC, and other small conferences have games on actual ESPN channels(ESPNU, ESPN2 etc) throughout the year. The SoCon had exactly zero!!! Imamoron and his crew are absolutely awful You never hear from them because they don;t d anything.

Certainly is bizarre. I don't understand the business parts of it, but how could those conferences get games on during the year but the SoCon can't? I can't imagine those conferences are paying ESPN for that coverage but who knows. The SoCon should do everything they can to get a few games on a year. I always said Furman should volunteer for that 6 a.m. or 8 a.m. game if ESPN brings back the 24 hours of basketball coverage again. It would absolutely be awful for people that had to work it, but I bet that's one game you could get students out for crazy enough. Come in your pajamas, free breakfast, get on TV, have a DJ. Those small schools are always rocking for it. Plus gets the team and program on national TV.

Remember, a 9 pm game is 6,7,8 pm in most of the rest of the US except Alaska and Hawaii. More exposure likely in parts of country that NEVER see any SoCon game or team.