Williams: No NCAA Tournament in Cincy. How about UC, Kentucky, Indiana in hoops showcase?

Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: [email protected]

Subject: Kentucky Wildcats, Indiana Hoosiers should play in Cincinnati showcase

Message: Here is a suggestion to add to the list for potential events by the new sports commission. Organize a yearly KY-OH-IN Basketball Showcase with four D-1 teams playing a doubleheader on a Saturday afternoon around the holidays. There would be six teams involved with two teams sitting out each year.

The teams would be Kentucky, Louisville, UC, Xavier, Indiana and Purdue. Other regional teams could be in the mix if needed. To keep the in-season rivalries (UC vs Xavier, Kentucky vs Louisville, Indiana vs Purdue), those rivalry teams would not be scheduled against one another. The games could be played at Heritage Bank Center.

Reply: Bring. It. On.

This is exactly the kind of creative thinking the forthcoming revived sports commission needs to have.

A regional tournament would stay away from matchups like the Crosstown Shootout between Xavier and Cincinnati, but would pit other regional Division I teams against one another.

Such an event could help reinvigorate our national brand as a college basketball hotbed. The brand has lost a little luster in recent years, mostly because UC is no longer a perennial NCAA Tournament team. A showcase event would be a celebration of our rich college basketball history.

OK, so the NCAA Tournament ignores us because of outdated Heritage Bank Center. The showcase could still be a way to bring a big-time college basketball event to town.

Getting Kentucky and Indiana to play would be the key to driving attendance. Both schools’ fans travel well. Kentucky has averaged 15,033 fans in 12 regular-season games all-time at Heritage Bank Center. Kentucky hasn’t played in the arena since 2005.

Landing coach Mark Pope, right, and the Kentucky Wildcats would be key for a college basketball showcase event in…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/williams-no-ncaa-tournament-cincy-015028328.html

Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer

Publish date : 2024-07-01 01:50:28

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.