Omaha awarded 2015 NCAA 2nd/3rd round

[matter_of_fact]

From intrustbankarena.com:

INTRUST Bank Arena is a modern, state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue, perfect for concerts and conventions alike. Located in the heart of downtown Wichita with trendy restaurants, shops and eclectic entertainment options nearby, the INTRUST Bank Arena is the premier arena in the Midwest. The arena features 20 suites, 2 party suites, 40 loge boxes, 150 club seats with a total 15,000-seat capacity and will boast the top notch sporting events and entertainment with the industry's best acoustics and sound system.

[Shockerfan13]

bummer Wichita State University and Intrust Bank Arena failed again to get the Mens NCAA 2nd and 3rd rounds.

Clearly, the NCAA is an expansion mode. I mean look at all of the new places theyre going to.
Omaha finally arrived, in 2008.

Its a size issue I would bet. Within the midwestern footprint, there is a ton of competition with arenas bigger than the one in Wichita.

I think size is the issue also. I was unhappy when it wasn't at least 17k when built. The NCAA told us that size had little to do with the factor but I don't buy that. More seats is more money. Hotels in the vicinity COULD be a factor also. Although hotels have grown in the area since the arena opened. Also 60+ sites applied and only 8 get chosen. So maybe it was just luck of the draw. Sucks either way. Games would be a huge success here.

[DUBulldog]

Its a size issue I would bet. Within the midwestern footprint, there is a ton of competition with arenas bigger than the one in Wichita.

I think size is the issue also. I was unhappy when it wasn't at least 17k when built. The NCAA told us that size had little to do with the factor but I don't buy that. More seats is more money. Hotels in the vicinity COULD be a factor also. Although hotels have grown in the area since the arena opened. Also 60+ sites applied and only 8 get chosen. So maybe it was just luck of the draw. Sucks either way. Games would be a huge success here.

Same issue in Des Moines. In Des Moines, I think it's lack of enough hotel rooms close to the arena. Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines is separated from most of the bars, restaurants and hotels downtown by at least half a mile. Very little (other than offices) in the immediate vicinity.

[LJay]

Omaha is a known commodity for the NCAA and I think that plays a huge role in getting these events. All those years of hosting the College World Series is resulting in this as well as swim trials, the upcoming Figure Skating championships etc, etc.

I 'm actually feeling conflicted about this. Putting CU on the same day as the local regional facked up the tournament for me this year. I think when it's all said and done I prefer a nearby regional like KC this year.

[musiccitybulldog]

Creighton To Host 2015 NCAA Basketball Tournament Games

The last two times the NCAA had Creighton host the tournament tickets quickly sold out as most Creighton fans are also basketball fans.

Will the tickets sell out this time? The NCAA scheduled the NCAA tourney games in Omaha and Creighton playing in the NCAA tourney on the same days at the same time. The NCAA didn't have to do that as the the dates they were going to play in Omaha was not predetermined.

Is it possible a MVC could play in Omaha? Is that allowed?

I am not sure an MVC team can play at an MVC hosted site but am not sure. Who hosts the games in North Carolina that they always assign Duke and UNC too?

I have been to early round games at the Dean Dome (in Chapel Hill, NC) teams from North Carolina played there.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Its a size issue I would bet. Within the midwestern footprint, there is a ton of competition with arenas bigger than the one in Wichita.

I think size is the issue also. I was unhappy when it wasn't at least 17k when built. The NCAA told us that size had little to do with the factor but I don't buy that. More seats is more money. Hotels in the vicinity COULD be a factor also. Although hotels have grown in the area since the arena opened. Also 60+ sites applied and only 8 get chosen. So maybe it was just luck of the draw. Sucks either way. Games would be a huge success here.

Same issue in Des Moines. In Des Moines, I think it's lack of enough hotel rooms close to the arena. Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines is separated from most of the bars, restaurants and hotels downtown by at least half a mile. Very little (other than offices) in the immediate vicinity.

I went to the Creighton/IOwa State game there and thought, "this is really a weird location." Why did they put it there? Trying to save money on land acquisition costs?

When the Qwest (now CenturyLink) was first built, it held about 15,000. They subsequently added seats, bringing the total capacity to around 17,500. At about $150 for an all session ticket, 2500 extra seats amounts to $375K. Money matters to the NCAA. I believe that if the capacity was still 15K, Omaha wouldn't get these events.

If you are in an area without a lot of bidders, size doesn't matter as much. In the midwest, however, you've got Omaha, Tulsa, St Louis, KC, Wichita, Minneapolis, Indy, Des Moines and Denver competing for very few opportunities.

[DUBulldog]

I think size is the issue also. I was unhappy when it wasn't at least 17k when built. The NCAA told us that size had little to do with the factor but I don't buy that. More seats is more money. Hotels in the vicinity COULD be a factor also. Although hotels have grown in the area since the arena opened. Also 60+ sites applied and only 8 get chosen. So maybe it was just luck of the draw. Sucks either way. Games would be a huge success here.

Same issue in Des Moines. In Des Moines, I think it's lack of enough hotel rooms close to the arena. Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines is separated from most of the bars, restaurants and hotels downtown by at least half a mile. Very little (other than offices) in the immediate vicinity.

I went to the Creighton/IOwa State game there and thought, "this is really a weird location." Why did they put it there? Trying to save money on land acquisition costs?

For whatever reason, they wanted it to be attached to the existing Vet's Auditorium.

It would have made a lot more sense to build it somewhere just south of Court Avenue, which has the highest concentration of bars, restaurants, etc. Until a few years ago, it was mostly abandoned warehouses down there....a lot of these have since been converted into condos, lofts, etc. Somewhere between Court Avenue and Sec Taylor Stadium would have made more sense. There are a couple new hotels going up in that area now, another thing missing in the Wells Fargo Arena area.

[TheAsianSensation]

Just as an aside, from my bracketing experience...just based on conflicts that arise when building a bracket, it is literally impossible to account for trying to play Creighton on a separate day from when Omaha hosts. It's completely luck of the draw.

As for those regionals located in North Carolina, you realize how many colleges play D-1 in that state? Close to 15 or 20.

UNC-Greensboro has hosted many, many times. There's an arena in Charlotte that Davidson occasionally plays in that they get to use as a "home site". Plus NC State and Wake have hosted recently. It's like Duke and North Carolina have all their minions doing work for them.

[TheAsianSensation]

I'd love to see Wichita (and Omaha, too, really) bid for 2 of the FIrst Four games.

Last year, they put 2 at large teams (BYU/Iona)on the 14 seed line because the only alternative was to force them to travel cross country with one travel day in between games. All the 12 and 13 seeds were bracketed out west, and they couldn't send BYU cross-country to Dayton and then cross-country again to play 2 days later.

Wichita/Omaha should bid to be a western host to 2 of the play-in games. They would almost always get one or maybe both of the at-large play in games. It would solve the NCAA's problem and get Wichita in the door to hosting. Look how well Dayton's doing with the NCAA by serving as a host to these games.

[C0|db|00ded]

A very sad day for Wichita.


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