MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It will be interesting to see what NCC does with its floor level seating for Round 3. Will NCC be able to limit the really good seats to NCC alums (other than the end zone seats) as they did in the regular season? Or will IWU be given half of those seats? And who makes the decision, NCC, as the host school, or the NCAA? I have a suggestion. Get rid of the risers and chairs and install some aluminum bleachers with 10-15 rows on the balcony side and divide them up 50/50 to each school. I bet NCC could sell 3500 tickets for the game if capacity was not an issue. NCC has a great b'ball program and Todd Raridon is a class act and one of the best D3 coaches in the country. Too bad he can't convince the NCC administration that it's time to build a new fieldhouse.

God man, call 911 quick! Someone has slipped some mushrooms into your green Kool-Aid. 

Giving half the prime floor seats to the opposition is only going to happen in a galaxy far, far away.
Imagine the ire of NCC boosters, who have paid for those seats, the players parents, and former players who might arrive to find their seats occupied by opposing fans. Ain't gonna happen.
Your question reminds me of the same inquiry made by Tim McCrary's dad during the 2012 CCIW Conference Tourney. Ask Wheaton fans Petemcb and 74 Impala, who both appreciated my answer, what my response was at that time.

The NCAA runs this show, however, not the CCIW or North Central. Centre may not have needed a whole lot of seats but if the seating isn't equitable, there is chapter and verse within the championship handbook for IWU to challenge with.

Pat (or anyone else), do you know what % of NCC's gym IWU is entitled to in this one-game scenario? 

And does anyone know what the official seating capacity is at Gregory Arena for NCAA purposes?

This is going out on a limb, but I think it is 50/50... or at least that is the start. If IWU doesn't sell its allotement out, then those tickets go back to general admission. If it isn't 50/50 I don't think it is less than two-thirds NCC...

[Titan Q]

It will be interesting to see what NCC does with its floor level seating for Round 3. Will NCC be able to limit the really good seats to NCC alums (other than the end zone seats) as they did in the regular season? Or will IWU be given half of those seats? And who makes the decision, NCC, as the host school, or the NCAA? I have a suggestion. Get rid of the risers and chairs and install some aluminum bleachers with 10-15 rows on the balcony side and divide them up 50/50 to each school. I bet NCC could sell 3500 tickets for the game if capacity was not an issue. NCC has a great b'ball program and Todd Raridon is a class act and one of the best D3 coaches in the country. Too bad he can't convince the NCC administration that it's time to build a new fieldhouse.

God man, call 911 quick! Someone has slipped some mushrooms into your green Kool-Aid. 

Giving half the prime floor seats to the opposition is only going to happen in a galaxy far, far away.
Imagine the ire of NCC boosters, who have paid for those seats, the players parents, and former players who might arrive to find their seats occupied by opposing fans. Ain't gonna happen.
Your question reminds me of the same inquiry made by Tim McCrary's dad during the 2012 CCIW Conference Tourney. Ask Wheaton fans Petemcb and 74 Impala, who both appreciated my answer, what my response was at that time.

The NCAA runs this show, however, not the CCIW or North Central. Centre may not have needed a whole lot of seats but if the seating isn't equitable, there is chapter and verse within the championship handbook for IWU to challenge with.

Pat (or anyone else), do you know what % of NCC's gym IWU is entitled to in this one-game scenario? 

And does anyone know what the official seating capacity is at Gregory Arena for NCAA purposes?

This is going out on a limb, but I think it is 50/50... or at least that is the start. If IWU doesn't sell its allotement out, then those tickets go back to general admission. If it isn't 50/50 I don't think it is less than two-thirds NCC...

Thanks Dave.  I'm thinking back to 4-team pod situations (regionals, sectionals), and in the Saturday game I think I remember the visiting team having the right to 50% of the seats.  (Like IWU @ Lawrence in 2006 - I want to say IWU got a chance to sell tickets for half the gym.)  Now in these situations, the visiting team would never be able to actually sell that many tickets -- but they got a shot at it.

It seems like IWU will have a huge demand for tickets for this Saturday.  As I posted yesterday, I estimate that there were anywhere from 800 to 900 Titan supporters in St. Louis this past weekend (if Wash U's 1711 attendance figure was accurate).  With a tournament game in the Chicago suburbs - the heart of IWU alumni country - I just have to believe IWU will be able to sell quite a few.

If anyone knows the % IWU gets for sure, please share.  Thanks.

[TitansIWU]

Maybe IWU should consider selling some NCC Athletic Booster t shirts and ID badges along with the tickets.

[ncc58]

One final note regarding Saturday's game:  thank you again to Benedictine for the partnership and good neighborliness that enabled the Cardinals to host the game.   It was very much preferred to a scenario that involved traveling to the other side of the Cheddar Curtain.

(And as a small consolation to Whitewater fans, their runners placed fourth in the men's track meet that pushed the game off campus.  The U-Dub hyphens swept the team hardware, with LaCrosse, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, and Whitewater taking the top four spots.  Oshkosh and LaCrosse were also in the top four on the women's side.)

Not that it matters, but UWW would have had difficulty hosting the game. Whitewater was a Women's Regional site (UWW advanced to the Final Four).

[SevenTen]

Some SID has to read this board and have a Host Operations Manual and can put the section on ticket allotment and preferred seating up on here right?  It's not fair if only the players get to battle it out on the court... we fans need to be able to scrap over who has to sit behind the Hangars posts and who has to watch the game from the rafters. 

[iwumichigander]

Hangar, according to North Central web site, "permanent seating 1200 plus six portable bleachers set up around main basketball court"

Did not find total capacity as yet

[SevenTen]

Hangar, according to North Central web site, "permanent seating 1200 plus six portable bleachers set up around main basketball court"

Did not find total capacity as yet

Take these numbers for what they are worth but these were from the box scores of some of the most attended games in recent memory that NCC hosted.

UWW - 3/9/13 (2nd round at Benedictine) : 1685
IWU - 2/19/13 (Final game of regular season): 1700
Augustana - 2/24 (CCIW Semi-Final 2012) : 1778
Centre - 3/2/13 (1st round) : 1850
Wheaton - 2/25/2012 (CCIW tournament final 2012) : 2050
Wheaton - 1/5/2013 (#1 vs. #8 at that time this year): 2050

My guess is official capacity is 2050 but I'm not sure if that's counting standing room as well.

[emma17]

...regarding NCC's tenacious defense against the Warhawks, how much zone did they play?

Whitewater took their largest lead of the second half, 46-41 with about 8:00 left on the clock.  Gamble was already on the bench with 4 fouls and it looked like the game was a possession or two away from being the end of the season for NCC.  Instead Derick Raridon worked his way to the line for 4 straight free throws and NCC fell back into a zone around the 7:30 mark and didn't really come out of it for the rest of the game.

The zone really wasn't all that effective at stopping the Warhawk's possessions in its entirety.  They went 6 of 12 including a couple of big threes by Harris for the final 7:30 BUT it did do three important things:

1) It took the Warhawks a few possessions to figure out how to attack it.  This gave NCC the opportunity to get back in the game and close the gap at 48-48.  (UWW settled for 3 or 4 long range jumpers in their first possessions after NCC went zone).

2) It took a lot of pressure off the dribble drive penetration and off of Gamble and Tiknis from having to try to fight through screens and guard Harris out at the 3pt line (where they were picking up a bunch of their fouls pushing through screens).  UWW had been getting to the free throw line pretty regularly before the zone and afterwards, they didn't see the charity strip again in the final 7 minutes.

3) It limited the number of possessions left in the game.  With significant foul trouble, you want longer possessions and the Cardinals are normally very efficient in the half court (They went 5 for 5 from the floor in the final 7:30 and 9 of 12 from the line).  Instead of the dribble drive and FTs or layups after 10 seconds... it became a bunch of 25 to 30 second possessions which played into North Centrals hands.

All in all it was just the tweak needed to stem the tide, throw UWW off their game for a few possessions, and get the crowd back into it for the final few minutes.

Great summary.

[SevenTen]

...regarding NCC's tenacious defense against the Warhawks, how much zone did they play?

Whitewater took their largest lead of the second half, 46-41 with about 8:00 left on the clock.  Gamble was already on the bench with 4 fouls and it looked like the game was a possession or two away from being the end of the season for NCC.  Instead Derick Raridon worked his way to the line for 4 straight free throws and NCC fell back into a zone around the 7:30 mark and didn't really come out of it for the rest of the game.

The zone really wasn't all that effective at stopping the Warhawk's possessions in its entirety.  They went 6 of 12 including a couple of big threes by Harris for the final 7:30 BUT it did do three important things:

1) It took the Warhawks a few possessions to figure out how to attack it.  This gave NCC the opportunity to get back in the game and close the gap at 48-48.  (UWW settled for 3 or 4 long range jumpers in their first possessions after NCC went zone).

2) It took a lot of pressure off the dribble drive penetration and off of Gamble and Tiknis from having to try to fight through screens and guard Harris out at the 3pt line (where they were picking up a bunch of their fouls pushing through screens).  UWW had been getting to the free throw line pretty regularly before the zone and afterwards, they didn't see the charity strip again in the final 7 minutes.

3) It limited the number of possessions left in the game.  With significant foul trouble, you want longer possessions and the Cardinals are normally very efficient in the half court (They went 5 for 5 from the floor in the final 7:30 and 9 of 12 from the line).  Instead of the dribble drive and FTs or layups after 10 seconds... it became a bunch of 25 to 30 second possessions which played into North Centrals hands.

All in all it was just the tweak needed to stem the tide, throw UWW off their game for a few possessions, and get the crowd back into it for the final few minutes.

Great summary.

Thanks!  Congrats to the Warhawks on another great season.

[D-3 watcher]

I have heard that IWU gets 1/3 of the gym.
And even though its technically the NCCA gym, I don't think they get into seating all that much. The one rule is, that IWU fans get the seats behind the IWU bench. And as we know, that's not an option.

[NCF]

I have heard that IWU gets 1/3 of the gym.
And even though its technically the NCCA gym, I don't think they get into seating all that much. The one rule is, that IWU fans get the seats behind the IWU bench. And as we know, that's not an option.

It's not an option for Cardinal fans either-just get there early-first come first seated.

[TitansIWU]

I have heard that IWU gets 1/3 of the gym.
And even though its technically the NCCA gym, I don't think they get into seating all that much. The one rule is, that IWU fans get the seats behind the IWU bench. And as we know, that's not an option.

It's not an option for Cardinal fans either-just get there early-first come first seated.

Unless it's a decent seat, then it's NCC athletic booster only.

I don't mind sitting in the balcony, just hope that thing can hold a full crowd without swaying too much.

[SevenTen]

I have heard that IWU gets 1/3 of the gym.
And even though its technically the NCCA gym, I don't think they get into seating all that much. The one rule is, that IWU fans get the seats behind the IWU bench. And as we know, that's not an option.

It's not an option for Cardinal fans either-just get there early-first come first seated.

Unless it's a decent seat, then it's NCC athletic booster only.

I don't mind sitting in the balcony, just hope that thing can hold a full crowd without swaying too much.

In terms of floor seating disparity, I think it's not as dramatic as we're making it in terms of "decent seats".  The baselines are the same... A 50-50 split.  One is for NCC and one is for the visitors.  Then the near sideline seats are 2/3rds NCC and 1/3 visiting team.  The visiting seating starts a little past the top of the key and continues to the baseline seats.  This isn't much different than any other gym I've been too.  Obviously the big issue is that there are no seats behind the benches which is where the majority of visitor fans typically would sit.  Obviously it's a free for all up in the balcony.

If there are 800 people watching the game at court level, it's probably a 500 vs. 300 split between home and away which is much better than what you would normally get (maybe the section behind your own bench going up and a baseline vs. the 3 other sections and another baseline) in a typical layout.

There will be a home court advantage.  That's the spoils of being the host.  (Though I'd still be interested in what the NCAA says about the subject)

[Titan Q]

Another question for those more familiar with the inner workings of the NCAA............

Given that we are in the national tournament phase of the season, and game details are no longer controlled by the individual schools, would you not think that there would be conformity between game sites?

Specifically, why would tickets have been $8.00 at UWW yesterday, $7.00 at IWU, and only $6.00 at NCC?
Looks like NCC is the more fan friendly institution.     

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/3/11/MBB_0311131556.aspx

Tickets will be available for sale in the North Central athletics office in Merner Field House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and will be $7 for adults and $4 for senior citizens, students and children.


What happened to the fan friendliness?

[SevenTen]

Another question for those more familiar with the inner workings of the NCAA............

Given that we are in the national tournament phase of the season, and game details are no longer controlled by the individual schools, would you not think that there would be conformity between game sites?

Specifically, why would tickets have been $8.00 at UWW yesterday, $7.00 at IWU, and only $6.00 at NCC?
Looks like NCC is the more fan friendly institution.     

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/3/11/MBB_0311131556.aspx

Tickets will be available for sale in the North Central athletics office in Merner Field House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and will be $7 for adults and $4 for senior citizens, students and children.


What happened to the fan friendliness?

Preemptive St. Patty's Day cleanup tax for in and around Merner?