Jab979 said

Latest bracket has us in the play-in game against Texas State in Newark for the right to play Ohio State.

Ouch!

If that were the case, I think I would rather be in the NIT.  Of course this stuff will change 1000 times…it keeps the interest going…

OWL4EVER said

That's the pits!  Maybe we can pull off three in a row and then kick some butt in the Sunbelt Tourney?????

I'm sure it'll change between now and then. Wins over FIU and Troy will help plus other bubble teams will lose. It'll change I'd be surprised if we were the play in

i would rather the NIT than a play in game, or 15th seed.

this week really sucked. could not have picked a worse time of year to be off.

TeamBeer said

You put us in Charlotte or Atlanta or any major airport hub and I'm there.

I really want to go to the sun belt tourney this year but jeez, Hot Springs Arkansas is a joke. The 10th largest city in Arkansas…that's what the Sun Belt chose.

I've been to the last four tournaments 07(Lafayette) 08(Mobile) 09(Hot Springs) 10(Hot Springs) and I gotta say, Hot Springs has been my favorite host. The city is exactly what we need in a host. The arena is very nice actually and not too big and there's a freaking Embassy Suites attatched to the arena, if you're lucky enough to get a room there, realisitically once you get checked in you don't need to drive again until you check out. As there is enough bars and restaurants walking distance from the hotel, that said some of my favorite restaurants aren't walking distance, nor is the horse track(did I mention there's a horse track?) My group also plays a 72 hole putt putt tournament as well, which may sound corny, but it's a blast. My group always consists of at least a few buddies from college and occassionally a girlfriend or two and we just drink beer, watch basketball and play putt putt. It's been great the last two years and I'm looking forward to going back this year.

To address your gripe on a broader level, where would you suggest we have it? Cities aren't exactly clamoring to host the Sun Belt tournament. When we decided to go to a neutral cite, I believe the original choice was Biloxi, but hurricaine Katrina ruined the chances of that happening. When Hot Springs was chosen, I believe the only other city to put together a decent bid(and maybe the only other bid period) was Huntsville. With the SEC now holding their men's and women's tournaments in seperate cities, two cities in our footprint will always be taken up. The OVC is in Nashville every year and I'd prefer to stay in smaller arenas anyway. The only big city that really makes sense or is even somewhat viable is to use the Gwinnett arena just outside Atlanta on years where the SEC isn't holding their women's tournament there.

Bilouxi would have been great.

As people have already said, getting to Hot Springs just isn't practical.

walty12 said

Bilouxi would have been great.

As people have already said, getting to Hot Springs just isn't practical.

I believe someone was planning a new hotel/casino/arena/convention center in Biloxi before Katrina and we were in line to book it for our tournament, unfortunately it never came to fruition after the hurricaine.

As far as Hot Springs goes, depending on how much you're willing to spend, you can get one stop service from Miami to Little Rock, rent a car and drive the rest of the way(55 miles) you probably wouldn't put more than 150 miles on the car. A quick search on Little Rock Airport's website and you can fly roundtrip for roughly $300.

Something to keep in mind for next year(unfortunately it doesn't start till late march) apparently Vision airlines will be offering flights for $89 each way from Little Rock to Orlando and Fort Walton Beach.

For the time being, we have moved to the other play-in game against BETHUNE-COOKMAN to Play DUKE in Charlotte.

Just need to keep winning… and run the SBC Tourney… GO OWLS!!!!

Yeah it'll change again and again. I think we'll get a 15 seed, don't think we'll be in a play-in game

I would rather be in the NIT as well instead of playing for the play-in game……no one watches that game or cares about it.

I can provide photos and written coverage. 'Anyone want to send me?