Next Year's Mens Basketball Schedule

At tonight's Coaches Caravan....Coach JJ mentioned that we need to fill 4-5 more games to complete the schedule. As we know....we go to TTech, and host LSU. I believe he said that we're playing @ Texas.

Vito's latest blog entry says we play at Texas on November 29th. I know that's right about when the Month Of Doom is in full swing for NT03, but I'll be traveling down there with somebody.

Vito's latest blog entry says we play at Texas on November 29th. I know that's right about when the Month Of Doom is in full swing for NT03, but I'll be traveling down there with somebody.

any idea on when the @tech game will take place? i'd definitely make the trip if it's not M-Th.

any idea on when the @tech game will take place? i'd definitely make the trip if it's not M-Th.

I believe he said the Tech game is November 16....and the LSU home game is Dec. 22.

My burning question is whether or not we get to play WKy at home this year or not.

I believe he said the Tech game is November 16....and the LSU home game is Dec. 22.

curses!

Too early to start planning for the Hot Springs trip??

Too early to start planning for the Hot Springs trip??

Never.

My burning question is whether or not we get to play WKy at home this year or not.

Stupid question. Of course we're going to WKU.

Never.

You doing the house again?

You doing the house again?

We may be doing two. One for couples, one for guys traveling solo. Makes it easier to get wives/girlfriends to come along for the trip, without cramping anyone's style.

Nobody actually complained, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. But in the interest of marital harmony and everyone having the good time they expected when they made the trip... I'm thinking it's best to have one house set aside for conversations about feelings and rainbows and Food Network, while the other can talk sports non-stop.

Everyone wins that way. And I'm expecting a lot of out-of-town turnout from people wanting to see Tony Mitchell play in person, so we might not have been able to find a big enough house for everyone, anyway.

Okay.

I may send you a significant deposit this summer, if only to spur me to make every reasonable effort to go next march.

We may be doing two. One for couples, one for guys traveling solo. Makes it easier to get wives/girlfriends to come along for the trip, without cramping anyone's style.

Nobody actually complained, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. But in the interest of marital harmony and everyone having the good time they expected when they made the trip... I'm thinking it's best to have one house set aside for conversations about feelings and rainbows and Food Network, while the other can talk sports non-stop.

Everyone wins that way. And I'm expecting a lot of out-of-town turnout from people wanting to see Tony Mitchell play in person, so we might not have been able to find a big enough house for everyone, anyway.

I would like to "throw my name" into the bucket for the singles house as well. Even if I come with the gf she can talk sports all day and actually throws up when she hears terms like "rainbows" "feelings" "girly" and so on.

I would like to "throw my name" into the bucket for the singles house as well. Even if I come with the gf she can talk sports all day and actually throws up when she hears terms like "rainbows" "feelings" "girly" and so on.

I'll see you at the next Admin's Dark Cabal. After the ritual sacrifice, we'll talk business.

For anyone else interested in sharing a house for Hot Springs next year... Just let me know you're thinking about it. As long as I have some level of personal familiarity with you so that I know you aren't an axe murderer, and you don't have some sort of violent blood feud with anyone from previous years that already plans on returning... There shouldn't be any problem helping you find a swanky and economical place to stay. Last year it was $140 per person, and that covered all four nights.

What I've done in past years is track properties through the fall, then talk with interested folks after Christmas/New Year's and book a place in January. Anyone who thinks they want to make the trip and get in on a house rental, just let me know over PM, email, or by stopping by the tailgate at a football game.

UTEP, Wichita State, SMU, TCU, and Creighton would be my wish list.

Someday soon, some corporate sponsor should organize a "DFW Invitational Tournament" of sorts with UNT, TCU, SMU, and UTA. Perhaps ESPN would pick it up, and it would be a great showcase for recruiting. Travel expenses for the teams and fans would be minimal, encouraging participation.

Someday soon, some corporate sponsor should organize a "DFW Invitational Tournament" of sorts with UNT, TCU, SMU, and UTA. Perhaps ESPN would pick it up, and it would be a great showcase for recruiting. Travel expenses for the teams and fans would be minimal, encouraging participation.

yes.... espn would pick up..... (rolls eyes) Maybe when we get in with tech ut and tamu

Someday soon, some corporate sponsor should organize a "DFW Invitational Tournament" of sorts with UNT, TCU, SMU, and UTA. Perhaps ESPN would pick it up, and it would be a great showcase for recruiting. Travel expenses for the teams and fans would be minimal, encouraging participation.

ESPN, for the most part, only "picks up" the Multi-Team Events that they co-own.

A lot of the "____ Classic" events that you may see in the fall and early winter on the ESPN/2/U channels are MTEs that ESPN sponsors and co-owns alongside a low-major conference or a geographically fortuitous college.

Per NCAA regulations, ESPN can't just stage a regular season college tournament of their own, at least not without consequences and penalties for the participating schools. MTEs have to be sponsored by an NCAA member school or conference. So, 4-5 years ago, ESPN started entering partnerships with cash-strapped schools and conferences to backdoor their way into one more chokehold on "amateur" sports.

For example: The "76 Classic" in Anaheim. And it's "classic" in the sense that anything with a 4 year history can be. ESPN owns a chunk of it, and since they own it, they prioritize televising it. Guaranteed TV exposure is a big part of why next year's event reads like a who's who of major conference representation: ACC (Boston College), Big 12 (Oklahoma), Big East (Villanova), Pac 10 (Washington State. And, of course, the mighty basketball powerhouse that is UC-Riverside.

Because UCR is a Big West team, and as far as the NCAA is concerned, the 76 Classic is a Big West event. There's always a Big West team in the field.

Guaranteed TV exposure helps land a title sponsor (76) that, in most cases, covers a lot of the operating and broadcast expenses right off the top. And look who else is sponsoring! It's the City of Anaheim and some local tourist destinations (shops, hotel, etc.). No local sponsorship? Well, maybe ESPN will send the marquee teams and their traveling fan bases to the Old Spice Classic in Orlando! There, the MAAC conference hosts the "classic", at a venue that ESPN owns and operates!

ESPN would never, ever go near a Metroplex tournament. For one, they've already got more than enough to satisfy their programming needs. And if they didn't they'd just find a willing/desperate school or conference to hand over broadcast rights and revenue control in exchange for table scraps. Second, it's not likely many people as far as Waco will care much to watch a televised game between any combination of the 4 Metroplex teams, to say nothing of the broadcast appeal in Seattle or Miami. Even if it were an 8 team event, AND all the other 4 schools were marketable... There aren't many broadcast friendly games out of the whole.

There are also other NCAA regulations in place that make it very hard to get even a regional or local broadcast viable. Teams are only allowed to participate in one exempt (meaning, doesn't count against your maximum allowable regular season games the same way that a normal non-conference game would) MTE per year. A team that isn't sponsoring the event can't use the same MTE as an exempt tournament more than once every (if I remember the rule correctly) either 3 or 4 years. There are some, very few, exceptions where teams co-sponsor an event... But they are relatively rare and most of them have long histories (renewing rather than approving, from the NCAA perspective).

North Texas could apply to sponsor an exempt MTE, but it would require either an outside group to handle most of the work (sort of an ESPN surrogate) or an additional event-dedicated staff. It's not the sort of effort you could just throw on top of the current staff's workpile. Every year would be a major financial risk for whoever had the ultimate bottom line responsibility. It would have to be primarily a labor of love for a company that was willing to work tirelessly throughout the year and risk significant financial loss with relatively minimal profit potential.

ok... or you could go with that really long answer... either way.... no

I thought it was because SMU and TCU are scared of us.

That was in reply to why ESPN would not broadcast the tournament... and its not just us but why would espn broadcast UTA or SMU...? Where is the market for that game outside of the dfw area? TCU might garner some interest since they jumped ship to the big boy conference for basketball. That tournament would be the easiest part of their schedule and they would still lose

Someday soon, some corporate sponsor should organize a "DFW Invitational Tournament" of sorts with UNT, TCU, SMU, and UTA. Perhaps ESPN would pick it up, and it would be a great showcase for recruiting. Travel expenses for the teams and fans would be minimal, encouraging participation.

I think that would be a great idea - it would pick up local interest in all the programs- they could rotate the tournament every year from school to school

I think that would be a great idea - it would pick up local interest in all the programs- they could rotate the tournament every year from school to school

This idea has been talked about for years and years... but TCU moving to the Big East and well the UMS being stubborn as usual it will not get done.... and ESPN? They would have no viewership for it