STrib: Gophers' basketball schedule tough, but not at home

[BleedGopher]

per Rand:

Outside of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, which gives the Gophers a major conference home game some seasons, Minnesota has had exactly two nonconference home games against “Power 5” schools in the past decade: In 2011 against USC, and in 2006 against Iowa State.

The rest of the nonconference home schedules feature opponents like Western Carolina, whom the Gophers face Friday. That’s no disrespect to smaller schools. And it’s not a suggestion that Minnesota should buck the national trend and load their home schedule with top opponents.

But with season ticket packages topping $1,000 in many cases (including preferred seating fees, though the Gophers advertise that those donations are 80-percent tax deductible), fans are justified when they lament the bang for their buck.

Even scheduling one enticing nonconference game, against a top opponent, would be a good start.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/284833601.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[SelectionSunday]

per Rand:

Outside of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, which gives the Gophers a major conference home game some seasons, Minnesota has had exactly two nonconference home games against “Power 5” schools in the past decade: In 2011 against USC, and in 2006 against Iowa State.

The rest of the nonconference home schedules feature opponents like Western Carolina, whom the Gophers face Friday. That’s no disrespect to smaller schools. And it’s not a suggestion that Minnesota should buck the national trend and load their home schedule with top opponents.

But with season ticket packages topping $1,000 in many cases (including preferred seating fees, though the Gophers advertise that those donations are 80-percent tax deductible), fans are justified when they lament the bang for their buck.

Even scheduling one enticing nonconference game, against a top opponent, would be a good start.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/284833601.html

Go Gophers!!

Fair, well written, and well stated piece by Mr. Rand.

 

[Sports_Realist]

I have been on the borderline of non renewing season tickets I've held since 1993-94 over the home scheduling issues, particularly the lack of power nonconference foes at Wiliams Arena. This season we not only have a lousy nonconference home schedule, in the Big Ten we don't host Michigan, Michigan State, and Maryland, three of the better teams in the league. If they want to have mandatory donations for choice seats and charge reasonably high prices, there has to be a better return. When we canned the North Carolina football series, I complained to the athletic department and wound up in a conversation with Norwood Teague. The conversation turned to the recent poor nonconference home hoops schedule. I said I wasn't demanding Duke and Kansas every year, just get us a couple of games against Big XII, SEC or PAC-12 teams. He laid the blame at Tubby's feet and said things would change. They certainly haven't so far.

 

[cjbfbp]

They've played 4 power conference teams in the pre-conference schedule. My guess is that's about average for power conference teams. There are a lot of good, or at least decent, mid-major conference teams in D1 basketball and my complaint about the non-conference schedule this year is that the Gophers have chosen to schedule only dismal ones with the exception of Western KY who appears to be just fair.

 

[Sports_Realist]

None of the four power conference teams the Gophers played in the pre Big Ten schedule came to Williams Arena. That's the issue to me. Gopher Points were used to redo the seating chart at The Barn and brought increased prices. I get that the money is needed for a variety of reasons by the U of M, but goodwill and need aren't reasons alone to ask for the higher prices. There has to be some value for money to the customer.

 

[GophersInIowa]

At the very least, there should be a power 5 home game during the years we play on the road in the BT/ACC challenge.