You can read the press release here but basically starting in 2012 the Richmond Coliseum will host a holiday basketball tournament featuring the basketball programs from the Virginia universities. The proposed schedule looks like this:
2012
Mason vs. Richmond
UVA vs. ODU
2013
Hampton vs. JMU
Tech vs. VCU
This is a great idea to me, especially since Virginia probably has one of the best group of collegiate basketball teams in America. I would love to see this grow into a full on yearly tournament that they play every year. I know the players probably want to go to some tropical island but I think having this grow into a intrastate tournament that rotates sites every year would be amazing. I would road trip every year to see that. Especially since UVA would probably be the favorite. CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN!
As a fan of college basketball: Woohoo this is awesome!
ReplyDeleteAs a UVa fan: How on earth did they get the administration to agree to this?
It couldn't be a tournament because of the shared conferences. I.E. Virginia couldn't play Tech in the finals, ODU couldn't play VCU in the semis, etc.
ReplyDeleteI like it, but it's slightly milquetoast without the tourney format.
And Pierce is right -- it's a risk for UVA. Lose-lose. You gain nothing by beating ODU, but you stand to lose a lot with a loss. And to play that game on a neutral court? I don't see the wisdom there. Not that I'm afriad of these other in-state schools, I just don't like the balance of risk vs. reward for UVA in this event.
But I am looking forward to the game, which should be really good.