Why as Arkansas never got to host an NCAA Regional

[The Marmot]

I think we will be hosting NCAAT regionals in the near future. Many more hotels are in the works (not Super 8s), and it would be another great event that could showcase NWA.

[kitshicker]

UALR is hosting the friday and sunday games at Alltel next year.

[PorcineSublime]

NOPE!.....NOT ENOUGH HOTELS WITHIN A PARTICULAR RADIUS...FAYETTEVILLE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH BY ITSELF TO MEET THE CRITERIA. THE HOTELS IN BENTONVILLE/ROGERS AREN'T TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE ARENA.

Not sure I can buy this one. They count hotel rooms in NY for some of the games at Hartford. Most big city venues count rooms as far away as fifty miles out. We have the rooms, just not the political capital to make it happen.

[razorsox]

An on campus arena can be used but the team that plays there cannot be at that tournament site.
Take 1995 for instance. The Hogs played in Austin. Texas was somewhere out west. I ate in a bar the night before the Arkansas game. Texas was playing on the big screen at the bar and none of the locals were paying any attention to the game. They did come to the Arkansas game in great numbers however to cheer for Texas Southern and to boo Arkansas.

I am not sure about the logistics factor (SID, hotels, parking, etc), but I believe fans in NWA would have a significant interest in regional games at Bud Walton.  There have been so many people from other places injected in the area due to Wal-Mart.  I would suspect most of these people are fans of teams other than Arkansas so it could draw a large crowd.  Just some thoughts.

[rockhog]

nlr alltell arena is hosting a regional bracket in 08' for mens ncaa basketball.  a buddy of mine at work showed it to me on the internet, i forget which website.

[SacredGroove]

An on campus arena can be used but the team that plays there cannot be at that tournament site.
Take 1995 for instance. The Hogs played in Austin. Texas was somewhere out west. I ate in a bar the night before the Arkansas game. Texas was playing on the big screen at the bar and none of the locals were paying any attention to the game. They did come to the Arkansas game in great numbers however to cheer for Texas Southern and to boo Arkansas.

A little off topic here:

I was at that game and as I remember, it wasn't until halftime that the whole arena woke up and started rooting hard for Texas Southern. Their band came out at halftime and just lit up the whole arena. Us Hog fans that were there could not be heard the rest of the game.

[combsj]

I've heard b/c there is not a large enough and diverse enough population to sell enough seats.  If U of A was a host site, how many people would show up to watch Gonzaga vs. Maryland?  They need to fill seats and in a larger population area they are much more likely to sell more tickets regardless of who is assigned to that site.  Of course, the NCAA isn't dumb either, like having Louisville play in Lexington to use up their 24,000 seats.  I think LR would be more likely to get a site during a year when U of A is almost guaranteed to get in, then the committee would put the Hogs at LR during the first 2 rounds.  LR is about 500,000 people metro and NWA is about 300,000.  FYI for those of you who may not know, teams can not play on their home courts during the tournament.

[JohnDoe]

nlr alltell arena is hosting a regional bracket in 08' for mens ncaa basketball.  a buddy of mine at work showed it to me on the internet, i forget which website.

UALR is NOT hosting an NCAA Regional next year.  They are hosting the 1st and 2nd round games.  There is a difference.  I also believe that in order to be considered for hosting an NCAA Regional you must have an arena that seats more than 20,000.  If an area can meet the hotel requirements and has a big enough arena then it can apply to host a regional.  It also seems like the NCAA is looking at large domed stadiums to host the final fours for the next few years.  This is mainly for attendance purposes.

[ICEman]

On the hotel thing: I'm pretty sure the hotels are supposed to be full-service types.  I doubt if a few new Super 8's would count. 

Super 8's!  Have you been to NWA lately?  The Barber group alone have in the works 22 story Double Tree in the works in the Pinnacle Area.  The 18 story Renaissance will soon see the light of day in downtown Fayetteville... there are others.

[ICEman]

I've heard b/c there is not a large enough and diverse enough population to sell enough seats.  If U of A was a host site, how many people would show up to watch Gonzaga vs. Maryland?  They need to fill seats and in a larger population area they are much more likely to sell more tickets regardless of who is assigned to that site.  Of course, the NCAA isn't dumb either, like having Louisville play in Lexington to use up their 24,000 seats.  I think LR would be more likely to get a site during a year when U of A is almost guaranteed to get in, then the committee would put the Hogs at LR during the first 2 rounds.  LR is about 500,000 people metro and NWA is about 300,000.  FYI for those of you who may not know, teams can not play on their home courts during the tournament.

If you throw in Sebastian county, the NWA/western AR area is well north of 500K!

[4thdownnutt]

how bout if i tell the truth --  FV ain't big enough and is remote!!!! like it or lump it.

[pikehog]

Little Rock is in contention for hosting one.

Yet another reason why Little Rock is better than all of NW Ark combined.

Move all the games to LR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dchogfanindc]

You have to bid to get a regional.
Who is going to put up the money ?
Plus the U of A does not have a big enough SID staff to run one of those things.
Their people are covering their own teams (basketball, track, baseball).

The UALR SID/athletic staff is going to have no problems covering is so why would the U of A?

Can't wait for the rounds next year in North Little Rock.

Most likely it will be a Sun Belt Conference effort. Most smaller conferences use the school/conference. Most times the NCAA Tourney is in New Orleans it is UNO and the SBC hosting it. Other times it is Tulane and its conference.

[Karma]

I'm always shocked at how poor the hotel quality is in Fayetteville. There isn't one really nice hotel (that I know of).

[HoopS]

Come on now Nutt doesnt prevent CBS from come to the best college arena in America form March Maddness

He prevents the Hogs from going to the BCS.... don't be so sure he doesn't prevent CBS from coming here....

Danng that is a great one!  Zing buddy!

thank you sir.

[RandyFromJohnson]

People, the reason is hotels, as has been explained many times and by the NCAA itself. The NCAA requires a certain number of hotels of a certain "stature" to host a regional. Meaning: no Super 8's, Comfort Inns, Sleep Inns are considered. Counting B'ville, F'ville, S'dale, and Rogers there *might* be enough, but the NCAA isn't going to have teams, support staff, media, etc holed up in B'ville and commuting a half-hour (probably more, considering the size of the event) to F'ville. If F'ville could add another couple of premium hotels they might be considered if the city/UA were to bid.

What, a Super 8 or a Comfort Inn is good enough for me but not those with the NCAA?

Let 'em sleep in an RV.

JcS

In a word... NO.

[RandyFromJohnson]

Geesh do you guys not watch the news other than ESPN? Alltel Arena is hosting the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament next March. The Little Rock Metro will be the smallest Metro area to host the tournament next year, so of course Fayetteville would be completely out of the question. The biggest problem Little Rock/North Little Rock has had in the past is a lack of hotel rooms.

Thank you. I love the Hogs, but we have got to have the stupidest fan base I've ever seen. How many times can we go over the same basic darn and spend 3 pages debating the answers to the most fundamental of questions.

[LoseAnutt]

I've heard b/c there is not a large enough and diverse enough population to sell enough seats.  If U of A was a host site, how many people would show up to watch Gonzaga vs. Maryland?  They need to fill seats and in a larger population area they are much more likely to sell more tickets regardless of who is assigned to that site.  Of course, the NCAA isn't dumb either, like having Louisville play in Lexington to use up their 24,000 seats.  I think LR would be more likely to get a site during a year when U of A is almost guaranteed to get in, then the committee would put the Hogs at LR during the first 2 rounds.  LR is about 500,000 people metro and NWA is about 300,000.  FYI for those of you who may not know, teams can not play on their home courts during the tournament.

If you throw in Sebastian county, the NWA/western AR area is well north of 500K!

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=littlerock-ar-usa

Little Rock/North Little Rock Metro now has a population of 805,207 which is WAY "north" of 500,000. And LR/NLR have six (6) interstates to access the metro with compared to NWA's one. It's difficult to even reach NWA coming from the North or East due to a lack of divided four-lane highways. If you live like in Indiana, driving to Fayetteville would suck! And since there is no airport up there for the casual flyer, flying in would be expensive and difficult.

LR 1
NWA 0

[jbcarol]

Geesh do you guys not watch the news other than ESPN? Alltel Arena is hosting the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament next March. The Little Rock Metro will be the smallest Metro area to host the tournament next year, so of course Fayetteville would be completely out of the question. The biggest problem Little Rock/North Little Rock has had in the past is a lack of hotel rooms.

Thank you. I love the Hogs, but we have got to have the stupidest fan base I've ever seen. How many times can we go over the same basic crap and spend 3 pages debating the answers to the most fundamental of questions.

Randy,  You built your career on being a starter but you are the closer on this thread !!!

I just didn't know your middle name was a preposition.  I thought it was a gerund that also began with the letter "F".

[PorcineSublime]

I've heard b/c there is not a large enough and diverse enough population to sell enough seats.  If U of A was a host site, how many people would show up to watch Gonzaga vs. Maryland?  They need to fill seats and in a larger population area they are much more likely to sell more tickets regardless of who is assigned to that site.  Of course, the NCAA isn't dumb either, like having Louisville play in Lexington to use up their 24,000 seats.  I think LR would be more likely to get a site during a year when U of A is almost guaranteed to get in, then the committee would put the Hogs at LR during the first 2 rounds.  LR is about 500,000 people metro and NWA is about 300,000.  FYI for those of you who may not know, teams can not play on their home courts during the tournament.

If you throw in Sebastian county, the NWA/western AR area is well north of 500K!

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=littlerock-ar-usa

Little Rock/North Little Rock Metro now has a population of 805,207 which is WAY "north" of 500,000. And LR/NLR have six (6) interstates to access the metro with compared to NWA's one. It's difficult to even reach NWA coming from the North or East due to a lack of divided four-lane highways. If you live like in Indiana, driving to Fayetteville would suck! And since there is no airport up there for the casual flyer, flying in would be expensive and difficult.

LR 1
NWA 0

I wouldn't even know where to start here. You are the reincarnation of Rey. For what its worth, you can get to/from anywhere in the world from Dallas, Atlanta, Minneapolis, New York, Houston or Los Angleles. What do all these places have in common, they all have direct flights from/to XNA. The airport here is just fine thank you. You do have a point about Interstate Access, but since the state highway commission seems hell bent on blocking any highway project that doesnt go through LR or the delta, I guess we will just have to be OK with it and move on. NWA may not have enough population to support an NCAA regional for BB, but come early summer watch the 10K show up for the NCAA baseball regional. ALL Arkansans are welcome, even those from, well you know. Oh BTW, we will look forward to entertaining you LR's at our new ballpark and AA team that we didn't have the population for as well.

Last time I checked we all lived in AR and there is no State of LR or State of NWA. It's all good.

NWA 1
LR    1 (will we ever get past this childish BS).

WPS

[LoseAnutt]

I've heard b/c there is not a large enough and diverse enough population to sell enough seats.  If U of A was a host site, how many people would show up to watch Gonzaga vs. Maryland?  They need to fill seats and in a larger population area they are much more likely to sell more tickets regardless of who is assigned to that site.  Of course, the NCAA isn't dumb either, like having Louisville play in Lexington to use up their 24,000 seats.  I think LR would be more likely to get a site during a year when U of A is almost guaranteed to get in, then the committee would put the Hogs at LR during the first 2 rounds.  LR is about 500,000 people metro and NWA is about 300,000.  FYI for those of you who may not know, teams can not play on their home courts during the tournament.

If you throw in Sebastian county, the NWA/western AR area is well north of 500K!

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=littlerock-ar-usa

Little Rock/North Little Rock Metro now has a population of 805,207 which is WAY "north" of 500,000. And LR/NLR have six (6) interstates to access the metro with compared to NWA's one. It's difficult to even reach NWA coming from the North or East due to a lack of divided four-lane highways. If you live like in Indiana, driving to Fayetteville would suck! And since there is no airport up there for the casual flyer, flying in would be expensive and difficult.

LR 1
NWA 0

You are the reincarnation of Rey.

LOL, I've heard someone tell me that on here once before. Who was Rey?

[jap66]

Fayetteville just lacks the infrastructure (hotel rooms, airport etc.) to host it, while Little Rock does not.

A big part of the infrastructure would be parking.
It might work if the UofA was on spring break. Otherwise, the Parking and Transit folks could be hard to deal with.

[PorcineSublime]

Fayetteville just lacks the infrastructure (hotel rooms, airport etc.) to host it, while Little Rock does not.

A big part of the infrastructure would be parking.
It might work if the UofA was on spring break. Otherwise, the Parking and Transit folks could be hard to deal with.

Now that is a good point. We have precious little parking close to BWA. We could find some areas to develop, but I always felt that the small amount of parking close to the arena was on purpose to keep the donations flowing to the RF.    A parking garage at the bottom of the hill would do nicely.

[jbcarol]

Fayetteville just lacks the infrastructure (hotel rooms, airport etc.) to host it, while Little Rock does not.

A big part of the infrastructure would be parking.
It might work if the UofA was on spring break. Otherwise, the Parking and Transit folks could be hard to deal with.

Now that is a good point. We have precious little parking close to BWA. We could find some areas to develop, but I always felt that the small amount of parking close to the arena was on purpose to keep the donations flowing to the RF.    A parking garage at the bottom of the hill would do nicely.

It was spring break in Lexington and we parked next to the gate for the Hawgs/Cat baseball battle.  Regular nite and its a half mile hike and a hefty garage fee.

[DEVIL DOG HOG]

NWA has nicer people than Little Rock, more friendly.

[CorningHog]

I believe the "Regional" would be a top billing for Arkansas.  Especially if the baseball team was out of town that weekend.  Arkansas fans would almost "sell out" a regional event that would have 4 of the Top 16 teams left in the NCAA tourney! 

Also, the Hotel situation would be fine.  You don't have to have 4 & 5 star hotels to attract fans.  Heck, if the rates would not be "jumped" for the weekend of the game, people traveling to Fayetteville would be just fine with it.

THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE would be the Tyson commercials that could "air" where the Mom gets in the game and slams home a few thundering "Dunks" after finishing off some Tyson chicken!  Heck you could even interject a little "national" humor with a "Seinfeld" takeoff as the INTRO to coming on the air for the games as George Steinbrenner is talking to Don Tyson and the "chicken routine" where his head is bobbing talking about the NCAA tourney, and who is taking who to win, etc....would be hilarious!

WAL-MART could be in on the act for the NCAA tourney and increase their presence on the TUBE during the time.  How about the "vendor" groups in Bentonville? 

I can guarantee that it would be one "WHOPPING" tournament and with the corporate "presence" in NW Arkansas it would be a weekend where the "Home offices" of these satellite branches that are upwards of 600 plus in number in Bentonville/Rogers/Springdale/Fayetteville that it would be one incredible "who's who" for a reunion of the Big Dogs coming into NW Arkansas to see how their investment is growing plus additional opportunities surrounded by the "Sky Boxes" and other ways to show off the "BUD"!

I think Bud Walton would be glad to see these "High Rollers" bring BIG TIME basketball and the ENERGY that an NCAA tournament game brings to BUD WALTON ARENA!

Dream bigger people!  It could easily be done and it would be one incredible weekend of basketball.

How many on Hogville have been to an NCAA regional?

The one I went to in Dallas in 1990 where MayDay beat North Carolina and Texas was one of the all-time best sporting events I have ever gone to!

It COULD happen if the "BIG BOYS" wanted to do it!

[jbcarol]

Dream bigger people!  It could easily be done and it would be one incredible weekend of basketball.

How many on Hogville have been to an NCAA regional?

If BWA arena hosts, the Hawgs will be sent farther away.  To dream bigger to me is that Hawgs are a top or near top seed and sitting pretty in Alltel.

Do you mean as a player, fan, "paid worker" or other ?

[CorningHog]

As a "fan" on the NCAA tourney.  I am sure as a player it was a little better deal, haha. 

The fan aspect is what I am talking about.  There could become another day where Arkansas consistently makes it to the "Regional" sites of the Sweet 16, but I believe the time has come for NW Arkansas to showcase the amount of "volunteering" and pulling together to get projects off the ground.

XNA regional airport.  NW Arkansas Naturals.  LPGA tour coming in August to Pinnacle.  Pinnacle Promenade.  Crystal Bridges Art museum. 

Just teasing. 

NW Arkansas "could" entertain the country in Bud Walton Arena.

I will debate the point Grant Hall & Mike Irwin made comparing the Sweet 16 with the Holiday Hoops tournament.  I have been to HS tournaments or the AAU stuff.  I have been to the Sweet 16 in Dallas to watch the elite basketball teams in college play, where the fans of each school are at, painted faces, the bands, the "electricity" in the air as it is on CBS and the whole country is watching highlights of each game, many on National TV and just the whole thing in its entireity.

There is no comparison, not even remotely.  To say NW Arkansas doesn't support the Holiday Hoops tourney and thus would not support college basketball's NCAA Regional Sweet 16 games even if Arkansas wasn't in them, is just plain ridiculous.

NW Arkansas would support the games, attend them, volunteer for them, heck I know people that would drive across the state and sleep in their cars to be able to volunteer to be any kind of support staff. 

[CorningHog]

Oh, I one other thing on the way Grant Hall made the comment about the "Holiday Hoops" comparison.

Stonebridge in Fayetteville hosts the ASGA golf tourney for amateurs, but if the USGA had the US Amateur on one of the local courses, would you come see the ASGA or the US Amateur?

How about a PGA event versus the Lindsey Cup at Paradise Valley?

Come on, at least make reasonable comparisons!

[Verge]

"Why as Arkansas never got to host an NCAA Regional"



because of questions like that

[LoseAnutt]

Listen NWA people, Fayetteville is atleast 20 years away from hosting something of this magnitude and that is if NWA can continue to grow at the rate that it has been over the past couple decades, which I doubt that it will because the region is already showing signs of strangulation. You guys need to knock some mountains and hills down or something. BTW, Little Rock MSA has the 2nd most diverse economy in the nation and it is 17th in finding the best jobs.

http://www.forbes.com/careers/2007/02/15/best-cities-jobs-leadership-careers_cx_hc_0216cityjobs_table.html

NWA has no jobs outside of Wal-Mart and deboning chickens.

[christopher]

I think the new hotel across from the Embassy Suites in Rogers is supposed to be 12 stories...or was it 18?  I know it's going to be the tallest building between Tulsa and LR.

[christopher]

Listen NWA people, Fayetteville is atleast 20 years away from hosting something of this magnitude and that is if NWA can continue to grow at the rate that it has been over the past couple decades, which I doubt that it will because the region is already showing signs of strangulation. You guys need to knock some mountains and hills down or something. BTW, Little Rock MSA has the 2nd most diverse economy in the nation and it is 17th in finding the best jobs.

http://www.forbes.com/careers/2007/02/15/best-cities-jobs-leadership-careers_cx_hc_0216cityjobs_table.html

NWA has no jobs outside of Wal-Mart and deboning chickens.

Little Rock isn't a bad town, but it would be better if most of its population didn't have a serious case of [CENSORED] envy for NWA, as evidenced by posts like yours.

[jbcarol]

If attendance continues to dip, times get tougher, travel budgets get tighter and the NCAA changes the rule and allows the true home team to play at the host site ...

then it all makes sense.  Do everything you can, including changing spring break week like Kentucky did, to get the best round of tournament you can get to BWA.

Otherwise, local, where are you going to be if Hawgs are a #1 seed playing in Dallas while some round of the tourney is playing played at BWA.  Won't happen.  They will send you farther away than that to protect the investment.  Dream bigger!!!

[RandyFromJohnson]

Geesh do you guys not watch the news other than ESPN? Alltel Arena is hosting the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament next March. The Little Rock Metro will be the smallest Metro area to host the tournament next year, so of course Fayetteville would be completely out of the question. The biggest problem Little Rock/North Little Rock has had in the past is a lack of hotel rooms.

Thank you. I love the Hogs, but we have got to have the stupidest fan base I've ever seen. How many times can we go over the same basic crap and spend 3 pages debating the answers to the most fundamental of questions.

Randy,  You built your career on being a starter but you are the closer on this thread !!!

I just didn't know your middle name was a preposition.  I thought it was a gerund that also began with the letter "F".

Now THAT is bringing it. Too bad most people won't have a "From" clue what you're talking about !!

[jbcarol]

Geesh do you guys not watch the news other than ESPN? Alltel Arena is hosting the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament next March. The Little Rock Metro will be the smallest Metro area to host the tournament next year, so of course Fayetteville would be completely out of the question. The biggest problem Little Rock/North Little Rock has had in the past is a lack of hotel rooms.

Thank you. I love the Hogs, but we have got to have the stupidest fan base I've ever seen. How many times can we go over the same basic crap and spend 3 pages debating the answers to the most fundamental of questions.

Randy,  You built your career on being a starter but you are the closer on this thread !!!

I just didn't know your middle name was a preposition.  I thought it was a gerund that also began with the letter "F".

Now THAT is bringing it. Too bad most people won't have a "From" clue what you're talking about !!

I know.  But I have driven in and through Johnson.  And I respected the speed limit.