Oh you poor kids. I'm going to have to pay $42 to park at the TD Garden tonight. $42!!!! Argh.
I read through this thread on my commute home tonight enjoying the back and forth. As a somewhat disinterested third party, indulge me for a few minutes as I think you both have some valid points.
First off - I will be really curious to see what the crowd is tonight for the UM-MSU game. I believe the regular season game that was played there back in late January/early February was sold out, was it not? Based on that, you should see a similar crowd. I don't care if it was advertised or not. You have to know when your teams are playing, that they're playing in the playoffs and you go. Disappointing that there were so few Michigan fans there. Shame on the school itself for not pushing it more, especially since you have no conflict with basketball.
Second - Minnesota fans. How many Minnesota fans traveled to Detroit? Why on earth, if you are a die hard Gopher fan, would you stay home in Minnesota to watch teams that you don't root for? I get the lack of funds/lack of time off issue. I do. But you cannot use the "our high school hockey tournament draws eleventy billion people" as a reason. I thought fans of these big midwest schools travel really well. I was at the NCAA Regional in St. Paul and was amazed at how many North Dakota fans there were. And don't use the "they're the next state over" excuse. It's not a quick ride.
The biggest issue with your tournament I see is the three days. Because fan bases need to travel, it's difficult to plan for time off and flights when you need to plan for three nights of games, and then if you lose the first night, you're stuck there. Especially if you have a flight. It seems like all B1G schools had bye weeks at some point during the season, so tighten up the schedule to shorten it by a week. Have teams 3-6 play a 2 of 3 series on campus sites with 1 and 2 getting a week bye. Then have the 2 winners that played and teams 1 and 2 play a regular semi/finals tournament on a Friday Saturday in a place like JLA or the X or wherever like everyone else.
I think it will stay this way till more school become a part of your conference and you can make the playoffs a little more normal (for lack of a better term).
