Pitino on bringing marquee games to Williams Arena: "I think our fans deserve it."

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
61,974
Reaction score
18,168
Points
113
Pitino on bringing marquee games to Williams Arena: "I think our fans deserve it."

per the STrib:

Does he hope to bring a marquee game or to to Williams Arena down the line?

"Yes," he said at media access on Thursday, "I think that our fans deserve it, and we're looking into it."

He isn't without his concerns. Teams often play in a challenging November tournament -- so far, going ahead to next year's Puerto Rico Tipoff, Pitino's tournaments at Minnesota were scheduled before he arrived. Then, in addition to the rotating ACC/ Big East challenge each year, next year will bring the Gavitt Tipoff games, a similar challenge between the Big East and the Big Ten in honor of the late Dave Gavitt, founder of Big East basketball.

Whether Minnesota will play at home or on the road in those matchups remains to be seen.

"So you don't want to put yourself into position where you're playing on the road at an ACC opponent, on the road at a Big East opponent and then a home-and-home," Pitino said. "That is difficult."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/284792861.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 


I wonder how quickly the conferences will decide which teams will participate in the Dave Gavitt games. My understanding is it'll be 8 games per season. Think it's pretty important that the Big Ten/Big East offices give the coaches plenty advance notice so they can plan their schedules accordingly. Odds are better the Gophers will host a ACC game next year, so if we are part of the Gavitt games I suspect it'd be on the road.
 

I wish the Big Ten/Pac 12 challenge would have gone through.

We could have called it the Frozen Rose Bowl.
 

BleedGopher said:
per the STrib:

Does he hope to bring a marquee game or to to Williams Arena down the line?

"Yes," he said at media access on Thursday, "I think that our fans deserve it, and we're looking into it."

He isn't without his concerns. Teams often play in a challenging November tournament -- so far, going ahead to next year's Puerto Rico Tipoff, Pitino's tournaments at Minnesota were scheduled before he arrived. Then, in addition to the rotating ACC/ Big East challenge each year, next year will bring the Gavitt Tipoff games, a similar challenge between the Big East and the Big Ten in honor of the late Dave Gavitt, founder of Big East basketball.

Whether Minnesota will play at home or on the road in those matchups remains to be seen.

"So you don't want to put yourself into position where you're playing on the road at an ACC opponent, on the road at a Big East opponent and then a home-and-home," Pitino said. "That is difficult."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/284792861.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

That is exactly the position I want us to put ourselves in. If nothing else, that would mean that we never get turned away from March Madness because (a) we scheduled too soft a schedule or (b) we looked lost at the start of conference play because it was the first quality competition we saw.
 


station19 said:
I wish the Big Ten/Pac 12 challenge would have gone through.

We could have called it the Frozen Rose Bowl.
Click to expand...

That would have been amazing! I would love to see the gophers play asu. I wouldn't know who to root for! :)
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
That is exactly the position I want us to put ourselves in. If nothing else, that would mean that we never get turned away from March Madness because (a) we scheduled too soft a schedule or (b) we looked lost at the start of conference play because it was the first quality competition we saw.
Click to expand...

+1
 


The better the team is, the easier it will be to schedule marquee games. The Gophers really have to move up and out of the seemingly perennial bubble position so that the result of nearly every game is not vitally important to the teams chances of just making the NCAA tournament. I think what Pitino was saying was saying in regards to scheduling around the ACC/Big East challenges is he doesn't want to get stuck in a situation where the Gophers are on the road in both challenges AND owe a home game to another high major in the same year. That would be too tough of a schedule for almost any team, with no important non-conference games taking place on your home court. The other issue is that the better the Gophers become the easier it will be to schedule a marquee team for a home and home. As of now, a team like say Florida would look at a road game at Minnesota as a very tough "W" with a lot of risk to it as the Gophers may or may not count as a significant win in the eyes of the committee at the end of the year and likewise might end up looking like a bad loss. If the Gophers establish themselves as a tournament team, then Florida (or whoever) sees that game as being strong for their resume almost regardless of outcome...AND the Gophers then are a bigger draw when they go to Gainsville.
 




You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom