By Alex Faust, News Staff
The event did not take place in the swanky confines of the Legends Club at the TD Garden, nor at a large restaurant outside of Washington, D.C. In fact, it was hardly like the polished media events from Hockey East or the Colonial Athletic Association. Instead, the inaugural “Massachusetts Basketball Media Day” held at Boston University’s Case Gymnasium was a chance to unite what is a rather weak alliance of Division I college basketball programs in the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts has a proud basketball tradition – after all, the game was invented here. But of late, the six Division I programs that play here – Boston University, UMass, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Boston College and Harvard – exist in their own worlds. Sure, there are one or two dates reserved on each team’s calendar for local rivalry games, but those come and go without much fanfare outside the respective student bodies – each team moves on to play in its own conference and forgets about the other local teams unless one happens to be in the NCAA tournament the following March. One gets the sense that some life needs to be injected into the state’s college basketball scene. Unless you’re a student, these rivalries draw little attention.
We can start by giving up the elitist notion that playing a single–elimination in–season tournament (or season-kickoff tournament) with other in–state teams is somehow beneath them. I’m sorry, but if you’re already playing some of these teams on a rotating basis, what’s the harm in adding a fixed-venue championship game to cap off a three–game span?
As a student of economics, I understand that it’s going to take more than ticket sales to make a date at a fixed-venue such as the TD Garden a realistic possibility. I also understand that you don’t want to handicap your scheduling abilities, not only for your team, but for the staff that manages your home games. But at the same time, there are plenty of businesses across the state that would love to capitalize on a college basketball marketing opportunity in their backyard.
The one catch is that such an event has to mean something. For instance, while the Boston Tip-Off Classic last year was a nice one–off event (essentially a neutral–site Commonwealth Classic with an opening act – Northeastern vs. Drexel), it meant nothing. There was no trophy, no meaning beyond a CAA game and the annual UMass/BC game. It was difficult to get fanbases of the respective schools excited (other than UMass, which was able to tap into its Boston alumni base.)
Of course, any proposal for a “Basketball Beanpot” or some other intrastate tournament sounds great on paper, but the devil is in the details and logistics are always the biggest challenge. Home dates are precious commodities, the perception that they’re being “taken away,” especially for a tournament that may not make much money, doesn’t sit well with athletic directors, and that’s understandable. But something has to be done.
It helps that Boston will be hosting the NCAA tournament’s East Regional rounds in March to stir up some interest in college basketball, but in all likelihood there will be no team within 250 miles driving distance of the TD Garden playing in the East Regional come March. Unless something changes from the last time the city hosted NCAA tournament games in 2008, the games will come and go without much momentum for change.
Hopefully Tuesday’s event can be the genesis of a hoops revival in this state. At least it got everyone in the same room, at the same time.
