NCAA TOURNAMENT 2024

[Hopkins92]

This is getting too convoluted for even me... especially since I really don't care..but I do enjoy analyzing the arguments and when things matter and when they don't. Why aren't MW and Conn going to Ohio? Is it because Conn would have to fly? Really?

If we're talking just travel, then I'd argue that Denison and Kenyon got fairly unfairly treated (trying to avoid 'screwed').  Assuming they are indeed traveling by bus, that's a brutal trip...under the 500 miles standard but not by a ton. Long drive for Conn as well.

I'm not procrastinating... YOU'RE procrastinating.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Also 4 teams are going to Vegas which was not always the case before when it was Salem, VA recently. Vegas is going to look like a club game with only parents (if they can afford) with tumbleweed blowing around the stands.  Last year, the NCAAs did not have to pay for W&L and WC to fly.

This. I drove about 10 hours each way last year to see W&L play. No way I'm flying to Vegas if they make it. All the W&L students at the game had the stands rocking last year. That isn't happening this year. I hate when the NCAA does stuff like this. While there is never a guarantee you will get a local team, you at least have to put the game somewhere local to D3. Vegas is... nothing. I can only assume the stadium or tourism board put up money for this travesty. I have no problem moving it around the country, but it has to be near some D3 schools at least. Southern California, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, there are places near island teams that still make 1000x more sense than Las Vegas.

If they like Vegas so much, maybe next time in Lex Vegas!! Some will get the reference if they know W&L.

Yeah, just really, really odd/sad. Cary NC is a great spot as well and reachable. So, so many better options. How about Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, MD where the NWSL used to play.  Great field and smaller stands that make it more intense of a game, reasonably reachable for most D3 teams with major airports and places to stay. So, so many better choices.

Also, even considering parents and families, some can afford to book a last minute flight/trip to Vegas, but, I'm guessing that some might be having a hard time just paying for college. At least where D3 is centered, parents could more easily travel to watch their kids play something they have already paid a lot of money for them to participate.

Hey, based on Tyson v. Paul, at the least the parents won't have to worry about watching their kids on the internet ....

Son played all over the country for his club. We very rarely ever got to see him in person on these trips as he was older and could travel on his own. His team played in the Dallas Cup a couple of times. Played at FC Dallas' field. Cavernous stadium where you could hear the players think or at least that is what it felt like watching it on the internet. Kind of like watching an Oakland A's/White Sox game.

[PaulNewman]

Fredericksburg is 7+ to 8 hours, presuming no significant traffic issues, for all three visitors. How does that toll compare to a flight? Or is it more of a time zone thing?

Can a school choose to fly out of pocket? Or do the rules prevent teams from traveling as they choose?

[Freddyfud]

Cary NC is a great spot as well and reachable. So, so many better options. How about Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, MD where the NWSL used to play. 

Don't tease me.  The D1 women and men have WakeMed in Cary booked for the next 4 years.  The women's college cup coincides with the D3 men's final.  But yea there are plenty of suitable spots in the Mid/South Atlantic or whatever you want to call us.  Boyds, Richmond, Greensboro, Rock Hill and Charleston, SC all have club tournament hosting experience. Obviously the further south you go the better the weather.

[EnmoreCat]

I'm confident no one will be complaining about the travel if their team happens to go to Las Vegas. I get everything else, but you go where the games are.

[SKUD]

Ugh I just read 3 pages of wine and cheese.  Agree with the Wallaby!

[Little Giant 89]

Kind of like watching an Oakland A's/White Sox game.

Now I'm catching strays on a D3 soccer board.  Isn't it enough that we set records for futility this summer.

Let us suffer in peace.

[PaulNewman]

Saturday is a long ways away.

Do folks who check the board for new posts every 10 minutes prefer to keep refreshing with no posts to read or finding new posts even if they are tedious nonsense from old-timers?

I think the 2nd round is the best round of the tournament in terms of a decent number of people still heavily invested and anticipating a round with a large amount of tasty matchups.

Imo the Sweet 16 round is next best. By the time we hit the Elite 8 most of us already are counting the days for the start of next season.

[Kuiper]

Also 4 teams are going to Vegas which was not always the case before when it was Salem, VA recently. Vegas is going to look like a club game with only parents (if they can afford) with tumbleweed blowing around the stands.  Last year, the NCAAs did not have to pay for W&L and WC to fly.

I'm all for bringing the D3 Final Four to new locations (if the NCAA can afford it).  I also think playing at home in the tournament is a big advantage.  Before the Final Four was played at neutral sites, it probably helped UC San Diego win the national championship in 1991 when UCSD was the host and playing TCNJ, but UCSD also won in 1988 against RIT when it was at RIT, and UCSD also won it in 1993 against Williams playing at Williams.  Trinity also won it in 2003 against Drew playing at Drew.  So, travel can be a pain and hosting can be an advantage, but teams overcome those issues.

Having said that, Las Vegas is kind of out there.  Maybe it makes sense from a cheap, frequent, flights and hotel deals perspective, but from a fan's perspective it doesn't make a lot of sense unless you are thinking about other entertainment options before or after the games.  Peter Johann Field at UNLV is a decent grass playing surface I guess, but it's been a long time since it was considered a top field in the west.  It's kind of a dumpy little place to watch a game though. It's nice that they provide some shade, but it's basically a field-level view.

This was the best picture I could find online to give you a sense of the view from the stands.  As you can see, the stands aren't really big enough for any tumbleweed to come flying through!

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/peter-johann-memorial-field-las-vegas?select=HqlzzafpWo7b56nXtcSxKw

[PaulNewman]

Gonna leave this here with no comment other than to say where one gets one's news apparently does matter...

https://ephsports.williams.edu/news/2024/11/17/mens-soccer-spectacular-overtime-goal-tough-defense-see-williams-beat-messiah-1-0-and-move-on-to-the-round-of-16-of-the-ncaa-national-tournament.aspx

[eaglesoccerdad]

I'm thinking a Wisc or NESCAC team would prefer Vegas over Roanoke. They gotta get on a plane either way so you may as well be warmer. Yeah it wont be home game for one of the Virginia teams but I know most of the players will be pumped to go to Vegas and they are the ones playing the game not the wine & cheese crowd.

[Ron Boerger]

There's a bidding process for championship sites and my guess is the Las Vegas organizing committee made the NCAA a deal it couldn't refuse financially - either that or the other bids were either poor or few were submitted (or both).

A similar situation has taken place in American football where once again this year's championship will be hosted in the Houston area, despite very poor attendance in the past when a Texas school was not involved (1,362 in 2019, the lowest in the Stagg Bowl's 50-year history).  This time the game will be in Houston proper rather than a suburb which may juice attendance slightly if none of the four Texas schools in this year's playoff make it to the final.     

[Hopkins92]

Saturday is a long ways away.

Do folks who check the board for new posts every 10 minutes prefer to keep refreshing with no posts to read or finding new posts even if they are tedious nonsense from old-timers?

I think the 2nd round is the best round of the tournament in terms of a decent number of people still heavily invested and anticipating a round with a large amount of tasty matchups.

Imo the Sweet 16 round is next best. By the time we hit the Elite 8 most of us already are counting the days for the start of next season.

Tedious Old-Timers is a great name for a Phish cover band.

[Freddyfud]

Gonna leave this here with no comment other than to say where one gets one's news apparently does matter...

https://ephsports.williams.edu/news/2024/11/17/mens-soccer-spectacular-overtime-goal-tough-defense-see-williams-beat-messiah-1-0-and-move-on-to-the-round-of-16-of-the-ncaa-national-tournament.aspx

And here comes another 3 pages of whine and cheese!

PN, you were on track to win the class clown superlative.  Now you are the front runner for the Instigator!

[eaglesoccerdad]

"that effort would pay off only a minute into the second portion of extra time when Lorcan Mitchell and Kellan Grace combined defensively to dispossess a Messiah midfielder"