timmyboy wrote:

Thomas & Mack seats 19,500. BYU-UNLV had 16,000. Second round averages about 12,000. First round averages about 7,000.

The orleans seats 9,500 . . . . not quite enough for the finals . . but plenty big enough for the other rounds (they could definitely have the women's tournament there, at least they could be on a neutral floor)

craigoscarson wrote:

Honestly, while it gives UNLV a bit of an advantage;
If we ever want to be considered a preeminant hoops power, we have to win in spite of that. It's not like the conference tourney is played in the Pit or at the MC (the deck isn't as stacked in Vegas for conference teams), winning in Vegas is more than possible. Yeah it sucks that we couldn't play defense in the 2nd half or handle their perimeter defense, but we still should have won that game, regardless of where it's played.
Again, I think we should concentrate on what the team can control: coaching and production on the court. We didn't deliver that vs UNLV:

I dont' care if we were playing the "university of frozen alaskan eskimos" at the north pole; we still can't win if we don't execute and play our game. We had a 12 point lead when we played our game and then we forgot how for the 2nd half.

Agree, we didn't perform. Maybe we should concentrate on humiliating UNLV everytime we play them on their court. That way they will beg the MWC to move it elsewhere because of embarrassment and lack of UNLV fans showing up.

craigoscarson wrote:

Honestly, while it gives UNLV a bit of an advantage;
If we ever want to be considered a preeminant hoops power, we have to win in spite of that.

This is the whole point!!!! We shouldn't have to win "in spite" of some advantage that the conference has granted to UNLV in the name of selling a few more beers. This is the conference tournament, not some meaningless pre-season invitational. The results of this tournament have a major impact on seeding in the NCAA tournament (even though the selection committee denies it). Sure, it's not impossible to beat UNLV on their home court, but why should it have to be an uphill battle for everyone that they play? What has UNLV done to earn home court throughout the tournament...every year.

For those, like UNLV's A.D., who don't believe there is a home court advantage, lets look at how things played out in conference this year.

BYU-------- Home: 8-0 Road: 6-2
UNLV------- Home: 8-0 Road: 4-4
UNM-------- Home: 6-2 Road: 5-3
SDSU------- Home: 6-2 Road: 5-3
AFA-------- Home: 5-3 Road: 3-5
uu--------- Home: 5-3 Road: 2-6
TCU-------- Home: 5-3 Road: 1-7
UW--------- Home: 3-5 Road: 2-6
CSU-------- Home: 0-8 Road: 0-8

Conf. Winning Percentage--- Home: .639 Road: .389


Only two teams in conference have losing records at home in conference. CSU lost all of their games, home and away, and Wyoming although bad, was slightly better at home. The numbers don't lie, and it's embarrassing that the MWC chooses to ignore them so they can make a little more money.

BTW...I've been complaining about this for as long as they have been having the tourney down there, not just since UNLV has been winning it.

imuakahuku wrote:

harlinestillopen wrote:

Hengst wrote:

stuckinbig10country wrote:

Below are a list of reasons why the tournament has to stay in Las Vegas.

1. There are only 2 destination cities in the conference area at the end of Winter: Las Vegas and San Diego. The San Diego arena does not allow alcohol sales because it is on campus. The Thomas & Mack is an off-campus facility and thus allows alcohol sales. Let's remember that the conference tournaments are to make the leagues money, not to crown a champion.

2. The MWC tried it in Denver. No fans came.

3. The WAC tried it in Salt Lake City. No fans came. (Beginning to see a pattern?)

4. The WAC tried alternating sites for the tournament, not based on which team won the conference, it was just determined at the beginning of the year. Again, hard to get fans to go to Laramie, Provo, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, etc. Also, those cities would have a problem holding the fans if they came (hotels, restaurants, etc).

5. UNLV winning the tournament is actually pretty new. They didn't win it regularly when it was there before in both the MWC and WAC (I guess part of the time they were on probation, but still).

6. The coaches wanted it back in Vegas after 3 years in Denver. They must like something about Vegas.

Sure, there are a ton of reasons that the tournament could be held somewhere else, but quite frankly Vegas is the best spot for what the conference needs the tournament for: to increase cash flow.

Las vegas just needs an NBA team so that they can have it on a neutral floor.

I'm not sure that it being on a neutral floor changes anything. It'd still be 75% UNLV fans

Of course it matters. When you are used to a gym you have an advantage. There should not be a playing advantage given to any of the teams. Having more fans than everyone else is bad enough. Getting to play on the floor that you have been practising on for 8 months (and in some cases four years), is a decided advantage. You "know" the rims, the floor etc. If it wasn't such an advantage then explain why BYU has a 47 game home win streak but have lost seven games this year? They are 72-25 over the past three years with only one of the 25 losses coming at home. Play on a neutral court in LV if you have to, but make it a neutral court. The fans will still help UNLV but at least they will be out of their locker room, off their floor, and out of that comfort zone.

I agree with the fact that home court makes a difference. I don't remember which year, but not to long ago (2002 maybe?) BYU went 7-7 in Conference play. They were 7-0 at home, and 0-7 on the road. How does the same team beat every team in the conference on their home court, and lose to every team in the conference on the other team's court if there is not a huge advantage to the home court.

Why would the MWC care where the tournament is if they can sell out an arena? In years where Air Force, CSU, and Wyoming don't completely suck, I think SLC should be an excellent venue. UNM's fans travel well, UNLV fans travel okay, and so does SDSU's fan. I can't imagine that the tournament in Vegas leads to much more $ for the conference than a SLC tournament would. Unless, of course, the conference has other financial incentives from the LV visitor's and convention bureau or elsewhere.

BYUtx wrote:

Why would the MWC care where the tournament is if they can sell out an arena? In years where Air Force, CSU, and Wyoming don't completely suck, I think SLC should be an excellent venue. UNM's fans travel well, UNLV fans travel okay, and so does SDSU's fan. I can't imagine that the tournament in Vegas leads to much more $ for the conference than a SLC tournament would. Unless, of course, the conference has other financial incentives from the LV visitor's and convention bureau or elsewhere.

Actually it turns out that Governor Spitzer is a big MWC conference fan and Las Vegas is very convenient for him.....