https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/...761899002/

Cincinnati and NKU plan a four year series with two home games each.

This seems like a big win for legitamacy for NKU, as its becoming the power in the Horizon. Has great mbb facilities. Most of the Horizon seems in decline, but NKU is an exception.

Part of the deal for letting UC play their home games at NKU last year while they renovated 5/3rd Arena.

NKU has done a heck of a job presenting themselves as a second option for Cincy/Xavier/UK fans. Amazing arena.

Living in Cincy would be like a college basketball mecca. So much in the immediate vicinity. So much within a 2-3 hour drive.

Good for UC too. Short inexpensive road trip with good competition. Why not play NKU, X, Miami, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio U, Marshall.....that would be a good non conference schedule with a couple bigger schools in the mix

(07-06-2018 11:22 AM)indianasniff Wrote:  Good for UC too. Short inexpensive road trip with good competition. Why not play NKU, X, Miami, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio U, Marshall.....that would be a good non conference schedule with a couple bigger schools in the mix

There is serious talk of doing an Ohio version of Indiana's Crossroads Classic (IU, Purdue, Butler and ND) with Ohio State, UC, XU and Dayton. The devil's in the details-- OSU has been dead set against it for decades but it seems that with Chris Holtmann as coach things are changing.

https://www.thelantern.com/2017/10/mens-...s-is-made/

(07-06-2018 08:33 AM)NoDak Wrote:  https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/...761899002/

Cincinnati and NKU plan a four year series with two home games each.

This seems like a big win for legitamacy for NKU, as its becoming the power in the Horizon. Has great mbb facilities. Most of the Horizon seems in decline, but NKU is an exception.

Glad we are doing this. NKU was a great partner in letting UC play their home games at BB&T arena last year.

Good for NKU. Question for UC fans though, is there a particular reason they chose them over US Bank Arena? Cheaper rent I'd imagine, but all other things being equal it'd be a lot easier for the fans in the north suburbs to get there.

(07-06-2018 08:37 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Part of the deal for letting UC play their home games at NKU last year while they renovated 5/3rd Arena.

That makes sense; two sure-fire sellouts and four games where they'll be the lead sports story in the region is a pretty good trade for using their court last season.

(07-06-2018 11:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:22 AM)indianasniff Wrote:  Good for UC too. Short inexpensive road trip with good competition. Why not play NKU, X, Miami, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio U, Marshall.....that would be a good non conference schedule with a couple bigger schools in the mix

There is serious talk of doing an Ohio version of Indiana's Crossroads Classic (IU, Purdue, Butler and ND) with Ohio State, UC, XU and Dayton. The devil's in the details-- OSU has been dead set against it for decades but it seems that with Chris Holtmann as coach things are changing.

https://www.thelantern.com/2017/10/mens-...s-is-made/

That would be amazing for Ohio. Hope it happens. The Crossroads Classic has been very successful. The Big 5 have been doing it in Philadelphia for decades.

A Kentucky/Louisville/WKU/Murray State Kentucky Series would be cool. As would would a Florida-based series with Florida, Florida State/Miami, UCF/USF and Florida Gulf Coast. Illinois could have Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Illinois State. Many opportunities for other states to follow.

(07-06-2018 05:58 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:22 AM)indianasniff Wrote:  Good for UC too. Short inexpensive road trip with good competition. Why not play NKU, X, Miami, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio U, Marshall.....that would be a good non conference schedule with a couple bigger schools in the mix

There is serious talk of doing an Ohio version of Indiana's Crossroads Classic (IU, Purdue, Butler and ND) with Ohio State, UC, XU and Dayton. The devil's in the details-- OSU has been dead set against it for decades but it seems that with Chris Holtmann as coach things are changing.

https://www.thelantern.com/2017/10/mens-...s-is-made/

That would be amazing for Ohio. Hope it happens. The Crossroads Classic has been very successful. The Big 5 have been doing it in Philadelphia for decades.

A Kentucky/Louisville/WKU/Murray State Kentucky Series would be cool. As would would a Florida-based series with Florida, Florida State/Miami, UCF/USF and Florida Gulf Coast. Illinois could have Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Illinois State. Many opportunities for other states to follow.

Or Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern

(07-06-2018 06:21 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Or Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern

Those are the top-4, absolutely. I was just trying to avoid a dual membership from one conference. The beauty about the Big 5 and the Crossroads Classic is that all of the members are from different conferences. Having Illinois AND Northwestern would almost surely entail them not playing each other at all. Maybe you could do a rotation of Illinois/Northwestern (B1G) for one spot, Loyola (MVC) for another, DePaul (DePaul) and then maybe UIC from the Horizon? It can be held at either Wintrust or United Center. If you want to keep it strictly Chicago-based, make Northwestern the primary.

(07-06-2018 07:16 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 06:21 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Or Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern

Those are the top-4, absolutely. I was just trying to avoid a dual membership from one conference. The beauty about the Big 5 and the Crossroads Classic is that all of the members are from different conferences. Having Illinois AND Northwestern would almost surely entail them not playing each other at all. Maybe you could do a rotation of Illinois/Northwestern (B1G) for one spot, Loyola (MVC) for another, DePaul (DePaul) and then maybe UIC from the Horizon? It can be held at either Wintrust or United Center. If you want to keep it strictly Chicago-based, make Northwestern the primary.

Um - Purdue and Indiana are both in the Big 10

(07-06-2018 05:12 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Good for NKU. Question for UC fans though, is there a particular reason they chose them over US Bank Arena? Cheaper rent I'd imagine, but all other things being equal it'd be a lot easier for the fans in the north suburbs to get there.

Between rent, parking and concessions, UC saved over $1M paying at NKU. I would add it gave UC an opportunity to showcase across the river— we have a lot of alums
and fans in N. Kentucky and in the east side of Cincinnati (where I live- it is actually quicker for me to go to BB&T then US Bank).

But you could do a Chicagoland with:

Northwestern (BIG)
DePaul (Big East)
Loyola (MVC)
UIC (Horizon)

(07-06-2018 07:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 05:12 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Good for NKU. Question for UC fans though, is there a particular reason they chose them over US Bank Arena? Cheaper rent I'd imagine, but all other things being equal it'd be a lot easier for the fans in the north suburbs to get there.

Between rent, parking and concessions, UC saved over $1M paying at NKU. I would add it gave UC an opportunity to showcase across the river— we have a lot of alums
and fans in N. Kentucky and in the east side of Cincinnati (where I live- it is actually quicker for me to go to BB&T then US Bank).

Also, BB&T is a much, MUCH better facility than US Bank Arena at this point, to say the least.

As a lifelong UC fan (my Dad is an alum) and an alum of NKU, this is both amazingly exciting and utter torture...as it will be next to impossible to root for either team in this matchup. That said, I'm so excited about this...and the future of both programs. UC continuing to rise and NKU really continuing to step up and up and up. NKU has the potential to be a mid-major power in the future.

(07-06-2018 07:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Between rent, parking and concessions, UC saved over $1M paying at NKU. I would add it gave UC an opportunity to showcase across the river— we have a lot of alums
and fans in N. Kentucky and in the east side of Cincinnati (where I live- it is actually quicker for me to go to BB&T then US Bank).

The UC/NKU deal last year was great for both schools.

There were a certain contingent of fans who talked about "NKU is in the middle of nowhere, it will take me forever to get there!" I never understood those folk. Even if they did not take "the back way" into NKU off of I-275 and instead stayed on I-471, it was generally only 10 extra minutes from downtown.

(07-06-2018 07:38 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  But you could do a Chicagoland with:

Northwestern (BIG)
DePaul (Big East)
Loyola (MVC)
UIC (Horizon)

You forgot Chicago State!

(07-06-2018 07:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 05:12 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Good for NKU. Question for UC fans though, is there a particular reason they chose them over US Bank Arena? Cheaper rent I'd imagine, but all other things being equal it'd be a lot easier for the fans in the north suburbs to get there.

Between rent, parking and concessions, UC saved over $1M paying at NKU. I would add it gave UC an opportunity to showcase across the river— we have a lot of alums
and fans in N. Kentucky and in the east side of Cincinnati (where I live- it is actually quicker for me to go to BB&T then US Bank).

Makes sense, though it'd be kinda funny if UC played their season at Millett for the hell of it.

An Ohio Classic featuring Ohio St, Cincy, Xavier, and Dayton would be awesome

(07-06-2018 06:21 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 05:58 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:22 AM)indianasniff Wrote:  Good for UC too. Short inexpensive road trip with good competition. Why not play NKU, X, Miami, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio U, Marshall.....that would be a good non conference schedule with a couple bigger schools in the mix

There is serious talk of doing an Ohio version of Indiana's Crossroads Classic (IU, Purdue, Butler and ND) with Ohio State, UC, XU and Dayton. The devil's in the details-- OSU has been dead set against it for decades but it seems that with Chris Holtmann as coach things are changing.

https://www.thelantern.com/2017/10/mens-...s-is-made/

That would be amazing for Ohio. Hope it happens. The Crossroads Classic has been very successful. The Big 5 have been doing it in Philadelphia for decades.

A Kentucky/Louisville/WKU/Murray State Kentucky Series would be cool. As would would a Florida-based series with Florida, Florida State/Miami, UCF/USF and Florida Gulf Coast. Illinois could have Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Illinois State. Many opportunities for other states to follow.

Or Illinois, DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern

Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern and Notre Dame is the event that would actually sell in the Chicago market if one were ever created.

Note that the Crossroads Classic works because Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame all have similar levels of power and leverage as power conference members (with Indiana being a national basketball blue blood and ND being a national brand name school overall). Butler didn’t have that status when the Crossroads Classic started, but now they are at the power conference level for basketball purposes in the Big East. The Chicago-area setup I described would be similar. The issue with the Ohio-based proposal is that the power and leverage is so imbalanced between the schools - Ohio State has gargantuan power at a national level as continuously vying with Texas as the nation’s largest athletic department by revenue. Ohio State seems more interested in playing national blue bloods like UNC in Chicago. The other Ohio-based schools get waaaay more out of playing Ohio State than the other way around, which is much different than the Crossroads Classic situation.