media power

[citygriz]

as of tonight, saturday, there's not a single team left in the big dance from either the pacific or mountain time zones. you could say this is just a "down year" for the entire left third of the country, but i think a better explanation is tv exposure. kids want to go where they play on tv and watch highlights on espn, and that's tough to achieve when "far west" games start so late back east. gonzaga is a national power because they've managed to get on national tv. problem is, "down years" tend to intensify the lack of exposure. (wait--do we ever refer to them as the "far east"? would we get more exposure if the bsc became the empire conference? or the dim sum conference?)

at least the bb team is getting more exposure on egriz. can the zoo be far behind?

 

[AZGrizFan]

As someone mentioned in another thread, basketball is an urban sport. There's a lot more "urban" east of the Mississippi. The shear numbers of kids would dictate that in ANY year the # of east teams >> the # of western teams...When Arizona and UCLA struggle, it seems like there's noone else to really pick up the torch out west.

 

[Grizzoola]

as of tonight, saturday, there's not a single team left in the big dance from either the pacific or mountain time zones.

I noticed this, too & have lost interest in the NCAAs. The only teams I can think of in the past, where they went either all the way or to at least the Final Four are UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga, and UNLV. I may have left out one or two teams. Now, Colorado is the BB heavy in the Pacific. CU's BB teams have always seemed to perform better than the CU FB teams. Looks like New Mexico is the best BB rep. in the MWC. Gonzaga still holds true to form. I don't know when the last BSC team got beyond the 1st round.

In addition to what AZ says, I suggest that more emphasis on FB in the west may have something to do with the decline of NCAA challengers in BB.

 

[UNDfan]

as of tonight, saturday, there's not a single team left in the big dance from either the pacific or mountain time zones. you could say this is just a "down year" for the entire left third of the country, but i think a better explanation is tv exposure. kids want to go where they play on tv and watch highlights on espn, and that's tough to achieve when "far west" games start so late back east. gonzaga is a national power because they've managed to get on national tv. problem is, "down years" tend to intensify the lack of exposure. (wait--do we ever refer to them as the "far east"? would we get more exposure if the bsc became the empire conference? or the dim sum conference?)

at least the bb team is getting more exposure on egriz. can the zoo be far behind?

So, if the Big Sky adds a Central Time Zone school, then the Big Sky will improve?

Guess what, UND is in Central Time. :mrgreen:

 

[AllWeatherFan]

It's mostly a numbers game. There just aren't many programs out west. Also, Washington getting excluded didn't help, even though the PAC 12 was down this year.

Where has UCLA gone?

 

[Griz Man]

As someone mentioned in another thread, basketball is an urban sport. There's a lot more "urban" east of the Mississippi.

This is it. I was once told by a friend who moved from MT to IN that even the pickup games out there are intense. He got schooled. It was like sending an American kid to take math in China.

 

[wbtfg]

As someone mentioned in another thread, basketball is an urban sport. There's a lot more "urban" east of the Mississippi.

This is it. I was once told by a friend who moved from MT to IN that even the pickup games out there are intense. He got schooled. It was like sending an American kid to take math in China.

Urban or not, basketball is a way of life in Indiana. Like football in texas

 

[George Ferguson]

Washington deserved an at-large bid. Not saying the Huskies would have fared any better than any of the other western teams in the dance but they got screwed in not at least getting in.

Also, Arizona lost Mo Mo Jones to Iona because he wanted to be closer to an ailing family member. He was granted a waiver by the NCAA to not even have to sit out this season which I thought was one of the cfew COOL things the NCAA has done in a while. Had Mo Mo stayed at Arizona, the Cats would have been pretty damn good this year.