Omaha Permanent Site for B1G Tourney?

[Mavric]

The attendance for the tournament is roughly five times the previous record. I would think it would get a long look.

But there is an interesting article in the OWH about a possible hangup - Creighton and the Big East Tournament.

When the 2015 tourney went to Minneapolis a few years ago, Omaha wasn’t available. The Missouri Valley tournament was scheduled to return to TDA next spring.


The Valley’s not coming. But what about the Big East?

When the Big Ten tourney goes back to bid beginning in 2016, NU wants to go for multiple years, said Associate Athletic Director Butch Hug.

But Creighton baseball coach Ed Servais told me earlier this spring that CU wants the Big East tourney to come to TDA, the Jays’ home field. Servais said Big East coaches have told him they want their tourney to come to the home of the College World Series.

What do Big East athletic directors want? And would they lock into sending their baseball teams — all four of them — to Omaha every spring?

Better question: What does MECA want?

The landlord of TDA could have a couple of suitors knocking on the door. MECA likes the color blue; it’s a partner with Creighton. MECA also likes the color green.

 

[Mavric]

The four teams that qualified for this year's Big East baseball tournament are Creighton, St. John's, Seton Hall, Xavier. The other schools in the conference that play baseball are Butler, Georgetown and Villanova.

I can't imagine St. John's, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Villanova bringing enough fans to fill a section. Xavier and Butler wouldn't be much better. So the question is, how many Creighton fans would show up for a six game tournament?

 

[Omaha-Husker]

I think Indy could get a shot considering the rise of IU baseball. They have a nice 15K seat minor league stadium.

I would avoid MLB stadiums like the plague if I were up to me. Who in their right mind would go to a B1G baseball game in a MLB city when you can see the pros play 81 other days of the year?

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I think Columbus has a decent AAA stadium, but they don't get the attendance that TDA does.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

So what if Creighton and the Big East want to come to TDA for 2015? MECA might show some loyalty to Creighton over Huskers, given TDA is the Jays' homefield, but the Huskers could host at Werner Park.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

So what if Creighton and the Big East want to come to TDA for 2015? MECA might show some loyalty to Creighton over Huskers, given TDA is the Jays' homefield, but the Huskers could host at Werner Park.

IMO there is a huge difference between TDA and Werner Park. TDA has the CWS feel, downtown Omaha, and the bar scene around it. I am sure Werner Park is nice, but it's Sarpy County.

 

[BOJ]

I think Columbus has a decent AAA stadium, but they don't get the attendance that TDA does.

They do have a pretty nice park downtown that was built a few years ago, I think they held the tourney there a couple times prior to Nebraska coming in (and may have held it there once after Nebraska had joined--Huntington Park). It is central, but I think the biggest issue is its not home to the CWS (among other things, such as Nebraska's turnout for baseball, which I think is great; fantastic that the championship game set a record for all conference championship games).

On a side note; the nice thing about the baseball tourney, like the basketball tourney, is it doesn't have to be centrally located like the football championship. The league can take advantage of our "west coast" for baseball b/c several teams make the tourney and it doesn't (for the most part) come down to the last two weeks to know if your team is going, whereas football has the obvious disadvantage--only two teams make it.

 

[PaulCrewe]

I think Indy could get a shot considering the rise of IU baseball. They have a nice 15K seat minor league stadium.

I would avoid MLB stadiums like the plague if I were up to me. Who in their right mind would go to a B1G baseball game in a MLB city when you can see the pros play 81 other days of the year?

Biggest thing going against Indy is the tourney is up against the Indy 500

 

[hskrfan4life]

I think Indy could get a shot considering the rise of IU baseball. They have a nice 15K seat minor league stadium.

I would avoid MLB stadiums like the plague if I were up to me. Who in their right mind would go to a B1G baseball game in a MLB city when you can see the pros play 81 other days of the year?

Biggest thing going against Indy is the tourney is up against the Indy 500

They would have to see if they could make it different weekends.

 

[wildman]

I would love to see the tournament in Omaha every year. Plus think it would be smart as it's the home of the college world series. Which could be a huge recruiting tool for the coaches. But the issue with it hosted here every year is the equality to every team. The Big 10 keeps everything even and fair for all teams, which I think is great. Because of that I don't see it ever being in one location every year.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

Overall it would definitely help the conference out nationally. I think a brewing rivalry between IU and NU is only going to make the conference better as well.

 

[VectorVictor]

Overall it would definitely help the conference out nationally. I think a brewing rivalry between IU and NU is only going to make the conference better as well.

Agreed. But for right now, the B1G needs butts in seats showing they have a worthwhile product in baseball.

Once there's regularly three to four teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, then the conference can afford to worry about fair. Right now, they have to worry about relevance--blowing the doors off their attendance record helps with that.

 

[hskrfan4life]

Overall it would definitely help the conference out nationally. I think a brewing rivalry between IU and NU is only going to make the conference better as well.

Agreed. But for right now, the B1G needs butts in seats showing they have a worthwhile product in baseball.

Once there's regularly three to four teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, then the conference can afford to worry about fair. Right now, they have to worry about relevance--blowing the doors off their attendance record helps with that.

Exactly the coaches even said they would prefer this scene at TD instead of playing somewhere else and in front of 100 or so fans.