Nadine asks Medved about hanging the 1997 banners and playing St. Thomas

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Agree with Shush Push and many others, let’s play St Thomas. This game must by played at the Barn and the atmosphere would be crazy!!
Also, hang the Banner! Make a great night of it by bringing the players and coaches back.
Thanks Nadine for asking these questions.
 

BleedGopher said:
Please no. I am in the camp that neutral site games have hurt non-conference CBB.

Play a 2 for 1 over 4 years...two games at The Barn, 1 game at St. Thomas' new arena.

Keep CBB out of NBA arenas.

Go Gophers!!
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100%, Bleed. No interest in playing St. Thomas at a neutral site. A 2 for 1 is the way to go at least initially. Play it by ear after that. I suspect UST would be agreeable to that. I don't expect Niko to schedule the Tommies in Year 1, but I'd bet he & Tauer will come up with something starting in 2026-27 season. First meeting absolutely needs to be at The Barn.
 
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golfing18now said:
Not to be wet blanket guy, but why do people care so much about playing St. Thomas?

Doesn't seem to be much upside to me except for those of you that have a connection to St. Thomas.
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Team played Omaha this year
So the upside is it’s the same type of game with more fan interest?


Is fan interest good to have?
 

SelectionSunday said:
100%, Bleed. No interest in playing St. Thomas at a neutral site. 2 for 1 is the way to go. I suspect UST would be agreeable to that. I don't expect Niko to schedule the Tommies in Year 1, but I'd bet he & Tauer will come up with something starting in 2026-27 season.
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2 for one with the one being neutral maybe
 


Didn't Gophers hockey play a home and home with St Thomas this year? St Thomas chose the X as their home site-- I think the Gophers stayed with Mariucci.
until St Thomas gets to a better conference or the Summit gets alot better- 3 home and 1 away should be the most the Gophers would need to do without making it a pay game
 

disco said:
Beat me to it.
There's a legit chance they make an NCAA tourney before the Gophers next do.
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I will take that bet.

I also dont see why the atmosphere will be all that crazy. I dont think anybody really cares all that much about St. Thomas. Maybe one day they will, but it isnt like they are a rival in any sport or have some sort of hatred for each other. Its not like anyone would care if we played Hamline.
 

BleedGopher said:
Please no. I am in the camp that neutral site games have hurt non-conference CBB.

Play a 2 for 1 over 4 years...two games at The Barn, 1 game at St. Thomas' new arena.

Keep CBB out of NBA arenas.

Go Gophers!!
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I'm not sure why the Gophers would or should play an away game at UST. Bring them to the Barn every year.

If and when UST joins the Big East, perhaps mix in a neutral site game but there's no need to be playing in their minor league arena.
 

Minnesconsin fan said:
Didn't Gophers hockey play a home and home with St Thomas this year? St Thomas chose the X as their home site-- I think the Gophers stayed with Mariucci.
until St Thomas gets to a better conference or the Summit gets alot better- 3 home and 1 away should be the most the Gophers would need to do without making it a pay game
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Yes they did...and it barely moved the needle.
 



Dave H said:
I will take that bet.

I also dont see why the atmosphere will be all that crazy. I dont think anybody really cares all that much about St. Thomas. Maybe one day they will, but it isnt like they are a rival in any sport or have some sort of hatred for each other. Its not like anyone would care if we played Hamline.
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Saint Thomas can turn out their fans for a big game. They and Saint John's packed Target Field for a Division III football game.
 

golfing18now said:
Not to be wet blanket guy, but why do people care so much about playing St. Thomas?

Doesn't seem to be much upside to me except for those of you that have a connection to St. Thomas.
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This. SOOOOOOOOO MUCH THIS.
 


golfing18now said:
Not to be wet blanket guy, but why do people care so much about playing St. Thomas?

Doesn't seem to be much upside to me except for those of you that have a connection to St. Thomas.
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I'm not sure why Gopher fans are so reluctant to play good regional teams, in any sport. The upside? Fan interest. There's precious little "casual" fan interest in U of M athletics. But if UST came to the barn? I think you'd see a lot more curiosity. You could throw in the Dakota schools, too. The last time I was at the barn for a MBB (formerly my favorite athletic team at any level of sport)? My alma mater was the opponent. If we are afraid of taking a loss against low to mid mid-major programs, then that's a terrible indictment on the state of UofM athletics and there is absolutely no reason for a casual fan to show up in Dinkytown.
 



Minnesconsin fan said:
Didn't Gophers hockey play a home and home with St Thomas this year? St Thomas chose the X as their home site-- I think the Gophers stayed with Mariucci.
until St Thomas gets to a better conference or the Summit gets alot better- 3 home and 1 away should be the most the Gophers would need to do without making it a pay game
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I wouldn’t do it anything but a pay game
But could do it a 2 and 1 and the 1 is a neutral with a split gate or something
 


swede2 said:
I'm not sure why Gopher fans are so reluctant to play good regional teams, in any sport. The upside? Fan interest. There's precious little "casual" fan interest in U of M athletics. But if UST came to the barn? I think you'd see a lot more curiosity. You could throw in the Dakota schools, too. The last time I was at the barn for a MBB (formerly my favorite athletic team at any level of sport)? My alma mater was the opponent. If we are afraid of taking a loss against low to mid mid-major programs, then that's a terrible indictment on the state of UofM athletics and there is absolutely no reason for a casual fan to show up in Dinkytown.
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Team lacking interest scoffs at opportunity to increase local interest
 


gopher watcher said:
Saint Thomas can turn out their fans for a big game. They and Saint John's packed Target Field for a Division III football game.
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Right...a heated rival that goes back decades and is played every year. Not exactly the same thing.

Their stadiums are small for a reason.

I am not against playing St. Thomas, but lets not pretend they have a huge Q rating in the Twin Cities. I would bet the average person doesn't even know where St. Thomas is.
 

MissouriGopher said:
You think a team that struggles to fill up a <2,000 seat arena will outdraw the gophers who have a built in advantage with season tickets? Get real.
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They're a wealthy private school whose fan base is primarily local and who donate to and support their alma mater. They won't out draw the Gophers, but they'll draw a lot.

And you can't compare basketball and hockey. I've said it many times, college hockey is a niche sport. People here don't realize or want to admit that.
 

disco said:
Beat me to it.
There's a legit chance they make an
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Dave H said:
Right...a heated rival that goes back decades and is played every year. Not exactly the same thing.

Their stadiums are small for a reason.

I am not against playing St. Thomas, but lets not pretend they have a huge Q rating in the Twin Cities. I would bet the average person doesn't even know where St. Thomas is.
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There must be some interest. The Big Neighbor was broadcasting Tommie FB games when they were still DIII and at least some of their MBB games were on broadcast television this year. My assumption is after they move out of the middle school gym into their new arena, there'll be an initial buzz before attendance settles at some around, and probably less than, 2,000 people per game, with bumps on the weekend if and when the Tommies are competitive and an xDSU is in town, presumably also towards the top of the standings. But that doesn't mean their fans won't be jazzed for the first couple of trips to the Barn and show out.
 

swede2 said:
I'm not sure why Gopher fans are so reluctant to play good regional teams, in any sport. The upside? Fan interest. There's precious little "casual" fan interest in U of M athletics. But if UST came to the barn? I think you'd see a lot more curiosity. You could throw in the Dakota schools, too. The last time I was at the barn for a MBB (formerly my favorite athletic team at any level of sport)? My alma mater was the opponent. If we are afraid of taking a loss against low to mid mid-major programs, then that's a terrible indictment on the state of UofM athletics and there is absolutely no reason for a casual fan to show up in Dinkytown.
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Doesn't Duluth come to the Barn a lot?

Do you really think the average fan who doesn't care about Gopher Athletics or St. Thomas Athletics is going to say "You know...let's go to Williams Arena Thursday the Tommies are playing the Gophers!"? That doesn't pass the smell test for me.

If you want to argue that over time that could happen I can get behind that thought. It will take many years but I could see it. But in the near term I highly doubt it even if the media pumps it up. They try that with hockey and honestly the only ones who care are the ones who already care.

The problem I have is I watch the hockey team do stuff like this and to me it makes the game stale. I am fine with replacing a mediocre opponent with a local mediocre opponent (mediocre it terms of metrics not a shot at St. Thomas) but the constant need to do it every year is boring. I would rather just get rid of the lower rung opponent and sharpen the team with steel. (this years hockey team could have used less St. Thomas and more upper echelon teams) But if we are intent on playing the Glen Mason preseason, I would be fine replacing Louisiana Monroe with St. Thomas.

Lets be realistic about this though...there isn't enough interest to make this a "must have" game...not yet.
 

disco said:
They're a wealthy private school whose fan base is primarily local and who donate to and support their alma mater. They won't out draw the Gophers, but they'll draw a lot.

And you can't compare basketball and hockey. I've said it many times, college hockey is a niche sport. People here don't realize or want to admit that.
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I used to get yelled at for saying that. :(
 

Dave H said:
Doesn't Duluth come to the Barn a lot?

Do you really think the average fan who doesn't care about Gopher Athletics or St. Thomas Athletics is going to say "You know...let's go to Williams Arena Thursday the Tommies are playing the Gophers!"? That doesn't pass the smell test for me.

If you want to argue that over time that could happen I can get behind that thought. It will take many years but I could see it. But in the near term I highly doubt it even if the media pumps it up. They try that with hockey and honestly the only ones who care are the ones who already care.

The problem I have is I watch the hockey team do stuff like this and to me it makes the game stale. I am fine with replacing a mediocre opponent with a local mediocre opponent (mediocre it terms of metrics not a shot at St. Thomas) but the constant need to do it every year is boring. I would rather just get rid of the lower rung opponent and sharpen the team with steel. (this years hockey team could have used less St. Thomas and more upper echelon teams) But if we are intent on playing the Glen Mason preseason, I would be fine replacing Louisiana Monroe with St. Thomas.

Lets be realistic about this though...there isn't enough interest to make this a "must have" game...not yet.
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Even if we start scheduling our non-conference like Michigan State, there will always be 4-5 cupcakes from smaller conferences. The local cupcake might as well be one of them.
 

swede2 said:
There must be some interest. The Big Neighbor was broadcasting Tommie FB games when they were still DIII and at least some of their MBB games were on broadcast television this year. My assumption is after they move out of the middle school gym into their new arena, there'll be an initial buzz before attendance settles at some around, and probably less than, 2,000 people per game, with bumps on the weekend if and when the Tommies are competitive and an xDSU is in town, presumably also towards the top of the standings. But that doesn't mean their fans won't be jazzed for the first couple of trips to the Barn and show out.
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The Big Neighbor broadcast the games because they lost the Gophers...come on this isnt difficult.

(and the Big Neighbor is friggin broke so Tommy Football wasn't bringing in the big bucks!)

Michigan and Michigan State played a hockey game at The Big House...do you really think that means anything other than because it was a special event people showed up? Those teams combined have arenas that barely outdraw Mariucci. Dont fool yourself into thinking one data point proves anything substantial. I would bet almost as many people attended that game as watched the Hockey National Championship live across the country.

And why do the Tommies get all the credit...St. Johns is probably better known especially at that point.
 

howeda7 said:
Even if we start scheduling our non-conference like Michigan State, there will always be 4-5 cupcakes from smaller conferences. The local cupcake might as well be one of them.
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And that is fine...I am just saying lets be realistic here. This "heightened interest level" is some serious hopium. For the first few years (if not more) you wont see much of an uptick. Any uptick is good at our cratered level but St. Thomas Basketball Enthusiasm is not exactly at a fever pitch locally.
 

disco said:
They're a wealthy private school whose fan base is primarily local and who donate to and support their alma mater. They won't out draw the Gophers, but they'll draw a lot.

And you can't compare basketball and hockey. I've said it many times, college hockey is a niche sport. People here don't realize or want to admit that.
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St. Thomas is not wealthy. Ask their low paid faculty. They are a tuition driven institution that frequently needs to adjust on the fly to manage cash flow. They are not at risk of going under like boatloads of small public and private colleges are, but they are hardly wealthy and don’t have great alumni support compared to similar schools.
 


Dave H said:
And that is fine...I am just saying lets be realistic here. This "heightened interest level" is some serious hopium. For the first few years (if not more) you wont see much of an uptick. Any uptick is good at our cratered level but St. Thomas Basketball Enthusiasm is not exactly at a fever pitch locally.
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I don't think it "heightens" general interest in Gopher basketball. But you'd rather draw 10,000 for a game with UST than 4,000 for a game with Oral Roberts. $$ is $$ and the local media would actually cover the game. The period from the early December conference games to New Year's is dead and kind of kills the momentum/vibe for fans. Put the game in that stretch.
 

Holy Man said:
St. Thomas is not wealthy. Ask their low paid faculty. They are a tuition driven institution that frequently needs to adjust on the fly to manage cash flow. They are not at risk of going under like boatloads of small public and private colleges are, but they are hardly wealthy and don’t have great alumni support compared to similar schools.
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When I was teaching college still I almost applied for a teaching job there. Honestly their pay range kind of sucked.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't think it "heightens" general interest in Gopher basketball. But you'd rather draw 10,000 for a game with UST than 4,000 for a game with Oral Roberts. $$ is $$.
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And that is why I am fine with it. Hell I would take 5k with the Tommies over 4k with Oral Roberts because of how cruddy our attendance has been. If we were constantly selling out Williams I would be against it.
 

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