2012 Division III NCAA Tournament

[Greek Tragedy]

I don't know how many Wooster fans were there (I'm guessing 500-1000) but Wooster's four home games in the NCAA tournament each had a higher attendance than the championship game in Salem.  I realize that D-III isn't as marketable as D-I, but it's a shame that the Salem Civic Center is less than half-full for one of our division's biggest events.

I'm sure that's common in places like IWU, Hope, Calvin, UWSP etc.  Those places can really fill the gym AT HOME.  When fans have to travel 500+ miles to possibly see just one game, it makes it a little harder.  I realize some fans stay for the 2nd game and even for the championship game if their team isn't in it, but they obviously go for their team.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We talked a lot about the impact of flights on the DIII tournament so I found the first part of this article particularly interesting: http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/118341884.html (h/t d3hoops facebook feed)

Apparently in the case of St. Thomas, a "flight" to Salem involved some going to New Jersey and some going to Atlanta and each itinerary ending with a bus ride. I dearly hope this was because of extremely extenuating circumstances and not the NCAA norm.

There must have been some extenuating circumstances is they chartered a plane for them to fly home.

I wonder if the Delta stranglehold on MSP had anything to do with it?  Does anyone but USAir fly into Roanoke?

[Pat Coleman]

Delta flies into Roanoke as well -- you can get to Detroit and Atlanta from there on Delta, I believe. But there might not have been 20 available seats out of there for Delta on Sunday.