Toledo appears to be Gophers' most likely preliminary Battle 4 Atlantis opponent

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SelectionSunday

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Reading between the lines of the attached link from the Fort Myers News-Press, it appears Toledo will be the Gophers' preliminary Battle 4 Atlantis game. The Gophers currently have a window in their schedule between Nov. 11-16, and Toledo is already playing @ Northern Iowa on Nov. 14. It would make sense that Toledo's remaining Battle 4 Atlantis opponent be from the Midwest, so I'm guessing it'll be Toledo vs. the Gophers on either Nov. 11, 12 or 16. Not quite Mizzou like I was hoping for!

Toledo (17-17 in 2011-12) finished #246 in the RPI, yet somehow still landed a spot in the College Insiders Tournament (CIT), where it defeated McNeese State before being eliminated by Robert Morris in the second round. Currently the Rockets are ineligible for postseason play in 2012-13 due to APR shortcomings.

Samford (#269 in the RPI last season) appears to be the other possibility.

http://www.news-press.com/article/2...s-Duke-schedule?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
 

None of them appear to be RPI builders for us, right?
 


How exactly does this preliminary opponent thing work? How are Toledo and Samford related to the Battle 4 Atlantis? Does the team have the option to not play a preliminary opponent at all if they don't want to?
 

Cayman said:
How exactly does this preliminary opponent thing work? How are Toledo and Samford related to the Battle 4 Atlantis? Does the team have the option to not play a preliminary opponent at all if they don't want to?
Click to expand...

Total sham/workaround to get an extra game. If you're in an exempt tournament, you can have 27 regular season games, plus the tourney. The max games in a tourney is 4. Therefore there is often a "preliminary" game that is played within 10 days of the "real tournament" and can be included as a tournament game for maximum number of games purposes.

This isn't unique to the Gophers or Battle 4 Atlantis.. but it is goofy.
 





Is there any reason we don't see any 16 team tournaments besides the fact they won't allow 2 teams from the same conference in a tourney?
 



My father once told me that Michigan and Ohio had a war over the City of Toledo. Ohio lost.
 

mattw1067 said:
Is there any reason we don't see any 16 team tournaments besides the fact they won't allow 2 teams from the same conference in a tourney?
Click to expand...

My guess is (there are 16 team tourneys, just not 16 team bracket-play portions of tournaments):
Too many games in too few days; too many days away from home.

And if you don't have set teams for bracket play, it becomes difficult for fans and teams to plan for a trip.
 

So did the Toledo coaching staff recruit HS kids telling them that they get to play in the Battle for Atlantis tournament that will be on ESPN hosted in the Bahamas in late November, while failing to mention the "minor" detail that their portion of the tourney will be spent in Iowa and Minnesota in November instead of Bahamas?!

Go Gophers!!
 




So is this Toledo game a part of a mini tournament inside of the big b4a? I need a full explanation in somebodys own words of what this tune-up game is about and it's implications (if there are any).
-thanks!
 

mnsports255 said:
So is this Toledo game a part of a mini tournament inside of the big b4a? I need a full explanation in somebodys own words of what this tune-up game is about and it's implications (if there are any).
-thanks!
Click to expand...

Actually, on Nov. 21-22 Toledo, Samford, Alcorn State and Florida Gulf Coast will play a "mini-tournament" on FGCU's home court as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Every team can play up to 4 games as part of the tournament. The bracketed teams (read: the 8 teams in the real tournament) play 3 in the tournament and are allowed to play another one to hit their max of 4, while the 4 others teams (the ones not going to the Bahamas) play 2 road games against the big boys followed by the mini-tournament (2 games).

How the Gophers do vs. Toledo has no impact on the 8-team tournament in the Bahamas. Simply, really all it is is another nonconference game.
 


Joe Esposito ‏@Coach_JEsposito

"How about a home New Years Eve Game here. Celebrate the New Year with the Gophers..."

This is the tweet that intrigues me. It means one of two things.

(1) It's either the only unaccounted for nonconference game, or

(2) It means the Gophers were informed by the B1G offices that they're likely to open the B1G season at home (on New Year's Eve).
 



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