Is there an benefit to "Hosting" the NCAA tournament?

Cougar Basketball
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Everyone in projecting Gonzaga to play in Spokane (their home city) for their 1st 2 rounds of the Tourney .

I was of the assumption you couldn’t be placed in your home city, which is why we cant play in the south region (tons of south region games in houston) …i just read the rules, you can play in your home city…you just cant be the host…hosts cant play in the places their hosting.
Idaho is for some reason the host of the Spokane, Washington games (not Washington or gonzaga who is in Spokane Washington)

It ended up in our favor this year… Baylor is the best team in college basketball, they are almost a lock for the south region. We are almost guaranteed to not play the top team unless its a final 4…but if we end up a 8 seed (like many are projecting), we could end up playing gonzaga in their home city weekend 1…

but for future seasons, is there any benefit to hosting? money? favor? camps?..if not isnt it better just to make rice the host, and take the chance of a home court advantage in the tourney

Random side note: there is a lot of easy final 4 trips from houston if we ever get there in the future… this year 2020 (atlanta)…2022 (new orleans), 2023 (houston) 2025 (san antonio)… we could have a pretty big contingent if we by chance make it in any of those years

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This is what I want, however, Rice will find a way to keep us out!

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I would think these host schools and sites are made years in advance before UH thought they would be a tourney regular. Don’t know what the advantage would be to UH hosting. You can play in any arena in the tourney as long as you don’t play more than 3 home games there. For example Villanova won’t play more than 3 home games off campus at the Wells Fargo Center if the Wells Fargo Center is hosting tourney games that season. The A-10 or another Philly schools will usually host. Sucks cause if UH could play tourney games in the Toyota Center that would be phenomenal

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If memory serves UH played Louisville at The Summit back in the Phi Slama Jama days, so yes you can be placed in your own region.

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I know this thread is about hosting, but I sure hope we are seeded higher than 8th! I know we have the toughest part of our schedule coming up but I think we will finish well! The committee will see that we are the best in the AAC. The big question is, how much do they really respect our conference!

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Unfortunately, when AAC teams beat up on each other, the thought is there is no dominant team. When the big names do it, it’s because from top to bottom the whole conference is tough.

I think Tulsa is hurting the image right now with their poor OOC losses and then taking down the better teams in AAC play…we need the opposite!

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It’s already happening, Tulsa is free falling like Tom Petty.

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Even if we stub our toe some I think the committee is smart enough not to put us on the 8-9 unless the 1 is Dayton or the Aztecs. They don’t want their precious 1 seeds playing us the first weekend. And Baylor with their friends in Austin would outright block it.

I’m happy just making the dance this year and we have to win 4 more games to do that.

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if we are a 8 seed…the sdsu bracket would be a dream…if we are a 7 seed …the dayton bracket would be a dream… in any other bracket would be bad with those seeds

imo those 2 very specific situations are better than any seed 4 or higher…upset 1 of 2 surprise teams that have mostly played no one, and youll only play low seeds till the elite 8

but among atlarge seeds, a 8/9 seed in the gonzaga bracket is the absolute worst spot…and the 7 seed in the duke bracket might not be far behind…
we dont have a realistic chance at a 3 seed (comfortable favorites to make sweet 16)… 4-6 seeds all have similar decent odds and not the differentiated, and probably where our target seed should be, if we dont feel like gambling on opponents

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If memory serves, UH played Arkansas with Joe Kline in the Summit. The dream had 4 fouls early in the second half but UH managed a win. Was that not in the NCAA ? ? ? ? ? Maybe NIT ? ? ? ? ?

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The Dream never played in NIT. Matter of fact his teams played in 3 consecutive Final Fours 82-84.

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recall SWC at Summit in early 80s. May have been that.

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We played Maryland in the Summit in the 83 Houston Regional, or actually, the Preregional. We had a bye the first game

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The benefit is to the city by giving it an economic boost and being in the spotlight with lots of free national media coverage.

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Yup. It was the sub-regional that year. Only four teams, Lamar being one of them. The Summit was packed with Cougar fans. It was great being in a 17K arena and seeing that many UH basketball fans.

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Yep, I distinctly recall hearing Maryland coach Lefty Drissell stomping his feet very loudly on the Summit Floor at that game. It also seems to have been just a few months after the UH BB team nickname Phi Slama Jama was first written by Houston sportswriter Thomas Bonk, and PSJ shirts and other such memorabilia was on display that day in the Summit.

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Let HBU or TSU host

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Pre shot clock, Lefty Dreisel playing a slow down game. We booed him as they left the court at half time.

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We played Arkansas in the SWC tourney finals here a few times. But the only NCAA tourney I can remember playing here was against New Mexico
State at The Hof and Maryland during the Phi Slama Jama days.
Great memories and we squeezed those games out. Maybe that’s why I remember them lol.

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When you host you are letting the NCAA use your facilities and are being compensated for it. Ex. GVL CENTER is used by the visiting teams in the Region for workouts etc… Other schools in Metro Houston don’t have what NCAA requires to be a Region Host. Should be something to be proud of as a Houston Coog Alum or fan and not as a negative.

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