[GoMarquette.com] Matchups For 2011 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Announced

[GoMarquetteSays]

Matchups For 2011 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Announced
         

The U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament directors released the 2011 men's basketball tournament field and bracket today. The eight NCAA division I men's basketball teams participating in the 12th annual event include Marquette, Mississippi, Virginia, Drexel, Drake, TCU, Winthrop and Norfolk State.
         

http://onlyfans.cstv.com/schools/marq/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/051411aaa.html
         

[Marquette84]

Matchups For 2011 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Announced

The U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament directors released the 2011 men's basketball tournament field and bracket today. The eight NCAA division I men's basketball teams participating in the 12th annual event include Marquette, Mississippi, Virginia, Drexel, Drake, TCU, Winthrop and Norfolk State.
       

Maybe this explains the willingness to give up the exhibition game:

"For the first time in 2011, the Paradise Jam will kick off with two opening round games on the mainland. In the first game Marquette will host Norfolk State on November 14, 2011 (time TBD). The next night Winthrop will travel to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers in a 7:00 PM EDT matchup."

While its good for MU's revenue stream, it will hurt RPI.  Assuming we don't need the home court advantage to beat Norfolk State, we'll only be credited for 0.6 of a win.

The other interesting part is that this game doesn't appear to have any impact on the bracket.  We play Norfolk State--regardless of whether we win or lose play Winthrop in our first game in the USVI.  And its possible that we play Norfolk State again on the third day in USVI.

Its like a buy game, but because its part of the Paradise Jam slate, it doesn't count as an additional game on the schedule. 

[MerrittsMustache]

Maybe this explains the willingness to give up the exhibition game:

"For the first time in 2011, the Paradise Jam will kick off with two opening round games on the mainland. In the first game Marquette will host Norfolk State [/b]on November 14, 2011 (time TBD). The next night Winthrop will travel to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers in a 7:00 PM EDT matchup."

While its good for MU's revenue stream, it will hurt RPI.  Assuming we don't need the home court advantage to beat Norfolk State, we'll only be credited for 0.6 of a win.

One non-conf win against a bad-RPI team isn't going to make one bit of difference as long as MU takes care of business in Big East play.

[avid1010]

Very interesting...give two "headliners" (MU and Virginia) a free home game that doesn't count on the schedule to get them to join the tournament.  In return, MU can afford to go out and schedule like they did.  I'm assuming that this game will not be part of my season ticket package???

[MUfan12]

I'm assuming that this game will not be part of my season ticket package???

It will be. I think every exempt tourney home game MU has played in has been included. At least recently, anyway.

[bilsu]

It will be. I think every exempt tourney home game MU has played in has been included. At least recently, anyway.

It would have to be, because tickets would not sell outside of season ticket package.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Of course Norfolk State will be part of the season ticket package. 

It was like Bucknell and Green Bay last season in the CBE.

Idaho State and Detroit in the CBE, I forget the year 2006.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Ole Miss and TCU doesn't get a home game. Only 4 of the 8 in the Jam are playing another game on the main land. Odd 

[mu_hilltopper]

Holy crap is going to the Paradise Jam expensive.  On a whim, I checked.

Air fare from Milwaukee .. if you're willing to do 3 flights, it's $520, 2 flights, it's $750.

There are packages on:
http://www.paradisejam.com/pages/m_travelpackage.htm

.. $1300/pp or so for the cheap hotel package.

So .. a family of 4, around $7k for a 5 day trip, before food and stuff.

[Coleman]

Holy crap is going to the Paradise Jam expensive.  On a whim, I checked.

Air fare from Milwaukee .. if you're willing to do 3 flights, it's $520, 2 flights, it's $750.

There are packages on:
http://www.paradisejam.com/pages/m_travelpackage.htm

.. $1300/pp or so for the cheap hotel package.

So .. a family of 4, around $7k for a 5 day trip, before food and stuff.

Yeah was thinking about doing this with my girlfriend (also an alum), but there's just no way we could afford that.

[Nukem2]

Watch out for the Drexel Dragons in this tourney.  Drexel split home-and-home with VCU in the regular season and lost a close game to VCU in the Colonial tourney.  KPom had them at #92.  The Dragons lose only one of top 7 ( # 3 scorer ).  Nick Williams and Ole Miss better take care of business...

[Mr. Nielsen]

Watch out for the Drexel Dragons in this tourney.  Drexel split home-and-home with VCU in the regular season and lost a close game to VCU in the Colonial tourney.  KPom had them at #92.  The Dragons lose only one of top 7 ( # 3 scorer ).  Nick Williams and Ole Miss better take care of business...

Drexel won at L'ville last season.

[brewcity77]

Thoughts on our Paradise Jam schedule...

Norfolk State: Almost guaranteed to be an RPI-drag, they have a 3-year RPI average of 275. However, they return 6 of their top 8 scorers, and 5 of those returning players will be seniors, so this should be the best Norfolk State team in years. But they haven't cracked the RPI top-250 since 2001, so that doesn't say much. Let's hope they can get to around 250 this year, and also that they end up our worst RPI opponent.

Winthrop: The Eagles have had a couple down years, but have also reached the NCAA Tournament 9 of the last 13 seasons. Charles Corbin is a huge loss, but they return 6 of their top 7 scorers and have some ready-made replacements for Corbin like Gideon Gamble and Matt Morgan. They're a likely top-200 RPI team that knows how to play in March.

Mississippi: Ole Miss would probably be the better opponent (not guaranteed). The problem is they lost their two best players and will be relying on a young point guard (Dundrecous Nelson) and a former Marquette recruit (Nick Williams) to replace them. If Nelson and Williams are good, this very young team could challenge for another NIT berth. If not, we might be better off seeing Drake.

Drake: I know...no one wants them. But they actually might be a decent opponent. They return all but one player and play in the Missouri Valley, one of the better mid-majors. Rayvonte Rice is a future MVC star that led the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding as a freshman. If their young core matures well, this team could be better than Ole Miss by season's end.

At this point, I don't see any need to break down the other 4 teams since we'll only play one of them. Either way, we should be able to beat all four of these teams, and only one (Norfolk State) will likely have a negative effect on us. This may not be as sexy a tournament as the CBE or Maui, but it could be even better for us by the end of the year. After all, this should get us 4 wins and possibly against 3 teams playing in either the NCAAs or NIT.

[Bocephys]

Holy crap is going to the Paradise Jam expensive.  On a whim, I checked.

Air fare from Milwaukee .. if you're willing to do 3 flights, it's $520, 2 flights, it's $750.

There are packages on:
http://www.paradisejam.com/pages/m_travelpackage.htm

.. $1300/pp or so for the cheap hotel package.

So .. a family of 4, around $7k for a 5 day trip, before food and stuff.

Don't buy their package, I booked flights and hotel for 2 (my delayed honeymoon with an awesome wife) for Nov. 16-22 out of Milwaukee for under $2,000 on Orbitz.  I elected not to go the all inclusive route which saved some money and they were running a 50% off sale on a few different hotels on the island.  So it can definitely be done way cheaper than their packages suggest.

[Benny B]

Holy crap is going to the Paradise Jam expensive.  On a whim, I checked.

Air fare from Milwaukee .. if you're willing to do 3 flights, it's $520, 2 flights, it's $750.

There are packages on:
http://www.paradisejam.com/pages/m_travelpackage.htm

.. $1300/pp or so for the cheap hotel package.

So .. a family of 4, around $7k for a 5 day trip, before food and stuff.

This far in advance, I would expect airfares to be that high... people tend to book vacations 6-12 months ahead of time and most are willing to pay a premium for the "certainty" of having a flight reservation.

If you have a friend, family member, or well-wisher near O'Hare who will let you keep your car in his/her driveway, you might save $100+ per person on your airfare by flying out of Chicago instead of MKE.  I would bet if you're willing to wait, airfare from ORD to STT will - at some point - drop below $300 r/t... but you do run the risk of being shut-out if demand spikes.

My wife and I are still debating on taking the kids, but we've got 5-nights' hotel and car booked for $1200 already... that's without using points or discounts.  So add airfare, food, game tickets and miscellaneous, and we're still going to be under $3000 all-in for the four of us.

EDIT: Another thought for anyone considering going on a "spring-break" budget... since MU's first game is at 9:30pm, you could save one night's hotel cost, fly in the afternoon of the 18th, get checked in at the hotel, have dinner, and still be at the game in time.... of course, assuming all goes as scheduled.  Granted the U of VI and airport are on the west side of the Island and all of the resorts are on the east side, St. Thomas isn't that big and even in heavy traffic, traversing from airport to hotel back to University isn't going to take more than 2 hours.

[bilsu]

I am assuming MU will have a package deal. That does not mean it will be cheap, but that is what I am waiting for.