CBE... wtf?

[Biscuit King]

OK, I have read through the CBE press release 3 times, and I can't understand how this thing works. I looked at the 2009 "bracket" on the CBE web site, and it's even more confusing.

Is it even a coherent tournament, or is it just 2 home games for Duke, and then a trip to KC for the semifinals? Judging by 2009, it looks like Duke could lose both games and still go to the "semifinals" -- that's what Iowa did, while the teams that beat them (UTSA, Duquesne) got sent to Cullowhee, NC, and Richmond, KY, as a reward.

The words regional and subregional make no sense to me, in this context.

[Azdukefan]

You are correct. Regardless of whether or not Duke wins, they will be in the semifinal. Why a tournament is set up this way is beyond me but I highly doubt we would lose either of those games at home anyway.

[mgtr]

I think the main purpose of such tournaments is to sell seats for the semis and finals. And Appalachian State and USC Upstate won't provide much draw.:rolleyes: There doesn't seem to be any other rational explanation.

[SCMatt33]

This format became very popular recently, but Duke has just coincidentally avoided it. In 2007-2008, there were only 2 true 16 team tourneys, the 2k sports classic (CvC) and the NIT season tip-off. There were four tournaments that had the "guaranteed" semi's at that point. After Duke won the CvC, they switched to the guaranteed semi's format, leaving the NIT season tip-off, which Duke played in, as the only true 16-team tourney left. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that one changes as well.

I don't know if this is true, but I would guess that the reasoning is a cross between NCAA rules and TV deals. The NCAA allows each team to play in one "exempted tournament" every year. Only the first game of said tournament counts as one of the team's 28 scheduled games that are allowed. That's how teams play in 30 or 31 regular season games each year. By simply calling it a "tournament" and allowing the non-host teams to continue playing elsewhere, teams can still schedule 31 games in a season, while ESPN still gets to have guaranteed marquee match-ups to boost ratings. The NCAA has no reason to care about this since it doesn't change the travel plans or number of games a team plays, just who plays whom. It also has the added benefit of getting the NCAA extra exposure, which is always a good thing.

To be perfectly honest, this has little practical impact on most of college basketball anyway. There are still a ton of 8-team tourney's which don't have regionals, and there are generally few upsets in the 16 team events anyway. The teams who get screwed are the one's who aren't quite powerful enough to get a spot hosting, and would have had a chance in an open format, but there aren't many of those teams and they can simply play in the 8-team events.

[gep]

I guess I haven't been following too many pre-season "tournaments" unless Duke was in it... so this format is kinda new and seems kinda screwy to me. It seems just a disguise for 2 home games, then a 4-team "tournament". I guess the non-home teams can say they are in a "tournament" to get the extra games. Seems more form over substance/function, to me.. :rolleyes: