I Bleed Blue and White

As the Northeast gets a foot of snow and the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics soaks in 50 degree weather, our blog overlord was caught reminising about last year’s Sweet 16/Elite 8 in the comment section of Brian’s earlier post.

In response to my comment that the NCAA has decided to hold future Regional Finals in domed stadiums, IBBW regular Vinnie linked to the future sites of the Sweet 16/Elite 8 through 2013, which clearly proves that I am a walking imbecile.

Kidding aside, a reliable source clued me into this development during last year’s Final Four in Detroit, but stated that it couldn’t happen until 2014 as the NCAA plans roughly 3 to 4 years in advance when it comes to NCAA Tournament Sites.

When I first learned about this potential atrocity, a ball of fury began to take over my body as I remembered the “electric atmosphere” of the prior weekend in Boston. Combine this loss of excitement with the awful sight lines at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit, and you have another example of how the NCAA is “all about the money.”

However, after taking Vinnie’s comments into account about the feasibility of 4 Domed Regional Sites occuring (that’s East, West, South and Midwest for all you geography majors out there) I decided to do a little research into how the NCAA could carry out their master plan.

From what I can find, here are the breakdowns of the regions and their respective domes. Before getting to the list, its important to point out that apparently the NCAA is very liberal when it comes to their geographical placement of certain domes. Take for instance that in 2013, Cowboys Stadium is placed in the “South” Regional but in 2011, the Alamodome is placed in the “Midwest” Regional. Yes, I am ashamed to admit that I did a double-take and broke out Google Maps to ensure my head didn’t explode. For sanity sake, I correctly placed these two according to the information we know, but it wouldn’t shock me if the NCAA pulled these antics again if it meant bringing them closer to their ultimate goal of 4 sites in domes. Also, I included baseball stadiums that have retractable roofs as well.

Now to the list:

East (1): Syracuse, NY (Carrier Dome)

West(4): Glendale, AZ (University of Phoenix Stadium), Chase Field (AZ), Safeco Field (Seattle), Tacoma Dome (WA) – didn’t know this existed

South, Southeast (3ish): Marlins ballpark (new stadium, eta 2011), Tropicana Field (Tampa) and the Georgia Dome

Midwest (10): Cowboys Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium (Indy), Alamodome (San Antonio), Reliant Stadium (Houston), Ford Field, Edward Jones Dome (St. Louis),  Superdome (New Orleans), Metrodome (Minny), Minute Maid Park (Houston), Miller Park (Milwaukee)…. I’d include the Astrodome but it looks like that place is finished.

Ok. So now where were we? Oh yeah can this happen.

Judging by the looks of it, the only problem would be in the East as the Carrier Dome is the only dome on the Eastern Seaboard. Hypothetically, an all domed affair with the final 16 teams can happen at least one year and I fully suspect that the NCAA will eventually try this out at some point in the next 5 years. The obvious problem is how does the NCAA make as much money as they do with Domed Regional Final locations in subsequent years that the Carrier Dome is used? This brings us back to Vinnie’s original point…..unless the NCAA makes up specific Regions/Locations as they go along (which they’ve done in the past) and include say Tampa or Atlanta as the East because they reside on the Eastern part of the country…..then the quest for maximum profit falls short.

However, with talk of a 96 team field growing daily, the mecca of basketball has expressed interest in hosting a Regional Final as the NIT would become even more irrelevant. Yes I do realize that MSG is in fact, not a dome. But, I have a sneaking suspicion that the NCAA wouldn’t mind having the country’s largest media outlet as its outlier.

On a side note, please don’t try and convince me that the shithole that is Continental Airlines Arena  or whatever the hell its called is considered the same location as MSG. Same with the Prudential Center (which I hear is nice, never been). Newark is Newark people. Glad we cleared that up.

Now, if the “World’s Most Famous Arena” were to host a Regional Final or gasp a Final Four, I think I’d wet myself. We all have had the pleasure of witnessing the heroics of the Big East Tournament at MSG every March, and I’m sure everyone would be on board with this decision. I’ve gotta be honest, the thought of a Villanova team winning either the East Regional or the National Championship at the corner of 33rd & 8th tickles my fancy.

Until someone convinces me otherwise, this would be my ideal situation. If my source is as accurate as I believe, the movement to an all out dome fest is fast approaching over the horizon. Will the NCAA do the smart thing and accept MSG’s bid? We’ll have to wait and see.

Do you think any of this will happen or better yet do you think it matters? Do you even care?

Let the debate commence in the comments.