If not MSG...

[AlexJesswein]

How about the Barclays Center in Brooklyn?

[MU_Iceman]

How about the Barclays Center in Brooklyn?


It's going to be rotated. Probably start at Conseco Fieldhouse next year.

[kneelb4zerg]

It's going to be rotated. Probably start at Conseco Fieldhouse next year.

According to who? Do you really think all these details have been ironed out already?

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

So says Mike Hunt, the same man that suggested Marquette should be trying to get into the Big Ten. Also, he didn't source anyone in that article. I get the impression he was blowing smoke.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Will they do this rotation until they can decide the best spot for a more permanent location? Seems like you'd build better brand awareness by having it at the same spot every year.

[TedBaxter]

Brooklyn would be my choice if it's not MSG. New arena for a new conference, but still in New York.

[MU_Iceman]

According to who? Do you really think all these details have been ironed out already?

Marquette's new basketball-centric athletic conference will include 10 or 12 teams, have a reasonable television contract and rotating sites for its league tournament, according to university sources.

[AlexJesswein]

Brooklyn would be my choice if it's not MSG. New arena for a new conference, but still in New York.

Bingo--MSG is still the king but it seems like it would be beneficial for both parties.

[IWB]

No dice - give up MSG and the ACC takes it - hold on to it any way you can.

[AlexJesswein]

No dice - give up MSG and the ACC takes it - hold on to it any way you can.

Hence the "If not MSG". That would be choice 1a, b and c.

[IWB]

Exactly Alex!

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

And if not MSG...I guess Barclay's. But I think a tropical venue would be better. Make your conference tournament a destination, like the non-con tourneys in November. What's wrong with Atlantis? It will be a destination that gets players, recruits, and boosters excited.

[AlexJesswein]

And if not MSG...I guess Barclay's. But I think a tropical venue would be better. Make your conference tournament a destination, like the non-con tourneys in November. What's wrong with Atlantis? It will be a destination that gets players, recruits, and boosters excited.

And...2000 fans can attend? I get where you are going with that..but no thanks.

[Goose85]

Isn't the A-10 locked into the Barclay's for their tournament? Need to keep MSG. It would make me sick to see the ACC tournament there.

[MUBB713]

I would guess that the A10 tournament is as locked into the Barclays as the big east is locked into MSG.

[MUBRACES]

Why not do the united center?

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Why not do the united center?

Could we get the UC? The B1G plays their tournament either there or Conseco (or Bankers Life, or whatever it's called now) every year. Not sure the UC would want to sever their partnership with the biggest conference in the Midwest. Though I love the idea of the UC especially if we extend to Creighton and Gonzaga, as it would be far more central to the entire league than NYC would be (though MSG is still first choice).

[warriorfan4life]

I would guess that the A10 tournament is as locked into the Barclays as the big east is locked into MSG.

This, and I am starting to prefer Barclays as a fresh start.

[Goose85]

Why would the A-10 allow Barclays to get out of their contract with them for the A-10 tourney, especially if the new conference pilfers their league? No way on Barclays I would think. That would be like the Big East, after losing top schools to the ACC, agreeing to move out of the Garden so the ACC can host their tourney there.

Need to get a long term deal with the garden if the remaining Big East schools don't keep it.

[kneelb4zerg]

Why would the A-10 allow Barclays to get out of their contract with them for the A-10 tourney, especially if the new conference pilfers their league? No way on Barclays I would think. That would be like the Big East, after losing top schools to the ACC, agreeing to move out of the Garden so the ACC can host their tourney there.

Need to get a long term deal with the garden if the remaining Big East schools don't keep it.

You mean why would Barclays try to get out of their arrangement with the A-10? More $$$$

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

If the A-10 lost Butler, VCU, Xavier, and St. Louis, those are pretty much their best teams, especially with Temple on the way out as well. Will that league have anywhere near the same drawing power when your top-tier schools are St. Joe's, Richmond, and Dayton? Something tells me that radical a shift in quality would come close to being a material change to the contract in that the A-10 wasn't promising the quality of competition that Barclay's signed on for.

[MayorBeluga]

Do everything you can to get MSG. Midtown v. Brooklyn? The World's Most Famous Arena v. Brooklyn? No question which is better. Anyone who has been to the Big East Tournament understands.

[CaribouJim]

How about the Barclays Center in Brooklyn?

Agree 100% if and only if MSG can't be secured, although the more I think of it the Barclays Center is the "it" place now and it may be just as good a draw to recruits as the MSG - JayZ, who I often hang with, is a big deal. Maybe not a bad idea - out with everything old and look to make their own history.

[Hamostradamus]

I thought about the Barclay's as well, secure the weekend before the A-10 (March 14) and use that as a starting point.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I thought about the Barclay's as well, secure the weekend before the A-10 (March 14) and use that as a starting point.

Ugh...no. Definitely not. The first weekend is for the crappity low and mid-majors. The second weekend is for the real basketball conferences. I'd rather we play at The CUC in Saskatoon on the second weekend of March than in the Taj Mahal (the real one, not the Trump one) on the first weekend. Playing that first weekend is basically a statement that you are not a legitimate basketball league.

[Gato78]

MSG is the World's Greatest Arena. The Ali-Frazier fight, the Willis Reed injury return, some of the country's most memorable concerts from Sinatra to Springsteen, all of the great BIG EAST Tourney's (think Carnesecca vs Thompson; McNamara's 4 game run; the 6 OT game). MSG is basketball's biggest stage. Indy vs MSG? Get frickin' serious. Barclay's has some current cachet but it is in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is where people live who cannot or will not afford Manhattan--New Yorkers, back me up here. We were with MU team in 2002 when they played MSG and the players were so pumped to play in the cradle. There is no question MSG is the place. We should'nt even be talking about any other venue unless we must.

[Hamostradamus]

Ugh...no. Definitely not. The first weekend is for the crappity low and mid-majors. The second weekend is for the real basketball conferences. I'd rather we play at The CUC in Saskatoon on the second weekend of March than in the Taj Mahal (the real one, not the Trump one) on the first weekend. Playing that first weekend is basically a statement that you are not a legitimate basketball league.

A-10 has the second weekend for 2013 and perhaps through 2018, so the discussion may be moot.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Better to go to Chicago or Indy or DC or Philly for 5-6 years than play the week before. By the time Selection Sunday rolls around, everyone has forgotten about you.