ESPN

I think ESPN got some great football games - interesting for general college FB fans - out of BYU football. Unfortunately we lost most of those close games. But they were close, nail biters.



Basketball. NIT. Games have not been close. Crowds have been good by NIT standards. Games are not nail biters, but BYU is winning - and a Cinderella of sorts - but then all 1s are gone now - so we have 4 Cinderellas of sorts.



I wonder which scenario makes ESPN happiest.



Both are positive in my opinion.



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Cougarbib wrote:
Crowds have been good by NIT standards.

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Crowds have been good by basketball standards. BYU had 7,511 fans in attendance against Washington. If BYU had just averaged that many fans per game, they would have ranked 71 in D1 attendance. That's more fans per game than Texas A&M, UTEP, Butler, Auburn, UCLA, and Gonzaga. That's more fans than every conference but the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Big East, ACC and only 300 fewer fans than the MWC averaged as conferences.



The attendance has been great from a basketball standpoint.

Cougarbib wrote:
I think ESPN got some great football games - interesting for general college FB fans - out of BYU football. Unfortunately we lost most of those close games. But they were close, nail biters.



Basketball. NIT. Games have not been close. Crowds have been good by NIT standards. Games are not nail biters, but BYU is winning - and a Cinderella of sorts - but then all 1s are gone now - so we have 4 Cinderellas of sorts.



I wonder which scenario makes ESPN happiest.



Both are positive in my opinion.



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So, if you aren't a 1 seed , you are a Cinderella? Not quite. In fact, i have never heard the term, Cinderella, applied to the NIT. This is The Little dance of the sisters of the poor, not the Big dance. Why do you think it is on all the lesser ESPN channels?

I get what you are trying to say. But it is the NIT. Expectations arent that high. But yes, I would think that BYU has met and exceeded whatever "expectations" ESPN may have had. I just don't think it is even close to being examined in the same light as the Big Dance and even far less more than Football. Probably even less than the Woman's NCAA tourney, as evidenced by placement on a higher ESPN priority of channels.

I'm sure ESPN is glad to have BYU in the NIT. We have one of the largest fan bases in the nation.



A poor showing of 7,000 fans at one of our games is a season high for most teams in the nation. 7,000 is basically 1/3 of what the Marriott center seats. Assuming the same ratio of BYU fans watch the games on TV, a 1/3 of BYU's fan base likely larger than Mercer and So Ms fan bases combined.

Quibbling over words and missing the point.



Spiff - BYU got higher attendance for regular season home games than NIT home games. Crowds would be larger if we were in the dance and playing out west, especially, let alone Provo. I am sure ESPN would love to have seen a Mariott Center sellout. But I am also sure that they did not expect that and probably really like what they got from BYU. After all, national broadcast of 3 NIT games during March Madness - Sweet.



DM - I realize that this is the consolation bracket. But it actually is geared up to produce more interesting games in the early rounds than you get with 1s playing 16s in the dance. NCAA is forced to take many teams they do not want. NIT probably gets its 32 teams from a pool that lies below the 10 seeds but nearly equal to slightly better than the other seeds - thus closely matched. Close fought games with narrow spreads are interesting. These games had narrow enough spreads, and although not as close as expected, BYU surprised and provided the upsets. This creates drama and gets viewers.



All - ESPN succeeds when they get product that attracts viewers other than just the fans of the two teams playing. They are regional at minimum and often national broadcasts. If conference foe fans tune in to root for or against you or your opponent - up go the ratings. Same if regional foes not in your conference have fans tune in and root for or against either opponent. If you are ranked or create other national interest with players and stories like Tyler Haws - national viewers with no ties to either program flip the channel and takeaway look. Fans of past opponents or potential future opponent fans scouting you. It all gets viewers. So do big name opponents. NIT has less of that. BYU Football had a lot of that and very close games coming down to the last play



I think ESPN is pleased with what they got from both BYU NIT basketball and BYU football this year - football losses not withstanding. ESPN may be disappointed in regular season basketball given blowout losses, shortage of name opponents and upset losses.



I will hold my vote re what they like best until I see how NY turns out. It starts with a kiss your sister rematch - but a narrow spread and potential revenge storyline.

Cougs_Rule wrote:

I think ESPN got some great football games - interesting for general college FB fans - out of BYU football. Unfortunately we lost most of those close games. But they were close, nail biters.



Basketball. NIT. Games have not been close. Crowds have been good by NIT standards. Games are not nail biters, but BYU is winning - and a Cinderella of sorts - but then all 1s are gone now - so we have 4 Cinderellas of sorts.



I wonder which scenario makes ESPN happiest.



Both are positive in my opinion.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

So, if you aren't a 1 seed , you are a Cinderella? Not quite. In fact, i have never heard the term, Cinderella, applied to the NIT. This is The Little dance of the sisters of the poor, not the Big dance. Why do you think it is on all the lesser ESPN channels?

I get what you are trying to say. But it is the NIT. Expectations arent that high. But yes, I would think that BYU has met and exceeded whatever "expectations" ESPN may have had. I just don't think it is even close to being examined in the same light as the Big Dance and even far less more than Football. Probably even less than the Woman's NCAA tourney, as evidenced by placement on a higher ESPN priority of channels.

That is what "of sorts" means DM.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2013/03/20/espn-trutv-kentucky-basketball-ncaa-tournament-robert-morris/2002907/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



USA Today reported that the Kentucky-Robert Morris matchup generated a 1.2 rating, followed by .7 for the BYU-Washington game. For what it's worth, the NIT double-header performed better than the NCAA First Round "play-in" matchups. Not sure how to find the ratings for BYU's other NIT matchups and how they compare to other NIT/NCAA games.