TU wins the CBI !!!

[TUalum0982]

They beat Bradley last night 7-64 in front of 8400 people.  I am happy for the Golden Hurricane but must ask a question to all of you.  Is there really any reason to prove who the 98th best college basketball team is in the country? that is essentially all that was done.  You have the NCAA tourney which has 64-65 teams, whichever you want to look at it and then the NIT tourney has 32 teams.  

What is the reason for having a 3rd tourney for college basketball teams who couldn't make it into the 2 other well known tournaments? To my knowledge these games werent broadcast on TV I wouldn't think advertising, and money would be the reasons.  

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

They beat Bradley last night 7-64 in front of 8400 people.  I am happy for the Golden Hurricane but must ask a question to all of you.  Is there really any reason to prove who the 98th best college basketball team is in the country? that is essentially all that was done.  You have the NCAA tourney which has 64-65 teams, whichever you want to look at it and then the NIT tourney has 32 teams.  

What is the reason for having a 3rd tourney for college basketball teams who couldn't make it into the 2 other well known tournaments? To my knowledge these games werent broadcast on TV I wouldn't think advertising, and money would be the reasons.  

because even losers need to feel like they are winners.

[Breadburner]

I would not be crowing to much about this.....

[cannon_fodder]

1) If you think Tulsa or even Bradley or Houston is the 98th best team in the country (how cliche, I assume you were shouting #65 when we won the NIT) you clearly have not watched any college basketball in the last 2 months.  

By RPI all the teams Tulsa played in the CBI were > than 98th.   By RPI Tulsa would be the ~70th best team - but RPI reflects the entire season.  And Tulsa sucked for the first half without question (Bradley was short 3 starters for most the season too).  At the moment, I'd stack us up against anyone but the top 25, even with our meager 7 man roster.

So essentially, no... that's not what was done.

2) Do you complain about bowl games to prove who is in the top half of the country?  50% of teams play in football bowl games, even with the CBI only 1/3 college basketball teams played.  So we should probably cull 14 bowl games so only the top 25% go to post season.  But is that the top 25% by conference champ, opinion poll, record?  Usually it would mean 2 or 3 teams outside the BCS Conferences would go to bowls... that would be good for college athletics.

3) The NCAA has auto bid teams that clearly have no business playing there.  The NIT has consolation auto bids for "winners" of the regular season that lost their tournaments and weren't good enough to get into the NCAA.  Many of those teams would not have gotten an at large birth anywhere, but took up space nonetheless.

Thus, the CBI's teams approximate the number screwed out of the NIT by auto bids in the NCAA (bumping teams down) and regular season champs.  Thus, these teams would have probably made the NIT but for the please everyone rules.  And 7 teams ranks LOWER than Tulsa did make it in to the NIT and several more into the NCAA.

Not to mention a BCS school at 500 can get into the NCAA tournament but UAB 24-11 is left out.  So the CBI serves as an alternative to the have nots.

4) The games were televised,  thanks for noticing.

5) The NIT used to be the Big Dance.  The NCAA tournament was a sponsored event that was insignificant until they bought the NIT and made it their little *****.  So knocking a tournament in its first year is a bit premature.

6) The reason for having the tournament is the same as any other commercial venture, because there is a demand for it.  People want to see good basketball games - and if they were at the Reynolds Center for any of the CBI games that is exactly what they got.  Over the last few weeks more than 35,000 Oklahoman's got to see college basketball in Tulsa.

There are 3 teams in the country that end the year with a win.  Tulsa is one of them.  The best part the two "stars" of the team will be back for 2 more years.  I'll see you there.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

1) If you think Tulsa or even Bradley or Houston is the 98th best team in the country (how cliche, I assume you were shouting #65 when we won the NIT) you clearly have not watched any college basketball in the last 2 months.  

By RPI all the teams Tulsa played in the CBI were > than 98th.   By RPI Tulsa would be the ~70th best team - but RPI reflects the entire season.  And Tulsa sucked for the first half without question (Bradley was short 3 starters for most the season too).  At the moment, I'd stack us up against anyone but the top 25, even with our meager 7 man roster.

So essentially, no... that's not what was done.

2) Do you complain about bowl games to prove who is in the top half of the country?  50% of teams play in football bowl games, even with the CBI only 1/3 college basketball teams played.  So we should probably cull 14 bowl games so only the top 25% go to post season.  But is that the top 25% by conference champ, opinion poll, record?  Usually it would mean 2 or 3 teams outside the BCS Conferences would go to bowls... that would be good for college athletics.

3) The NCAA has auto bid teams that clearly have no business playing there.  The NIT has consolation auto bids for "winners" of the regular season that lost their tournaments and weren't good enough to get into the NCAA.  Many of those teams would not have gotten an at large birth anywhere, but took up space nonetheless.

Thus, the CBI's teams approximate the number screwed out of the NIT by auto bids in the NCAA (bumping teams down) and regular season champs.  Thus, these teams would have probably made the NIT but for the please everyone rules.  And 7 teams ranks LOWER than Tulsa did make it in to the NIT and several more into the NCAA.

Not to mention a BCS school at 500 can get into the NCAA tournament but UAB 24-11 is left out.  So the CBI serves as an alternative to the have nots.

4) The games were televised,  thanks for noticing.

5) The NIT used to be the Big Dance.  The NCAA tournament was a sponsored event that was insignificant until they bought the NIT and made it their little *****.  So knocking a tournament in its first year is a bit premature.

6) The reason for having the tournament is the same as any other commercial venture, because there is a demand for it.  People want to see good basketball games - and if they were at the Reynolds Center for any of the CBI games that is exactly what they got.  Over the last few weeks more than 35,000 Oklahoman's got to see college basketball in Tulsa.

There are 3 teams in the country that end the year with a win.  Tulsa is one of them.  The best part the two "stars" of the team will be back for 2 more years.  I'll see you there.

CF, I wasn't trying to get under anyone's skin, but Tulsa clearly was not the caliber team this year to make it into the NCAA tournament or the NIT.  You can't compare college football bowl games to the NCAA tournament, NIT or CBI for one well known reason.  Each college bowl game is tied to a sponsor, who pays to advertise their name, etc.  They also bring in TONS of revenue for the city that is hosting that bowl game.  You are comparing Apples to Oranges.  

I am not trying to sit here and compare who should have or shouldn't have gotten into the tourney, but IMO to have this type of tournament with "subpar" teams who went .500 in their own conference with 4 teams in the conference going under .500 is a bit much.  Maybe its because I am not a huge basketball fan or maybe its because I am too busy watching the other two touranments, who knows.  

I looked on my DTV guide and did not ever see any games listed for this CBI tournament.  If they were on TV, I must have overlooked them.

Once again, I am not trying to piss anyone off or make anyone mad, I didn't know if there were financial reasons behind this tournament, etc because like you mentioned, it is in it's first year.  

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

They beat Bradley last night 7-64 in front of 8400 people.  I am happy for the Golden Hurricane but must ask a question to all of you.  Is there really any reason to prove who the 98th best college basketball team is in the country? that is essentially all that was done.  You have the NCAA tourney which has 64-65 teams, whichever you want to look at it and then the NIT tourney has 32 teams.  

What is the reason for having a 3rd tourney for college basketball teams who couldn't make it into the 2 other well known tournaments? To my knowledge these games werent broadcast on TV I wouldn't think advertising, and money would be the reasons.  

because even losers need to feel like they are winners.

What championships has Arkansas won this year?

[USRufnex]

"University of Tulsa basketball team... you've just won the CBI tourney over a Bradley team that finished tied for 5th place in the Missouri Valley with a 9-9 record... what ru gonna do now???"

"We're going to Disneywuuuuhhh... er, uh.... cough, cough... Branson, maybe?!?"  [:O]

Oh, and Arkansas got big wins over top 25 teams Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee... will the CBI title be Tulsa's springboard to a deep run in the NIT next year?... better yet, why should I care?  

[TheTed]

TU better send the CBI organizers a nice thank you gift for that reseeding job. The remaining teams were reseeded before the semis.

TU got home court advantage over Bradley in the finals even though Bradley was a one seed in their bracket and TU was a two.

There's no way TU wins this thing if they didn't have the home court advantage in the finals. They got dominated in the one game at Bradley and won two close games at home over the Braves.

Regardless of any of that, this tournament definitely raises TU's expectations for next year. I hope the excitement is back. And I hope TU schedules some non-conference teams that are worth the price of admission.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

They beat Bradley last night 7-64 in front of 8400 people.  I am happy for the Golden Hurricane but must ask a question to all of you.  Is there really any reason to prove who the 98th best college basketball team is in the country? that is essentially all that was done.  You have the NCAA tourney which has 64-65 teams, whichever you want to look at it and then the NIT tourney has 32 teams.  

What is the reason for having a 3rd tourney for college basketball teams who couldn't make it into the 2 other well known tournaments? To my knowledge these games werent broadcast on TV I wouldn't think advertising, and money would be the reasons.  

because even losers need to feel like they are winners.

What championships has Arkansas won this year?

what does this have to do with Arkansas?[?]

[Conan71]

Sure, this is a third rate series.  Shame TU wasn't in a better position at the end of the season to be in the NIT or NCAA.

No, this isn't a major nor memorable event in college hoops history.  Hopefully this is a springboard to a better season next year.  The extra revenue certainly didn't hurt TU.

[cannon_fodder]

TU Alum, no hard feelings.  Just us Tulsa fans feel like we have been snubbed.  We ended the season on a very strong note - winning 15 of our last 19 games.   TWO of those losses to Memphis with similar or better margins than the "big boys" in the NCAA tournament posted (so 17/19 but for the NCAA champion).

quote: but Tulsa clearly was not the caliber team this year to make it into the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

That just is not accurate.  We had a higher RPI than 3 or 4 teams in the NIT, we were certainly on a better run than a few other teams (who were good and slid at the end of the year), AND had more wins as well as a better conference record than several teams.  Our NIT resume was strong and we probably would have been in given our history but for the automatic bids.

Finally, if finances make everything OK - then rest assured Tulsa did OK.

I'm happy Tulsa got to play into April, I'm happy hordes of fans showed up to make it a great atmosphere, and I'm happy we ended the season with a pair of trophies (C-USA runner up to MEMPHIS, without whom we would be in the NCAA).

Now lets have Memphis wrap up the NCAA Championship and C-USA will have taken home 2 of the 3 post season trophies.  Remember how everyone was making fun of C-USA when Memphis rolled through everyone by 10+?  Ask Michigan State, UCLA, and everyone BUT Tennessee how that feels.

[AVERAGE JOE]

Over 200 Division I college basketball teams did not get invited to a post-season tournament.

TU was invited to a post-season tournament along with 15 other teams. TU won the tournament. The other 15 teams didn't.

Thousands of fans attended the games that TU hosted during the tournament, including an over-capacity, standing-room-only crowd of 8,400+ for the final game.

This is something to denigrate?

[MDepr2007]

TU promised at least $60,000 but I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with getting invited []

[Renaissance]

People who don't understand why this is a big deal for Tulsa don't understand college basketball at the mid-major level.  Leave them be.  I'm excited for next year!

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by MDepr2007

TU promised at least $60,000 but I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with getting invited []

The NIT costs money too.  Tulsa broke even or made a little on the CBI.  The teams that came here to play had their expensive covered.  So in most cases both schools broke even, in some cases the home team came out slightly ahead.

Even the big boys in the NIT lost money.  Generally each game costs $30,000 with no hope of a revenue stream (CBI you can make money).  The University of Florida will lose $130,000 this year for their efforts in the NIT.  
http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/SPORTS/804020414/1010/RSS07

Add ESPN, ticket sales, and concessions in the NIT all going to the owner (NCAA) and the $60K paid to the CBI is a pittance (especially considering they pay more for travel).  If their is a tournament that is raking in money at the expense of college programs, look at the NIT.