Crown Touney in Vegas

[nickgyp]

Caught the end of UC loss yesterday with post-game discussion of whether the Bearcats would play in this Fox fiasco considering it was 19 days away. NIL money, portal etc. figured in with one announcer saying it would be nice if there was a monetary incentive for the players to even participate. Apparently, the BIG 12 and other leagues involved are obliged to send teams to this event; and the winning team gets to divide $300k among the players.

The days of student-athletes clearly is over but this all raises the question of who returns to Xavier next year? Conwell's performance today will probably attract quite a few suitors. Swain might attract some. Kind of sucks that this is the expanding universe of college athletics. In this particular case, basketball.

I wish our mercenaries won today over Marquette's players-for-hire, Conwell's performance today was as exciting and inspiring as by any Xavier player ever. But as the game ended, I was thinking about the probabilities that next year I could find him on an opponent's team. That is really sad.

John Lennon's words about "strange day's indeed" come to mind .....

[MHettel]

Caught the end of UC loss yesterday with post-game discussion of whether the Bearcats would play in this Fox fiasco considering it was 19 days away. NIL money, portal etc. figured in with one announcer saying it would be nice if there was a monetary incentive for the players to even participate. Apparently, the BIG 12 and other leagues involved are obliged to send teams to this event; and the winning team gets to divide $300k among the players.

The days of student-athletes clearly is over but this all raises the question of who returns to Xavier next year? Conwell's performance today will probably attract quite a few suitors. Swain might attract some. Kind of sucks that this is the expanding universe of college athletics. In this particular case, basketball.

I wish our mercenaries won today over Marquette's players-for-hire, Conwell's performance today was as exciting and inspiring as by any Xavier player ever. But as the game ended, I was thinking about the probabilities that next year I could find him on an opponent's team. That is really sad.

John Lennon's words about "strange day's indeed" come to mind .....

You’re only about 5 years behind.

All of this was foreseeable.

[bleedXblue]

Right, but ever single player on every single team is looking for the same thing. More money and a better opportunity. There is only so much to go around. Swain and Conwell will get well compensated from Xavier and as long as were competitive, they SHOULD stay. They will both start and get huge minutes playing for a coach that values them. There is risk in moving to another program and coach. Did Claude increase his (NIL or NBA) value? Nope. I dont think so.

[XUGRAD80]

It’s not like the NCAA or the coaches or the schools, set out to create the world that college sports is now. Every single one of the changes regarding eligibility and pay was forced upon them by the court’s decisions. The courts made their decisions based upon the laws that were already on the books. No new laws were passed that suddenly allowed athletes to be paid, or allowed transferring without sitting out, etc. It just took some smart people to look at the prior system, decide that it wasn’t fair, and decide to take it to court because the NCAA wouldn’t rewrite their rule book. There’s plenty of blame to go around but I’m not going to blame the players for it. If I was back in school I’d be looking for my best situation too.

[JTG]

It’s not like the NCAA or the coaches or the schools, set out to create the world that college sports is now. Every single one of the changes regarding eligibility and pay was forced upon them by the court’s decisions. The courts made their decisions based upon the laws that were already on the books. No new laws were passed that suddenly allowed athletes to be paid, or allowed transferring without sitting out, etc. It just took some smart people to look at the prior system, decide that it wasn’t fair, and decide to take it to court because the NCAA wouldn’t rewrite their rule book. There’s plenty of blame to go around but I’m not going to blame the players for it. If I was back in school I’d be looking for my best situation too.

Smart people? Not fair? More like weasel attorneys looking to get a piece of the action. 99% of us had to pay for an education, didn’t get free clothes, travel the coubtry, play a game, and get showcased on national TV to future employers. Poor players my ass. Unless Mommy and Daddy were paying for school, most of us had to work menial part time jobs to make it thru school. It's turned college sports into a giant mess.

[XUGRAD80]

Smart people? Not fair? More like weasel attorneys looking to get a piece of the action. 99% of us had to pay for an education, didn’t get free clothes, travel the coubtry, play a game, and get showcased on national TV to future employers. Poor players my ass. Unless Mommy and Daddy were paying for school, most of us had to work menial part time jobs to make it thru school. It's turned college sports into a giant mess.

Smart people in that they looked at the laws and found justification for their contention that college athletes were entitled….by law….to share in the millions of dollars being generated by their efforts. The courts agreed. It never occurred to me or hundreds of thousands (millions?) of other athletes that we were entitled to more than just a basic scholarship. Maybe in my case, and most everyone at XU during my era, it was because we rarely ever competed in front of big crowds and never felt that the university was taking advantage of us. But I can absolutely see where a player at a university that routinely had crowds of 80-90-100,000 might start thinking that someone was getting rich and it wasn’t them! Heck, all you have to do is start looking at coaches contracts and it would be normal to question why they were getting millions and you were eating at the school cafeteria? I certainly wasn’t smart enough to question the system. I was seriously just happy to have the opportunity to be on the team and to compete. But that was a different time.

[xubrew]

It’s not like the NCAA or the coaches or the schools, set out to create the world that college sports is now. Every single one of the changes regarding eligibility and pay was forced upon them by the court’s decisions. The courts made their decisions based upon the laws that were already on the books. No new laws were passed that suddenly allowed athletes to be paid, or allowed transferring without sitting out, etc. It just took some smart people to look at the prior system, decide that it wasn’t fair, and decide to take it to court because the NCAA wouldn’t rewrite their rule book. There’s plenty of blame to go around but I’m not going to blame the players for it. If I was back in school I’d be looking for my best situation too.

Well said. I largely blame the NCAA for not making any changes or concessions to their rules when it was obvious that once this started going to court they had no chance of winning. And...THEY STILL HAVEN'T!!!

[drudy23]

Cancel this thread immediately.

[X-band '01]

You're not interested in a field that will include West Virginia, Ohio State and UC?

I should also congratulate Georgetown on joining Villanova as the Big East auto-bids.

On a related note, a friend of mine texted me that the SEC was supposed to get 3 bids to the NIT. What happens now that the SEC has 14 NCAA teams with Texas sneaking in?

[JTG]

Who cares????

[usfldan]

If I'm Fox, I think outside the box and make this a second-chance tournament instead of a NIT clone. The Crown doesn't start until after the Elite 8 games, so you pick up the media darlings that were created the first weekend of the tournament. You could also invite the high seeds that were upset in the first round. I'm not saying all those would accept, but some might have a chip or feel they have something more to prove if given another chance.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

OSU/WF/WVU/IU, none of them accepted bids to the Crown. Villanova could win it, but I think BSU/USC/UC also.

[GoMuskies]

I gotta be honest here: I kind of like the Crown format and the fact that it starts tomorrow. Getting 16 team together in one location (given that it's Vegas) is a pretty good idea. And now all but 4 of the teams that made the NCAA Tournament are out, so everyone in this probably feels fortunate to still be playing. Now, I'm glad we made the Tournament, of course, but if we'd have been left out I'd actually be excited to watch us play in this tomorrow or Tuesday.

[MHettel]

I gotta be honest here: I kind of like the Crown format and the fact that it starts tomorrow. Getting 16 team together in one location (given that it's Vegas) is a pretty good idea. And now all but 4 of the teams that made the NCAA Tournament are out, so everyone in this probably feels fortunate to still be playing. Now, I'm glad we made the Tournament, of course, but if we'd have been left out I'd actually be excited to watch us play in this tomorrow or Tuesday.

Wonder who our coach would be? Honest question. Miller would have taken the UT job, right? And we’d have Dante? We would have obviously still tried to get our next guy. Would it still have been Pitino?

Would swain and Conwell and Hugley and fletcher still be in the portal? Would they play having already entered.

Frankly I think l this could somehow make things even messier than they are.

[Xville]

I think it would be a lot more fun if they just did it at the start of next year.

[drudy23]

It’s too late for anyone to pay attention.

And it’s meaningless to everyone but the bettors and the players that may win some money. It’s not really enough for the players to care all that much either. Maybe I’m wrong.

[muskieindent]

This is a big who cares. I can't imagine UC or Nova fans are real excited at their teams still playing.

[rationalbearcatfan]

This is a big who cares. I can't imagine UC or Nova fans are real excited at their teams still playing.

I can say that I like the format, and I guess the extra practices are great fit players returning next year, and having the seniors be able to play one last time is great.

But in the NIL era, where your seniors may have only been here for 1 year, and your underclassmen may not be here next year, it definitely takes some of the fun out of it.

Mix that in with being ranked 12th in the polls earlier in the season, and now being in this basically "off-season" tournament, takes even more fun out of it compared to another team that may have had lower expectations early/mid season.


All in all, it's nice to root for something in April, and I'll watch the games, but I understand what it is and I'm not going to be too disappointed if and when they lose.

[muskiefan82]

They Butler-Utah game was actually fun to watch

[GoMuskies]

They Butler-Utah game was actually fun to watch

And it won me 20 American dollars!

[FishingXfan]

I’d kinda like Butlers big with goggles on our team. Back up center.


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[webxu]

And it won me 20 American dollars!

I made a 3 team parlay today Butler +1.5, UC and Boise, and they voided it.. just noticed they took down all the CBC games to bet on.. weird.

[GoMuskies]

Big East dominating the Crown! Georgetown was using walkons, but that Mack kid went off.

[muskiefan82]

Depaul vs. UC today and Villanova vs. Colorado. I have to admit this is a little fun during the break until the Final 4

[xubrew]

I believe the four semifinal teams will each receive $50k to split among the players. I don't know how much the winner gets, but I'm guessing it's at least a little bit more. So I guess the players care at least a little bit.

It's an NIL incentive. Having said that, since literally no one is watching I can't imagine that the person who is putting up the money is not losing their shirt on this. This may be the first and last Crown we ever see.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Pretty sure the winning team gets $300K

[D-West & PO-Z]

I made a 3 team parlay today Butler +1.5, UC and Boise, and they voided it.. just noticed they took down all the CBC games to bet on.. weird.

Supposedly the crown forgot to get regulated as an event so that people can bet on it? I guess there were initial offerings that have since been taken down? Unless it somehow has since been resolved? Haven’t looked.

[GoMuskies]

I use an offshore book, so I didn't have any issues. Crazy that they would have an event in Vegas and not make sure people could bet on it. That's basically their whole audience for this thing.

[drudy23]

Depaul vs. UC today and Villanova vs. Colorado. I have to admit this is a little fun during the break until the Final 4

I strongly disagree. I have a feeling the ratings for this thing are going to painfully miniscule, especially if there is no betting interest.

[xubrew]

I strongly disagree. I have a feeling the ratings for this thing are going to painfully miniscule, especially if there is no betting interest.

I didn't even watch it!!! That's how bad the ratings ratings are going to be.

Well, okay, I watched SOME of it to check it out, but only some.

[GoMuskies]

I watched more than half of the Georgetown game. I didn’t even better on it. I honestly don't know what's not to like. Especially for 'brew! But i guess I need to enjoy it this year before it's gone.

[Three Point Pete]

Very entertaining game, Butler and Boise St.
Butler was hanging around, but it's hard to beat a team shooting 60% and they post a century on you!
I would love to see a Nova-Boise finals.


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[ArizonaXUGrad]

If Nova UC win, they will have to face each other again. UC won at Finneran early in the year. I like this tourney. It's a ton more interesting than the NIT. If I didn't have 5 year olds I would have gone to Vegas to watch it.

[D-West & PO-Z]

If Nova UC win, they will have to face each other again. UC won at Finneran early in the year. I like this tourney. It's a ton more interesting than the NIT. If I didn't have 5 year olds I would have gone to Vegas to watch it.

UC actually lost to Nova.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

UC actually lost to Nova.

Why did I think it was the other way around? Still a fun matchup, I was reading up on UC and apparently their PG Day Day Thomas who played two years at JUCO gets those years back.

[GoMuskies]

UC out of the Crown. Sad.

[muskiefan82]

Desmond Claude missing a layup at the end of the game and losing to Villanova seems.... familiar

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Desmond Claude missing a layup at the end of the game and losing to Villanova seems.... familiar

I watched the 2nd half of that game and even under Mussleman, Claude still looks like the same old player. The contested three, the end game turnover, the shot that rims out, unfortunate but those may define his college career.

[Three Point Pete]

Desmond Claude missing a layup at the end of the game and losing to Villanova seems.... familiarWell, to be fair, it was a contested shot with a low probability of success. Des was leaning backwards and moving away from the rim. Should have gone into his defender.

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[drudy23]

I watched the 2nd half of that game and even under Mussleman, Claude still looks like the same old player. The contested three, the end game turnover, the shot that rims out, unfortunate but those may define his college career.

Can he shoot yet?

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Can he shoot yet?

I am sure he gets hot, but when the pressure is on he can't. He is a 6'6 athletic SF who shoots average for college but can get to the rim. He is not a PG at any level.

[Olsingledigit]

Can he shoot yet?

No

[GoMuskies]

Gus Johnson calling the Crown Final Four.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Nova had them and just couldn't close it out. I was pulling for them but when Dixon isn't hitting shots it's easier to beat them.

[drudy23]

I love basketball, and watched exactly 12 seconds of this before I turned it off from boredom. There's no chance this thing survives long-term. It's literally less interesting than The Tournament, and that's simply a summer diversion.

The only way this type of format survives is if it's interwoven into the regular season. The games mean something AND they get paid? That would work. Probably the future of the exempt tournaments.