[Rosiak's Blog] MU, UW-Green Bay agree to three-year deal

[damuts222]

Come to an Appleton or Green Bay bar with me and watch the UW-Oshkosh grads root on UW against MU because they think they're somehow tangentially also a UW grad and because Important People have all told them that MU is just a bunch of hyper wealthy elitists.

  Being from Illinois I couldn't stand MU students rooting for the Wisconsin football team and trying to tell me that since we don't have a football team they can root for the Badgers and then for MU during the basketball season, but thats a completely other discussion.

  I would much rather play UW-GB than a Grambling our RPI is around 100 currently and will most definitely go down to the 50 range come the Big East season easily. Name another team outside of the Big East that has a stretch like ours in their conference.

 

[ChicosBailBonds]

  Being from Illinois I couldn't stand MU students rooting for the Wisconsin football team and trying to tell me that since we don't have a football team they can root for the Badgers and then for MU during the basketball season, but thats a completely other discussion.

  I would much rather play UW-GB than a Grambling our RPI is around 100 currently and will most definitely go down to the 50 range come the Big East season easily. Name another team outside of the Big East that has a stretch like ours in their conference.

 

No one disagrees that we would all rather play UWGB than Grambling, but that ISN'T the issue.  We don't have to go on the road and play Grambling (or N. Florida, or Presbyterian, or any other buy game).  But with UWM and UWGB, these stupid deals say we do have to go on the road.  That means we GIVE UP a quality home and home series with a name brand school.

That's the issue.

[Badgerhater]

I still want to see a weekend tournament with all four schools.

On the first night, MU and Madison would play the other two and, in most years, would meet the next night.

Alternate having the tourney in Madison and Milwaukee -- perhaps up in GB every 5 years or so.

It will never happen because Milwaukee and Green Bay already play each other twice in conference.

[bma725]

I still want to see a weekend tournament with all four schools.

On the first night, MU and Madison would play the other two and, in most years, would meet the next night.

Alternate having the tourney in Madison and Milwaukee -- perhaps up in GB every 5 years or so.

It will never happen because Milwaukee and Green Bay already play each other twice in conference.

Almost.  It will never happen because NCAA rules prohibit it from happening.  Teams from the same conference can't play in the same pre-conference tournament even if there is no shot of them playing each other.

It's the same reason there will never be an all Jesuit tournament...or at least one most people would want to play in.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

No one disagrees that we would all rather play UWGB than Grambling, but that ISN'T the issue.  We don't have to go on the road and play Grambling (or N. Florida, or Presbyterian, or any other buy game).  But with UWM and UWGB, these stupid deals say we do have to go on the road.  That means we GIVE UP a quality home and home series with a name brand school.

That's the issue.

I agree with you, but is there a chance that MU is loosening up one the "one road game" thing?

Maybe with the move the the BEAST, the pre-season tourneys, etc., MU can afford to take on another road game.

Maybe UWM really will take the place of Grambling, and once every few years MU will have to give up a home game, but they can afford to now.

Annnnnd maybe that's just wishful thinking by me.

[Golden Avalanche]

It's a silly game because these games are always going to bring more danger then safety. It seems increasingly likely that MU will look to win the PR game in-state at the cost of a "marquee" home-and-home and fill the non-con void with a pre-season tournament. It means, in most years, we better do a hell of a job winning that tournament because our non-con victories may not hold much weight.

Buzz plays the good guy game. This is something he would never have any issue with. Cottingham is a Wisconsin guy. He was never going to stand in the way of making this happen. I'm sure he got just as mad at Crean when he balked on the series so once he slipped into the AD's office, and once Crean bolted, this was an avenue he looked to travel down.

[GGGG]

  Being from Illinois I couldn't stand MU students rooting for the Wisconsin football team and trying to tell me that since we don't have a football team they can root for the Badgers and then for MU during the basketball season, but thats a completely other discussion.

I grew up in Madison and continue rooting for UW football to this day.  (Although I own no Badger gear...but my UW grad brother keeps buying it for my kids...grrrr...)

Who else am I supposed to root for?  My floor was filled with Notre Dame fans who rooted for the Irish all of the time.  I'm sure that hasn't changed any.  How is that any different?

[bma725]

Who else am I supposed to root for? 

Nobody.  That's the sacrifice of going to a basketball only school, you have to be an impartial or indifferent college football fan.

[GGGG]

Nobody.  That's the sacrifice of going to a basketball only school, you have to be an impartial or indifferent college football fan.

I'm not making that sacrifice....sorry...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Who else am I supposed to root for? 

Anyone that plays Wisconsin or Notre Dame

[mu_hilltopper]

Thinking out loud .. If you play Grambling for 3 years, you're paying ~$180,000 for buy-games.  If you play UWGB, you pay zero, and give up one home.

I'm thinking one home game is worth about $250k in ticket sales for MU .. minus $60k for buy, that's $190k in margin.

Seems close to a wash.

[MUfan12]

Anyone that plays Wisconsin or Notre Dame

My favorite teams!

[radome]

Can someone slow down and explain this to me?  For example, what happens at a game?  Does the home team keep the gate?  Do the visitors get a cut?  What happens to TV/radio revenue?  What do the $ mean, in the end, for determining an opponent?  Wouldn't it just be best to schedule the best opponent that you can (given in state, etc.)?

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Anyone that plays Wisconsin or Notre Dame

+1. Seriously.

[Hards Alumni]

Can someone slow down and explain this to me?  For example, what happens at a game?  Does the home team keep the gate?  Do the visitors get a cut?  What happens to TV/radio revenue?  What do the $ mean, in the end, for determining an opponent?  Wouldn't it just be best to schedule the best opponent that you can (given in state, etc.)?

completely depends on the contract that is signed.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Thinking out loud .. If you play Grambling for 3 years, you're paying ~$180,000 for buy-games.  If you play UWGB, you pay zero, and give up one home.

I'm thinking one home game is worth about $250k in ticket sales for MU .. minus $60k for buy, that's $190k in margin.

Seems close to a wash.

If we're paying Grambling that much money, we should have our heads examined.  Most big time schools pay between $40K and $60K on buy games.  And our revenues should be more than $250K per game on tickets. 

[GOMU1104]

If we're paying Grambling that much money, we should have our heads examined.  Most big time schools pay between $40K and $60K on buy games.  And our revenues should be more than $250K per game on tickets. 

Buy games have gotten alot more expensive over the past couple of years. I heard a pretty staggering number about what we are paying Presbyterian...

[mu_hilltopper]

If we're paying Grambling that much money, we should have our heads examined.  Most big time schools pay between $40K and $60K on buy games.  And our revenues should be more than $250K per game on tickets. 

Right .. I took $60k over 3 years = $180k.   I figured we were paying UWM $60k per year, and they have zero travel expense .. and that was signed 3.5 years ago.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Right .. I took $60k over 3 years = $180k.   I figured we were paying UWM $60k per year, and they have zero travel expense .. and that was signed 3.5 years ago.

Understood, but they should be in the $40K category in my opinion. The guarantee should include all travel, in other words it's not a double dip if we do it right.  UWM we are paying about $60K.  What worries me more is having to give up a home game against a quality opponent plus giving a program across town the shot at the title.  I don't know why we do this.  It's begging for a an upset or some other poor outcome.

[77ncaachamps]

I'm from Appleton and this is 100% true.

So do they tape over the Green Bay, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, etc. for the game? 

[ChicosBailBonds]

The great news is that the UWM fans, Fran included, are ecstatic about the new deal (also some MU fan that is clueless as the day is long).

So hey, it's great that UWM fans are excited about this....because that's who we are doing this for...UWM fans.  Certainly not for Marquette.

http://uwmfreak.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Blow&action=display&thread=4996

[MarquetteDano]

The great news is that the UWM fans, Fran included, are ecstatic about the new deal (also some MU fan that is clueless as the day is long).

So hey, it's great that UWM fans are excited about this....because that's who we are doing this for...UWM fans.  Certainly not for Marquette.

A quick look at the UW-Madison board on the same topic made me laugh.  A MU fan mentioned that UW-Madison should also offer a 2-for-1 to UWM and UWGB to which they responded that UW has more power than Marquette so they don't have to offer the same deal.

So, when Marquette doesn't play UWM and UWGB it is bad for the state of Wisconsin and shame on MU for doing what is in their best interests.  But when UW-Madison isn't willing to give them more home games, it is because they should do what is in their best interests?   

[ChicosBailBonds]

A quick look at the UW-Madison board on the same topic made me laugh.  A MU fan mentioned that UW-Madison should also offer a 2-for-1 to UWM and UWGB to which they responded that UW has more power than Marquette so they don't have to offer the same deal.

So, when Marquette doesn't play UWM and UWGB it is bad for the state of Wisconsin and shame on MU for doing what is in their best interests.  But when UW-Madison isn't willing to give them more home games, it is because they should do what is in their best interests?  

Yeah, I saw that too.  They spent several YEARS whining about who MU should play and why we don't play UWM and UWGB and now that we're playing them in a better deal, well they're too big for this.  Paul (BM) must be a helluva a girls grade school basketball coach is all I have to say because the brilliance from his keyboard is frightening.  

It's similar to their arguments about the RPI last year.  Constantly ripping the RPI because it had the Big East rated higher than the Big Ten so they would say KenPom.com is a better indicator.  Of course this year, KenPom has the Big East rated higher than the Big Ten so no mention whatsoever.  Classic  (by the way, RPI has Big East number 1 this year also)

[JWags85]

Nobody.  That's the sacrifice of going to a basketball only school, you have to be an impartial or indifferent college football fan.

Or you choose a random team with some other sort of affiliation.  Growing up I had a cousin in CO and thought Ralphie was an amazing mascot, and additionally thought Rocky Top was a really cool fight song, so thus I've always pulled for CU and Tennessee.

[hdog1017]

When do we schedule UW-Whitewater?