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Evansville officially submitted a bid with the NCAA to host the "First Four" round of the men's basketball tournament from 2019 through 2022. The other cities are Dayton, OH; Hershey, PA; and Detroit, MI. The NCAA will announce finalists for the event on Oct. 26 and reveal the winner on Dec. 7.

http://www.courierpress.com/story/news/ ... /89904516/

Would love to see the City of Evansville get it but several things work against them.

1) Stadium size - seats 10K vs Dayton 13K

2) Not the easiest place to get to unless you charter a flight and some of the First Four Teams might not want to spend the funds for a charter thus would be looking at flying into StL, Louisville or Nashville and busing into Evansville.

Still like the effort in trying - I do think they will have an excellent shot at the D2 though due to past history hosting the event.

UEACES80 wrote:Would to see the City of Evansville get it but several things work against them.

1) Stadium size - seats 10K vs Dayton 13K

The difference in capacity may be less if the Ford Center can be configured to seat 11,000. When it was announced that Evansville would host a NBA exhibition game next month between the Pacers and Bucks; it was mentioned that the Pacers required any arena they use outside of Indianapolis to have a capacity of 11,000 or more. I'm not sure how this is accomplished but apparently it can be done - i.e. possible alternate floor configuration?

http://www.courierpress.com/story/sport ... /88957034/


2) Not the easiest place to get to unless you charter a flight and some of the First Four Teams might not want to spend the funds for a charter thus would be looking at flying into StL, Louisville or Nashville and busing into Evansville.

My hope would be that if the Elite Eight Div 2 teams can make it to Evansville for their tournament that it wouldn't be an issue for the D1 teams either. I presume that they all use charter flights if they are traveling any distance.


Still like the effort in trying - I do think they will have an excellent shot at the D2 though due to past history hosting the event.

It makes sense to me that the NCAA would consider rotating the "First Four" location amongst several venues as they do with the rest of the tournament. If they decided to do that our chances of hosting would be much greater. Fingers crossed!

WSU should try to be Host for either 1st-2nd round or even the next set, They have the stadium to hold the crowds for both. Even Loyola could go for them also.

acepurple84 wrote:WSU should try to be Host for either 1st-2nd round or even the next set, They have the stadium to hold the crowds for both. Even Loyola could go for them also.

Wichita is hosting the first and second rounds in 2018 at Intrust Bank Arena. Though WSU isn't eligible to play there as the host school.

The history at Dayton, not just First Four but long before of being a host that draws well will work against anyone trying to host. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider breaking the two days apart and hosting Tuesday at one venue and Wednesday at another? If that happens I could see Evansville getting a chance due to the history with the D-II championship in the 50s-60s-70s, as well the recent success in hosting the Elite Eight in back to back years. Also being rather centrally located vs being on a can't be a bad thing either as the winners go off to their next destination.

If I recall, the NCAA handles all travel for tournaments so charter flights shouldn't be an issue. The travel can create a headache as Wichita saw last year with the game times the NCAA chose for them. Cer tainly not an excuse but playing the early Saturday game, after playing late games on both Tuesday and Thursday certainly did them no favors at all.

Evansville Sports Corp is being pretty aggressive bidding on this, the D-II Elite Eight, as well as D-I Cross Country Regionals and D-II Cross Country National Championship. If nothing else by compiling these bids and getting feedback it can only help the region and the chances of landing something similar. It seems the Women's Tournament has their regionals in some hotbeds for women's basketball more times than not, but I think Ford Center would be a good sized venue for the Women's Tournament Regionals if they ever tried to bid on it.

Drake/Des moines has put in a bid to host first round games in upcoming years. Iowa State was the host school in 2016, but I think they don't want to be involved again since it precludes them from playing what would essentially be a home game in Des Moines.

UEACES80 wrote:Would to see the City of Evansville get it but several things work against them.

1) Stadium size - seats 10K vs Dayton 13K

2) Not the easiest place to get to unless you charter a flight and some of the First Four Teams might not want to spend the funds for a charter thus would be looking at flying into StL, Louisville or Nashville and busing into Evansville.

Still like the effort in trying - I do think they will have an excellent shot at the D2 though due to past history hosting the event.

I don't think flying into Evansville would really be an issue. It's not as though Dayton is a major hub. Most teams have to charter with the relatively short notice anyhow.

The stadium size could be an issue though. Isn't one end of the Ford Center expandable?

Dean Wormer wrote:

UEACES80 wrote:Would to see the City of Evansville get it but several things work against them.

1) Stadium size - seats 10K vs Dayton 13K

2) Not the easiest place to get to unless you charter a flight and some of the First Four Teams might not want to spend the funds for a charter thus would be looking at flying into StL, Louisville or Nashville and busing into Evansville.

Still like the effort in trying - I do think they will have an excellent shot at the D2 though due to past history hosting the event.

I don't think flying into Evansville would really be an issue. It's not as though Dayton is a major hub. Most teams have to charter with the relatively short notice anyhow.

The stadium size could be an issue though. Isn't one end of the Ford Center expandable?

I thought that at one time in the beginning of the Ford Center, something was said to the effect that they could expand to 11,000 for basketball. I don't know how, or if it's really possible. Even if true, it wouldn't get to Dayton's level. It's a real long shot, and I don't see it happening. It's all about money these days.

I don't see capacity being a huge issue, as long as it's in the 9-10K range or above. I think the NCAA just wants it to look good on television.

They certainly let the 1st-2nd Round and Regional sites vary wildly when it comes to capacity.