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Empty Regionals?

As long as campus sites cannot be bid for regionals, the only two solutions <to the attendance issue> I see are:
  1. Add more time between conference tourneys and the first round, so fans from further away have more time to make travel arrangements. I’m not sure how much of an impact an extra week would have, but it’s more than 3-4 days.
  2. Start using geography when seeding regionals, to the likely detriment of “PWR integrity”.
Both solutions introduce additional challenges (timelines and teams getting rusty with the added week and imbalanced/unfair seeds, respectively).

But most other solutions involve doing something coaches and admins won’t go for (“home” sites), or logistical problems (teams holding arenas open after doing so for conference tournaments, last second TV/officials/etc logistics, etc).

Those problems don’t exist for Women’s basketball or mens lacrosse, but those sports also involve cheaper facilities, larger attendance figures, higher TV ratings, and/or neutral venues in conference tournaments. All of those factors work against the cost/benefit analysis of doing it for hockey.
 
I was struck by that exact same quote. Heaven forbid better teams get an advantage (beyond the fact that the NCAA has already expanded the tourney past 8, then 12, then 16 to give less-qualified teams a chance).

Edit: And let's look past the contradiction with the position that a team like UNH can host a tourney (back when they finished above 8th place in HE) and the NCAA then affirmatively attempts to place them in the "home/host" game.
 
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Are you saying the NCAA is not willing to give an advantage to one that's earned it by play (season, PWR) but is willing to give an advantage to a host (a.k.a. one that guarantees money to the NCAA up front) school.

The NCAA put money ahead of student-athlete achievement? Whodathunkit.



*Disclaimer: Yes, UND has benefitted from being a host school while also a regional 3 or 4 seed.
 
Not having games at ridiculous game times like Noon and 3:00PM on a workday / school day would be a good start at helping attendance woes.
 
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You think if campus sites are allowed the NCAA will allow Minnesota State to host in its 4800 seat arena? Or Quinnipiac's 3100 seats? Heaven forbid Arizona State does well enough to host. Or do you think the regionals might end up at Mariucci, Yost and the ̶N̶a̶z̶i̶ ̶D̶o̶m̶e̶ Ralph?
 
I like the late 70s NHL first round best-of-3 format.

Game #1 at home of lower seed
Travel day
Game #2 at home of higher seed
Game #3 at home of higher seed if necessary

Both teams get an NCAA tournament game in their own barn. Higher seed gets the advantage of home ice for a potential game 3. Get the NCAA to reduce the distance for flights to 350-400 miles, you'll make that back with the gate in full buildings.
 
Half the games all year are played at home... or on the road.....keep it that way until you get to the Frozen Four. I would much rather watch a game from a campus rink...... but let's not bring back total goal series.
 
John J. MacInnes said:
I like the late 70s NHL first round best-of-3 format.

Game #1 at home of lower seed
Travel day
Game #2 at home of higher seed
Game #3 at home of higher seed if necessary

Both teams get an NCAA tournament game in their own barn. Higher seed gets the advantage of home ice for a potential game 3. Get the NCAA to reduce the distance for flights to 350-400 miles, you'll make that back with the gate in full buildings.
Click to expand...

Horrible idea to let the lower seed go first. Also this would not work unless the teams are matched up geographically. You want Mankato to fly to Boston and play Harvard then both teams fly the next day to Mankato? Awful idea. Not to mention the lower seed would get a travel-weary higher seed at home in the first game, then get to play a second game against that same team that's just flown twice in three days.
 
John J. MacInnes said:
I like the late 70s NHL first round best-of-3 format.

Game #1 at home of lower seed
Travel day
Game #2 at home of higher seed
Game #3 at home of higher seed if necessary

Both teams get an NCAA tournament game in their own barn. Higher seed gets the advantage of home ice for a potential game 3. Get the NCAA to reduce the distance for flights to 350-400 miles, you'll make that back with the gate in full buildings.
Click to expand...

So Lowell on Thursday and Denver on Saturday. Boston on Wednesday and Mankato on Friday. St Cloud on Wednesday, Hamden on Friday. Amherst on Thursday and Minneapolis on Saturday.

​​​​​​Could work. That's definitely better for the student athletes.
 
ticapnews said:
You think if campus sites are allowed the NCAA will allow Minnesota State to host in its 4800 seat arena? Or Quinnipiac's 3100 seats? Heaven forbid Arizona State does well enough to host. Or do you think the regionals might end up at Mariucci, Yost and the ̶N̶a̶z̶i̶ ̶D̶o̶m̶e̶ Ralph?
Click to expand...

According to the official figures, Kato-Harvard attendance was 2345. QU-SCSU attendance was 2155. Those games would have had much bigger crowds if played in Mankato and Hamden.
 
brassbonanza said:
Horrible idea to let the lower seed go first. Also this would not work unless the teams are matched up geographically. You want Mankato to fly to Boston and play Harvard then both teams fly the next day to Mankato? Awful idea. Not to mention the lower seed would get a travel-weary higher seed at home in the first game, then get to play a second game against that same team that's just flown twice in three days.
Click to expand...

Agree this idea is no good.... it would have to be one game at the higher seeds location.

If they were to do this, they would likely have to spread out the field of 16 and field of 8 over two weekends.
 
Go back to best-of-3 on campus of higher seed and make NCAA's a three consecutive weekend tourney (ala Late-70's until 1992 when neutral site format introduced) leading up to Frozen Four! 2nd weekend you'll be going up against Men's hoops Final Four but on- campus hockey tourney will fill the barn Hoops be damned! If you want to "tweak" things a little bit maybe have lower seed be "home" team for Game 2 (Last line change).

Knew the neutral site format was a horrible idea when I attended in Detroit in 1992 and Joe Louis Arena wasn't even three quarters full despite Michigan and Northern Michigan being there! Hell, if Wisconsin hadn't been there (They brought most support) no one would have attended!

Won't happen I know and this will be the same topic year after year after year after year.......................

And Noon start times on a Friday?!?.....How about nooooooooooo!
 
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The games need to be played where the hockey fans are. What is so hard about having a reginal in Minnesota or western state, MI/WI/OH, Upstate NY/Western New England, and one in New England? Worst case, you get a few hundred non-college hockey fans who love watching hockey. Keep the teams geographically located as much as possible. If a school isn't known for traveling, send them to the other side of the hockey world to balance things out an make it known that is why they are being sent out there. Put it on the schools fans to show up and give them incentive to.

Who cares about home ice advantage. It is winner moves on. Full bias rinks are better than silence. I would much rather watch a game in a smaller, full venue with an active crowd, than an empty one any day. To get the NCAAs, a team should be able to be completive on the road.
 
Some good suggestions, some not so good.
Regardless, the NCAA has already announced the regional sites through 2026. So as long as they and ESPN hold “all the cards”, nothing is going to change.
 
ticapnews said:
You think if campus sites are allowed the NCAA will allow Minnesota State to host in its 4800 seat arena? Or Quinnipiac's 3100 seats? Heaven forbid Arizona State does well enough to host.
Click to expand...

purpleinnebraska said:
According to the official figures, Kato-Harvard attendance was 2345. QU-SCSU attendance was 2155. Those games would have had much bigger crowds if played in Mankato and Hamden.
Click to expand...

I think, as does purpleinNE, Mankato and Q in their home rinks would beat those neutral site numbers. If a school, for revenue or fans, would want to declare an "alternate" (larger) home rink for NCAA playoff games, make the provision in the rule. That provision solves the ASU "practice rink seating" problem.

My plan? If you finish the regular season in the top eight of PWR, you get home ice in a best of three. The eight winners are reseeded and the best four PWR (regular season only) get home ice again for best of three. Last four go Frozen Four.
 
The real problem is that the NCAA doesn't think it's a problem because they don't care about the fans or the athletes, they only care about $$. And, right now, the system in place gets them their $$.

As far as 3 weekends - no. Just no.

As far as #1 seeds host the regionals - 'great idea', but there are too many possibilities where there are insufficient locker rooms and ice time for 4 teams.

My own pet peeve about the process is that the reason that on campus sites are forbidden is that Mariucci, Yost and the Ralph end up packed every time. Somehow, that's 'not fair', but it is fair in the east where, for example, Providence has twice advanced to the FF in a regional in their home town, with all the support, but since it wasn't 'on campus', that makes it different. How, exactly?

Or, a year where UND is host at Fargo.....that's a home rink. It's an hour down the road in easy traffic. The place will be packed with Hawk (Sioux) fans. How is that actually different than hosting at the Ralph? It's not.

If they opened the matter back up to on campus sites, it would be better.

But, still not great. When the attendance is about 2500-3000, that's a sign something is wrong.
 
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