This was brought up in another thread...

I think it deserves it's own thread. I too have been thinking this same thing and really wonder what would happen if next year BYU simply said, "don't worry about a play-in game. We won't be there."



Everyone knows it's all about money but why does the city of Las Vegas and the UNLV get to be the constant beneficiaries? Isn't the Las Vegas bowl enough from our conference?



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

Oh, you are soooooooo right. There is NOTHING fair or right about it on any level. The MWC is selling their soul for the almighty dollar, and giving it to UNLV. It's criminal! :sick: :sick: :angry: :angry:

As I said in the other thread, does anybody have any idea if something like this were possible. I mean tournaments don't really help anyone, besides maybe some crappy team trying to make a last run. Is just for pure money reasons. I also think it's very unfair that UNLV doesn't have to play as hard during regular conference time they just have to bust their asses at the end.



What was the reason again that this game can't be played at that other basketball venue in Las Vegas? I thought it was something to do with an NCAA thing and a venue not being aloud to be connected to a casino or something but other conferences hold their tourney's there, but I guess that's besides the point.

The conference tournament only benefits bubble teams. If New Mexico would have won it all do you think their seed would be better? No. If BYU would have won it all would their seed have been better? Maybe 1 spot. But if you lose then you're seeded worse by 2, 3, or 4 spots!



This tournament needs to be played in SLC at Energy Solutions. It's all about the money right? They say Vegas is a better draw for fans. Fans are more likely to go to the tournament because it's in Vegas. That may be true but at the expense of fair play? If you hold it at ESA then you have 2 fanbases within 45 minutes of the arena. These 2 fan bases do 2 things:



1- Extra tickets will be sold to each fan base in fairly equal parts thus neutralizing the "Home Court Atmosphere". Plus these 2 fan bases hate each other. When Utah plays Wyoming then BYU fans cheer for Wyoming. When BYU plays TCU then Utah fans cheer for TCU. That is just how it is. There is no home court atmosphere there when that happens.



2- Has there ever been a sell-out in the Vegas Invitational for a game that UNLV was not involved in? No. Look at the SDSU-UNM game, there were tons of empty seats. But if you have 2 fan bases in the surrounding area then you are likely to sell more local tickets thus neutralizing this "Vegas draws more fans" mentality. Since the only games the tournament sells out are when the local team plays then aren't you twice as likely to sell out games when there are 2 local teams?



It's all about the money right? Well playing the game at ESA you not only get fair play but you also achieve the monetary goals for the MWC. This is the only solution that I can see.