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Does UB need an Improved Home Schedule?


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Am I one of the only ones that don't want Power 5 schools coming to Alumni Arena YET! I do not have confidence enough or see enough community buy in for a Power 5 to turn Alumni Arena into a home arena for them. 

A couple years of consistently making the NCAA tournament, loading up on my season tickets until it is seen as a hot ticket in WNY. All 100 and 200 sellouts. After 2 or 3 yeas of that. Let's bring Power 5's in.

I also disagree with main post. I don't think Hofstra, Radford or any of those teams will bring in more fans. If that is the case, did Duke fans not show up for the Stetson game in December?

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I liked our schedule this year. We went 31-3. We won THIRTY. ONE. GAMES.

If WVU and SF had played better down the stretch we would have been ranked in the low teens and likely a 4 or at least a well-positioned 5. Tickets are up and should continue to climb with a run in the tourney + Oats staying. Why make drastic changes now? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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With threads like this we are becoming an actual fan base!  Four pages of an arguement to kill time until Wednesday's result.

I will add to the thread, though.

Biggest factor is the success of the team.  The fans would have come out to see UB play ECC this year, especially in February.

My take...I would rather we go on the road and play P5, try to get in good neutral site tourneys, play 1 and 1 with a good mid-major and hope the MAC commissioner can get a series with a BETTER or similar conference.  I don't want to see a MAC - OVC challenge.

 

And...lots of TV exposure.  Friday nights were Bulls basketball nights this year!

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Let's not discount the upcoming Charleston tournament. Oats also said we'll be in a similar tournament the following year (but couldn't mention it by name).

I think we're doing our best to increase exposure where we can, I'll take some easy wins at home.

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Crossing topics a little, but today on WGR whoever was on in the 5pm slot said that essentially all of the other MAC teams are the same to him.  I don't necessarily disagree this year.  Other years Akron was always a good competitor, but otherwise not very exciting.  The examples that were given of teams that would be exciting were ACC teams.  We are not going to be bringing ACC teams anytime soon.  So if that's the case, we might as well play whoever since any mid major will not get casual fans in the door.

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1 hour ago, rma said:

Crossing topics a little, but today on WGR whoever was on in the 5pm slot said that essentially all of the other MAC teams are the same to him.  I don't necessarily disagree this year.  Other years Akron was always a good competitor, but otherwise not very exciting.  The examples that were given of teams that would be exciting were ACC teams.  We are not going to be bringing ACC teams anytime soon.  So if that's the case, we might as well play whoever since any mid major will not get casual fans in the door.

It’s not about getting them in the door. It is about the experience once they are in the door. 

There is a huge difference between playing Wagner and Hofstra. Big difference between playing Cleveland State and Kent State. 

No one is getting excited about any of those teams.

No one is going to show up to see the other team play. But some of those teams will offer enjoyable games that make for a good experience for those that do come for a game and others won’t. 

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3 hours ago, rma said:

Crossing topics a little, but today on WGR whoever was on in the 5pm slot said that essentially all of the other MAC teams are the same to him.  I don't necessarily disagree this year.  Other years Akron was always a good competitor, but otherwise not very exciting.  The examples that were given of teams that would be exciting were ACC teams.  We are not going to be bringing ACC teams anytime soon.  So if that's the case, we might as well play whoever since any mid major will not get casual fans in the door.

I'm on this forum, so by default, I follow more than most. I agree - all the other mac schools are the same to me, in that I don't care about them, at all, other than Kent. and that's only because I have a co-worker who played football there so I can give him shit.  😜

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9 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

It’s not about getting them in the door. It is about the experience once they are in the door. 

There is a huge difference between playing Wagner and Hofstra. Big difference between playing Cleveland State and Kent State. 

No one is getting excited about any of those teams.

No one is going to show up to see the other team play. But some of those teams will offer enjoyable games that make for a good experience for those that do come for a game and others won’t. 

Dutch, I feel like you keep going back to the same point about competitive teams in Alumni. I think what you are suggesting would hurt us. 

There are two fans, Die hards and Casual. Die Hards (I would say just about everyone here) will just about go to any game that UB is playing at home. We know who we are playing and their standings (RPI, KenPom, etc).  It can help us in the rankings playing us at home and we know that. The games are close because of the more competitive team.

The casual fan (who we are trying to attract) does not care about any of those rankings. The team we are playing in the Arena could be a top 100 team but they have no idea. So now, we blow them out of the water, we seem like a REALLY good team. We take a team like Hofstra to the wire. That could be seen as UB not being good ("How can they compete with UNC if they are taking a random Hofstra team to the final minute"). 

So back to my original point, make the 100's and 200's sell outs for season tickets for the next 2 years and multiple sell outs a year. Then get better teams once we have a more established fan base. 

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42 minutes ago, BullsFan14 said:

 

The casual fan (who we are trying to attract) does not care about any of those rankings. The team we are playing in the Arena could be a top 100 team but they have no idea. So now, we blow them out of the water, we seem like a REALLY good team. We take a team like Hofstra to the wire. That could be seen as UB not being good ("How can they compete with UNC if they are taking a random Hofstra team to the final minute"). 

Again, it is the difference between being short sighted or looking long term. 

How do fans know the team can compete with good teams with big names?  By playing in events like the Charleston classic and getting some wins. By going to the NCAA tournament. By winning in the NCAA tournament. 

In the short term casual observers might not know how good one team is but they will in the long term when at the end of the season they see those teams in their conference finals, the NIT, or NCAA tournament. 

It is a process. It isn’t enough to get people into the door. You have to keep them coming.  

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Personally, I can't do anything about the schedule, so I try not to put too much mental energy into it. I believe in the coaches and admin and happily attend each game no matter who the opponent is. I am certain that they wish to bring in the best possible teams but most don't wish to take a beating at the AA. Additionally, the price point and entertainment value on season tickets is a great steal, whether it's a "big" opponent or not, combined with the 9 league home games (for each the men and women). 

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36 minutes ago, UB85 said:

Do SU fans complain about all the patsies they schedule and play in the carrier dome? And my guess is their tickets are far more expensive than ours. 

You mean do they complain about having to play UB and Georgetown at home?

They play some pretty good teams at home.  Games we would LOVE to have. 

But yes, you can see they don't care about some of the games against weak teams...

Go on stub hub and you will see season ticket holders unloading tickets to games for teams they don't care about.  Luckily for them, Syracuse has so much demand for people wanting to see a Syracuse game that people will pay $7 to see Directional Great Lakes University play the Orange so they can watch one game a year in person.  The season ticket holders buy the season tickets only so they can see Duke, UNC, Virginia, Georgetown and the like.  The rest of the tickets are simply included in the package.

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I mean what I wrote. They do not complain. Because they have a team that is successful and provides great entertainment value throughout the year. If you find the schedule not to your liking then don’t bother getting season tickets. Your call. 

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1 minute ago, UB85 said:

I mean what I wrote. They do not complain. Because they have a team that is successful and provides great entertainment value throughout the year. If you find the schedule not to your liking then don’t bother getting season tickets. Your call. 

Comparing ourselves to Syracuse and Duke in this thread?  Crazy...

Yes, it is my call.  

And Lemoyne or Central Penn are better off watched at home than making the trip to Alumni for a game that should be a pre-season exhibition because it is meaningless. 

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I enjoyed making the trip to the AA and watched both the Lemoyne and Central Penn games until the end. It was fun seeing the team play no matter what. Every scheduled game will not be a back-and-forth, or perfectly played game by UB. I'm sure the coaches and AD's would love your assistance in getting high level or moderate level teams that are high enough caliber for you in the building. Again, they surely are trying their best to only schedule the lowest of the low at the AA just to annoy you.

This thread is getting tiresome. We are 2 days away from a men's and women's NCAA tournament game. Let's focus on that and not on things that you nor I (or anyone else on this board) has the ability to control.

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1 minute ago, Jeseph said:

As long as things don't get personal I'll leave the dead horse here for beating until we have another game to watch.

A lot of rehashing the same stuff. But no one is trashing anyone.  So no harm no foul! 😂

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51 minutes ago, skrabukes said:

I'm sure the coaches and AD's would love your assistance in getting high level or moderate level teams that are high enough caliber for you in the building.

You don't think they can get home/home deals with CAA or Patriot League schools?

Of course they can.  Vermont would love a home/home deal with Buffalo.  They could open their new arena with Buffalo and it would be huge for them.

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