Breaking CAA News

[ProudofPride]

A Charleston reporter is claiming that the CAA tournament will be moving to North Charleston after this season. If true, that would be awful for all of the northern schools in the conference.
Andrew Miller ‏@APMILLER_PandC
So, the CAA is making a "major" announcement tomorrow at the North Charleston Coliseum. Can you say conference basketball tournament.
Andrew Miller ‏@APMILLER_PandC
The CAA is in the final year of a 3-year deal to host tournament in Baltimore. You do the math.
Andrew Miller ‏@APMILLER_PandC
SOURCE: #CAA Tournament will be held at North Charleston Coliseum from 2017-2019.

[Dooku25]

Wow this is absolute insanity. Its good for 3 out of 10 schools (Charleston, Elon and UNC-W) It's not that great for JMU and W& M, and it's atrocious for Northeastern, Hofstra, Drexel, Delaware and Towson. Do they really think anyone from those 5 schools will travel to Charleston??? I don't see how they will draw more fans putting the tournament basically 100 miles from the Georgia border.

I think they need to scrap the whole 3 games in 3 days tournament at a neutral site and go to a format like the America East where the high seed hosts the championship game. What good is having a tournament at a 14,000 seat arena that will have 10,000 empty seats?? The best team in the league should be rewarded with a home game, and it would ensure a sellout. Hofstra would sellout in a heartbeat if it hosted a championship game. So would any other school. Last year's CAA championship drew 5,700 and had Northeastern and William & Mary in it. W&M had a large contingent at the Hofstra semi final game but imagine if that game was in Charleston? I guarantee there would be less Tribe fans there and there would be ZERO Northeastern fans there.

This move makes no sense.

[Jojogunne]

This makes the Richmond tournament look good.

[EvanJ]

The middle two CAA teams from north to south are Towson and James Madison, so by that logic the CAA Tournament should be where it is now, farther south in Maryland, or in northern Virginia. College of Charleston is averaging 3,046 attendance, which is second in the CAA to UNC Wilmington, but it still isn't especially great. In 2008-2009, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth, and George Mason each averaged over 6,000.

Unlike Dooku25, I like the CAA Tournament format. It's how the best conferences do it. I don't like that the America East has a 5 day break between the Semifinals on Sunday and the Final on Saturday. I also wish some of the lesser conferences (such as the America East) who have tournament finals the Saturday one day before Selection Sunday would end their tournaments during the previous midweek. From 2008-2009 through 2011-2012, the Big East Tournament had 16 teams, and the bottom eight teams would have to win five games in five days to win the tournament. I think the NCAA should limit tournaments to not making any team play more than four consecutive days. The Big East is down to 10 teams, and the ACC has the most teams with 15. Playing at different sites with days off in between could mean fewer weekend games and more time off from work or school necessary to see your favorite team play all their CAA Tournament games. If every round had games hosted by the best seed in the game, tickets would need to be sold quickly, and some schools might have to sell tickets for games they might not host like professional teams do in the playoffs. If the CAA did have every game hosted by the better seed, the CAA Tournament could be played every three days Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday, with the Sunday being the day that CAA Semifinals are now played and the Saturday being the day before Selection Sunday. In addition, fans of all the CAA schools wouldn't come together if the tournament split up.

[HofstraMathew]

Only way this would make sense if it's some sort of rotating schedule. Maybe down south one year then up north in NYC/Philadelphia th next year.

[stuball888]

Just think about this for a moment. C of C second most in attendance. The next closest school is UNCW , best attendance in the CAA. They move the tourney closest to the schools with the best attendance. No brainer. I know lets move it up north where NU and Hofstra are near the bottom in attendance. You really think no one will travel south for the tourney but will travel up north. The CAA is rewarding the teams with the best attendance. Elon is the lone low mark of the southern schools.

[ProudofPride]

Elon's attendance is low because their facility has the least capacity of all CAA schools, even less than Drexel's DAC.

Supposedly only 2 cities put in bids to host, Richmond and North Charleston. North Charleston is about 20 minutes away from Charleston, so not everything will be in walking distance like it is in Baltimore. As far as how this will affect us, NU, Drexel, and others, that's now an extra flight for the team. Fans who want to go to the tournament can no longer make it a nice weekend trip, it'll now be way more expensive. It was easy enough to hop in a car with a few people and be in Baltimore in a few hours, now it'll be a plane ride. The northern schools will also now have to pay for plane rides for the spirit support teams, or just not send them at all, meaning there would be absolutely no students. I know the 3 southern schools had this problem before, but they're the minority.

[Dooku25]

Unlike Dooku25, I like the CAA Tournament format. It's how the best conferences do it. I don't like that the America East has a 5 day break between the Semifinals on Sunday and the Final on Saturday.

Your entitled to your opinion, but HU won 2 championships under the America East format and are 0 for 14 years under the CAA format. I care first and foremost about Hofstra hoops. I don't care what the best conferences do. They are in a different stratosphere. Their rosters are deeper, their fans travel well. They can play 3 games in 3 days no problem. If the CAA is happy with their championship game last year, good for them but it's a bad format. Both teams were tired, especially W&M, who came out lethargic after playing a 2 OT game less than 24 hours before. It was a bad game and a bad representation of CAA basketball for the country to see. With a few days of rest, you'd have both teams playing at full strength with no excuses and giving everyone who was watching a chance to see how good the conference really is.

[Dooku25]

Just think about this for a moment. C of C second most in attendance. The next closest school is UNCW , best attendance in the CAA. They move the tourney closest to the schools with the best attendance. No brainer. I know lets move it up north where NU and Hofstra are near the bottom in attendance. You really think no one will travel south for the tourney but will travel up north. The CAA is rewarding the teams with the best attendance. Elon is the lone low mark of the southern schools.

I think the Nassau Coliseum would draw just as much as the North Charleston Coliseum and as much as Baltimore has for that matter..

[Dooku25]

Only way this would make sense if it's some sort of rotating schedule. Maybe down south one year then up north in NYC/Philadelphia th next year.

That makes too much sense, so it will never happen.

[Hofstra]

I love Charleston.. Have gone the last 2 out of 3 summers.. While it makes it a lot further, its always a great city to visit. Wouldn't mind heading down there for a few days every March.

[Wags]

Well this really sucks. All of those years waiting for the tourney to move from Richmond to a central location like Baltimore, with the harbor within walking distance, and when that finally happened unexpectedly, it only lasts for three years, and then moves even FARTHER south than Richmond was.

I guess three years in a row, post-Richmond, of former America East schools winning the tourney (Delaware and Northeastern) and a third being the favorite (HU, as of now) to win it was too much for the good ol' boys who run the league down south. I might be overly cynical with that, and I'm sure it's about money more than anything else, but I can't help but think that somehow, they wanted to start evening the score again for the south.

Looks like the tourney will be in North Charleston for the next three years at minimum, and could be longer after that:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/2 ... um-in-2017

I always liked the CAA even though many here didn't. Went to tourneys in Richmond, found things to do there other than the tourney, same with Baltimore; great that it was even closer to NY than Richmond. So I had always stuck up for staying in the CAA even when that wasn't popular among most HU hoops fans. But I hate this move so much, I'm finally ready to join the consensus and would like to see Hofstra find a new conference if it can.

[Flying Dutchmen]

Only way this would make sense if it's some sort of rotating schedule. Maybe down south one year then up north in NYC/Philadelphia th next year.

That makes too much sense, so it will never happen.

It does not make sense because most towns will not agree to a rotating schedule. I guess would be more ideal for us fans, but the CAA has to work with the cities as well to get these deals done, and they do not have an incredible amount of leverage, especially in Philly/Boston/NYC. Objectively, Nassau Coliseum would be a horrible site, it is too far detached from the NYC area for people coming up for the weekend who will want to see the games, and there isn't some downtown spot the fans can kill a few hours waiting for their school's game.

I'm in favor of setting up roots in one city. The more years a tournament is in one city, the more the locals embrace it and make it a special weekend in the town. Richmond was great for the tournament, even Baltimore was a lot better last year than the first year. Charleston is the perfect town in the CAA to set up roots, it's an awesome town, I had a blast there this summer, and there's plenty to do even if the weather is cooler in early March. While I understand the Coliseum is in North Charleston, there is a convocation center right next to the Coliseum that can host the fanfest. The CAA would be smart to also set something up in Downtown Charleston as well, there is a great restaurant/bar scene, that would be a relatively quick Uber, if you did not want to drive.

For us in New York, it's a flight and a car rental to get down there the right way. No doubt that starts adding up when including the hotel and tournament tickets, but after seeing the pathetic fan support in Baltimore the past two years, I personally don't think we would lose many fans. For all the years everybody complained about Richmond being too far, there were less than 10 fans not directly associated with the program in Baltimore supporting the school in '14. There were more in '15, but for the team we had, support was still very flat. The northern teams just do not draw well, substituting Charleston for Towson as host school is an immediate attendance upgrade.

This is a great opportunity for Hofstra to initiate some type of subsidized trip for the students down to Charleston via JetBlue. Maybe like 100-150 students. Maybe bring back that rewards system for showing up to all Hofstra Athletics sporting events, the 100 students with the most points through Feburary 1st have the first opportunity to go on the trip. It's an opportunity to build up the trip and fan support all year, rather than cobbling some bus trip together last minute if we have a good team.

I think this has the potential to be a win-win for the fans, and the CAA, just have to embrace it.

[Wags]

This is a great opportunity for Hofstra to initiate some type of subsidized trip for the students down to Charleston via JetBlue. Maybe like 100-150 students. Maybe bring back that rewards system for showing up to all Hofstra Athletics sporting events, the 100 students with the most points through Feburary 1st have the first opportunity to go on the trip. It's an opportunity to build up the trip and fan support all year, rather than cobbling some bus trip together last minute if we have a good team.

I love this idea for the fans, and of course, HU already has the relationship with JetBlue.

But I don't see HU willing to fly students anywhere and I don't see how moving the conference tournament from what was finally the most central location throughout the league to a place that further alienates more conference schools than we had with Richmond, within close proximity of only 3 of the 10 schools in the league is anything but an awful decision. Clearly, those that run the CAA don't care about the northern, former AE member schools in its league -- which now make up half of the CAA -- when they're supposed to be working on behalf of ALL teams in the conference.

[pridehoops2015]

This is a great opportunity for Hofstra to initiate some type of subsidized trip for the students down to Charleston via JetBlue. Maybe like 100-150 students. Maybe bring back that rewards system for showing up to all Hofstra Athletics sporting events, the 100 students with the most points through Feburary 1st have the first opportunity to go on the trip. It's an opportunity to build up the trip and fan support all year, rather than cobbling some bus trip together last minute if we have a good team.

I love this idea for the fans, and of course, HU already has the relationship with JetBlue.

But I don't see HU willing to fly students anywhere and I don't see how moving the conference tournament from what was finally the most central location throughout the league to a place that further alienates more conference schools than we had with Richmond, within close proximity of only 3 of the 10 schools in the league is anything but an awful decision. Clearly, those that run the CAA don't care about the northern, former AE member schools in its league -- which now make up half of the CAA -- when they're supposed to be working on behalf of ALL teams in the conference.

what do you mean relationship? do you all think that if our teams fly jetblue they fly for free? what world do you live in. there is no way the school pays for students to FLY to a conference tournament.

[ProudofPride]

This is a great opportunity for Hofstra to initiate some type of subsidized trip for the students down to Charleston via JetBlue. Maybe like 100-150 students. Maybe bring back that rewards system for showing up to all Hofstra Athletics sporting events, the 100 students with the most points through Feburary 1st have the first opportunity to go on the trip. It's an opportunity to build up the trip and fan support all year, rather than cobbling some bus trip together last minute if we have a good team.

I love this idea for the fans, and of course, HU already has the relationship with JetBlue.

But I don't see HU willing to fly students anywhere and I don't see how moving the conference tournament from what was finally the most central location throughout the league to a place that further alienates more conference schools than we had with Richmond, within close proximity of only 3 of the 10 schools in the league is anything but an awful decision. Clearly, those that run the CAA don't care about the northern, former AE member schools in its league -- which now make up half of the CAA -- when they're supposed to be working on behalf of ALL teams in the conference.

what do you mean relationship? do you all think that if our teams fly jetblue they fly for free? what world do you live in. there is no way the school pays for students to FLY to a conference tournament.

Go to the Charleston thread, and look at the series of tweets between JetBlue, the HofstraMBB account, and the HofstraU account. I assume that's what he means by "relationship". SGA hosts the bus trips, and they definitely do subsidize it. It's only $25 for the entire trip, including transportation, hotel, and game tickets. The only students that I know of that go completely for free are the spirit support teams. I know people on them, and they've said that the school pays for everything, including giving them per diem money. I'm not sure exactly what department pays for this though. And that may change, since it'll be way more expensive to fly them all down than it is to put them all on a bus or two. If the school markets a trip for the students correctly and offers a good price, you might get people willing to go somewhere warm. Baltimore isn't typically that much warmer than Long Island is, but Charleston certainly is warmer.


Also, the press conference with the official announcement is at 2:30 on CAA.tv

[EvanJ]

Unlike Dooku25, I like the CAA Tournament format. It's how the best conferences do it. I don't like that the America East has a 5 day break between the Semifinals on Sunday and the Final on Saturday.

Your entitled to your opinion, but HU won 2 championships under the America East format and are 0 for 14 years under the CAA format. I care first and foremost about Hofstra hoops.

Hofstra has never lost a CAA Semifinal or Final game when they were the better seed, so I'm not convinced Hofstra would have won any CAA Tournament with the America East format. In 2005-2006 when Hofstra got snubbed, do you think Hofstra would have won the CAA Final if it was at UNC Wilmington (the better seeded finalist) instead of Richmond? I don't think so.

[pridehoops2015]

Go to the Charleston thread, and look at the series of tweets between JetBlue, the HofstraMBB account, and the HofstraU account. I assume that's what he means by "relationship". SGA hosts the bus trips, and they definitely do subsidize it. It's only $25 for the entire trip, including transportation, hotel, and game tickets. The only students that I know of that go completely for free are the spirit support teams. I know people on them, and they've said that the school pays for everything, including giving them per diem money. I'm not sure exactly what department pays for this though. And that may change, since it'll be way more expensive to fly them all down than it is to put them all on a bus or two. If the school markets a trip for the students correctly and offers a good price, you might get people willing to go somewhere warm. Baltimore isn't typically that much warmer than Long Island is, but Charleston certainly is warmer.


Also, the press conference with the official announcement is at 2:30 on CAA.tv

so they tweeted at each other and now we are getting major discounts? im lost.

those were bus trips (baltimore, richmond). this is a whole different animal guys.

[HUSID80]

Doesn't anybody see what's going on here? NOBODY ELSE BID FOR THE TOURNEY....NOT BALTIMORE NOT THE NASSAU COLISEUM....THEY TOOK THE BEST DEAL THEY HAD.

[ProudofPride]

Doesn't anybody see what's going on here? NOBODY ELSE BID FOR THE TOURNEY....NOT BALTIMORE NOT THE NASSAU COLISEUM....THEY TOOK THE BEST DEAL THEY HAD.

I mentioned that earlier. It looks like North Charleston and Richmond were the only 2 bids. That doesn't say much about the conference. We all know what Richmond has to offer, and based on pictures of the North Charleston Coliseum, it isn't much (if any) nicer than the dumb that is the Richmond Coliseum. Richmond makes way more sense in terms of catering to the entire conference, but perhaps they just want to try something new for 3 years.
I also saw that the conference wants to get the women's tournament out of the horse arena that it's been in for the past several years, and bring it to campus sites.