Final Four is set

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by RVD26

They may be brand name teams, but this year's versions of Kentucky and UConn are nowhere close in terms of talent to previous teams.
I would have liked to see at least one #1 seed in the Final Four.
I went to the Final Four 3 years ago in San Antonio, which had all 4 #1 seeds and the atmosphere there was great.
Hopefully, this year will be the same but I doubt it will.
I'll actually be rooting for VCU because I have a cousin that graduated from there and another cousin currently going there.

The only thing that not having four #1 seeds hurt are businesses, because they assume not as many people will show up. For atmosphere, I don't think you can get a better one with this year's storyline, especially if VCU wins on Saturday. The teams may not be as talented (UConn and Kentucky), but they are still UConn and Kentucky basketball. They will draw plenty of fans.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

The only thing that not having four #1 seeds hurt are businesses, because they assume not as many people will show up. For atmosphere, I don't think you can get a better one with this year's storyline, especially if VCU wins on Saturday. The teams may not be as talented (UConn and Kentucky), but they are still UConn and Kentucky basketball. They will draw plenty of fans.

Houston Final Four ticket prices have been dropping | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

[Trae713]

They are dropping because the bigger schools are out and those people are selling them off. Doesn't mean the stadium won't still be sold out and the ratings will be down.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

They are dropping because the bigger schools are out and those people are selling them off. Doesn't mean the stadium won't still be sold out and the ratings will be down.

Lower demand means Final Four tickets available without breaking the bank | abc13.com

Wade Paulson said, "I am going to pay face value."

For the cheap seats, that's $180 for both semifinal games and the championship game. Why did Paulson get such a great deal?

He said, "I have friends that had friends that are not going because of there are not good teams playing. So I got tickets because of that."

While face value seats are gone, the demand for this year's Final Four tournament has been low, so ticket brokers are offering what they say are pretty good deals on the three games at Reliant Stadium. This package is $250. It breaks down to $83 a game, plus admission to Bracket Town.

just saying

These are the weakest teams to make the final four in years. Butler plays a weak conference and had the officals hand them two games in the tournament, Uconn finished the regular season in 9th place(Big East), Kentucky finished 3rd(SEC) in regular season and VCU finished 4th. in the Colonial conf. regular season.

Most basketball purest don't see why would a team play an entire regular season, then have to play a post season conference tournament just to get auto bid to the NCAA tourn., it only renders the reg. season meaningless. No matter who wins this year, I still can't bring myself to say "That's the best team in 2011".

lol, Uconn and VCU would be playing in the NIT if it wasn't for a post season conference tournament.

[Spade]

^^Yep. This is why I never jumped on the bandwagon on college football needing a playoff. This tournament is basically which ever team is playing the hottest will move on. It defeats the purpose of the regular season for college basketball. NBA is different because they play a 7 game series in the playoffs following the regular season. In college football, the regular season is the playoff or the tournament. You lose once and you're on thin ice. You lose twice and you're done.

I hate to say it and people will will scoff at this. But the BCS gets it right most of the time compared to the NCAA tournament. No system is perfect. But I didn't feel that Duke was the best team last year and I don't feel either of these teams are the best team this year. I don't care how VCU and UCONN finish this season. They shouldn't have been in the tournament to begin with. Especially VCU. They didn't even win their conference in the regular season nor the bogus conference tournament.

[Fairlady Z]

Originally Posted by usc619

These are the weakest teams to make the final four in years. Butler plays a weak conference and had the officals hand them two games in the tournament, Uconn finished the regular season in 9th place(Big East), Kentucky finished 3rd(SEC) in regular season and VCU finished 4th. in the Colonial conf. regular season.

Most basketball purest don't see why would a team play an entire regular season, then have to play a post season conference tournament just to get auto bid to the NCAA tourn., it only renders the reg. season meaningless. No matter who wins this year, I still can't bring myself to say "That's the best team in 2011".

lol, Uconn and VCU would be playing in the NIT if it wasn't for a post season conference tournament.

It's not always the case that the teams with the best regular seasons go on to win the championship. Two very recent examples, Green Bay won the Super Bowl as a 6th seed, though they should of been a 5th because of the NFC West, but they won the Super Bowl because they were the hottest team. Same with the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

This year's tournament is certainly out of the ordinary compared to year's past, because of no #1 and #2 seeds. But I think it makes for an interesting Final Four like no other, and that's not a bad thing. Sometimes the tourney does what its suppose to do, and let the #1 seeds win it all like last year and the case of San Antonio a few years. But this is the one sports event where fans cheer for the Cinderella to succeed, so I and many other fans are excited to see how it concludes.

If it were up to me, the best and most fair way to reward the best team is to have a home and away round robin schedule, and the team with the best record or most points, is champion. I know people don't like soccer, but the Europeans have it right for formatting the regular season. 20 teams, 38 games, and accumulate points throughout the season. This way every game counts from beginning to end, and were rewarding the most consistent team in the end. Obviously are pro sports have 32 teams, and the NCAA has over 300 teams, so it wouldn't work here, but we wouldn't be complaining about whose the best team every year in sports.

But back to my point, sure this years Final Four teams might be bad for Houston tourism, but great teams don't exactly create memorable experiences for all. See the Super Bowl Fiasco in North Texas, great teams, but terrible planning and execution. So as long as the event planners in Houston get it done right, and let the games play out for themselves, this city will see more sporting events here and perhaps better teams next time around.

Anyways, sorry for the long post.

[capcat]

Originally Posted by usc619

These are the weakest teams to make the final four in years. Butler plays a weak conference and had the officals hand them two games in the tournament, Uconn finished the regular season in 9th place(Big East), Kentucky finished 3rd(SEC) in regular season and VCU finished 4th. in the Colonial conf. regular season.

Most basketball purest don't see why would a team play an entire regular season, then have to play a post season conference tournament just to get auto bid to the NCAA tourn., it only renders the reg. season meaningless.

What a team does during the regular season is the journey to what they will be by March, which sometimes looks very different. Especially for a young team, the peak may be by the time conference tournaments comes around, and that peak matters. This will be a good tournament.

Plus, the NCAA selection committee faced more criticism than usual this year because of their seedings. Regardless of that being called into question, highly-seeded teams that had an "easy" route to the Final Four didn't make it. Lower seeds that had a very difficult path, did. That kind of drama is what captures the interest of fans with a passion for college basketball.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by Spade

^^Yep. This is why I never jumped on the bandwagon on college football needing a playoff. This tournament is basically which ever team is playing the hottest will move on. It defeats the purpose of the regular season for college basketball. NBA is different because they play a 7 game series in the playoffs following the regular season. In college football, the regular season is the playoff or the tournament. You lose once and you're on thin ice. You lose twice and you're done.

I hate to say it and people will will scoff at this. But the BCS gets it right most of the time compared to the NCAA tournament. No system is perfect. But I didn't feel that Duke was the best team last year and I don't feel either of these teams are the best team this year. I don't care how VCU and UCONN finish this season. They shouldn't have been in the tournament to begin with. Especially VCU. They didn't even win their conference in the regular season nor the bogus conference tournament.

I agree about the BCS.
I'm not a BCS cheerleader by any means, but more times than not they do get it right.
There has not been a team crowned national champion by the BCS that did not deserve to win it for the most part.
You may have had a Boise State or TCU type team that got left out some years, but that seems to be the exception.
Imagine having a playoff in Division I (FBS) football and having a team like North Texas making it to the national championship game.
While it might make for a great story, it would not be much of a game to watch.