Ask columnist Jason Williams something − sports activities or non-sports – and he’ll choose a few of your questions and reply on Cincinnati.com. E mail: jwilliams@enquirer.com
Topic: Kentucky Wildcats, Indiana Hoosiers ought to play in Cincinnati showcase
Message: Here’s a suggestion so as to add to the listing for potential occasions by the brand new sports activities fee. Set up a yearly KY-OH-IN Basketball Showcase with 4 D-1 groups taking part in a doubleheader on a Saturday afternoon across the holidays. There can be six groups concerned with two groups sitting out annually.
The groups can be Kentucky, Louisville, UC, Xavier, Indiana and Purdue. Different regional groups might be within the combine if wanted. To maintain the in-season rivalries (UC vs Xavier, Kentucky vs Louisville, Indiana vs Purdue), these rivalry groups wouldn’t be scheduled towards each other. The video games might be performed at Heritage Financial institution Middle.
Reply: Convey. It. On.
That is precisely the type of inventive considering the forthcoming revived sports activities fee must have.
Such an occasion may assist reinvigorate our nationwide model as a school basketball hotbed. The model has misplaced just a little luster in recent times, largely as a result of UC is not a perennial NCAA Match workforce. A showcase occasion can be a celebration of our wealthy faculty basketball historical past.
OK, so the NCAA Match ignores us due to outdated Heritage Financial institution Middle. The showcase may nonetheless be a technique to carry a big-time faculty basketball occasion to city.
Getting Kentucky and Indiana to play can be the important thing to driving attendance. Each colleges’ followers journey nicely. Kentucky has averaged 15,033 followers in 12 regular-season video games all-time at Heritage Financial institution Middle. Kentucky hasn’t performed within the area since 2005.
It wouldn’t be straightforward to drag off a showcase. It could take main sponsors and a tv community to get behind this. Would there even be room on the schedule? There are already a number of well-established, neutral-court early season tournaments and showcase occasions. That’s the place the sports activities fee would are available to see if one thing like that is attainable.
The sector has hosted occasional, four-team regular-season basketball occasions. They’ve not usually garnered a lot fanfare.
In December 2008, Heritage Financial institution Middle hosted the Huge East/SEC Invitational doubleheader. UC, then within the Huge East, performed Mississippi State. No. 9 Louisville, additionally then within the Huge East, confronted Ole Miss. The introduced crowd for each video games: 5,922.
This text initially appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UK Wildcats can be key to main Cincinnati faculty basketball occasion
