If not MSG...

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

If the A-10 lost Butler, VCU, Xavier, and St. Louis, those are pretty much their best teams, especially with Temple on the way out as well. Will that league have anywhere near the same drawing power when your top-tier schools are St. Joe's, Richmond, and Dayton? Something tells me that radical a shift in quality would come close to being a material change to the contract in that the A-10 wasn't promising the quality of competition that Barclay's signed on for.

[MayorBeluga]

Do everything you can to get MSG. Midtown v. Brooklyn? The World's Most Famous Arena v. Brooklyn? No question which is better. Anyone who has been to the Big East Tournament understands.

[CaribouJim]

How about the Barclays Center in Brooklyn?

Agree 100% if and only if MSG can't be secured, although the more I think of it the Barclays Center is the "it" place now and it may be just as good a draw to recruits as the MSG - JayZ, who I often hang with, is a big deal. Maybe not a bad idea - out with everything old and look to make their own history.

[Hamostradamus]

I thought about the Barclay's as well, secure the weekend before the A-10 (March 14) and use that as a starting point.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I thought about the Barclay's as well, secure the weekend before the A-10 (March 14) and use that as a starting point.

Ugh...no. Definitely not. The first weekend is for the crappity low and mid-majors. The second weekend is for the real basketball conferences. I'd rather we play at The CUC in Saskatoon on the second weekend of March than in the Taj Mahal (the real one, not the Trump one) on the first weekend. Playing that first weekend is basically a statement that you are not a legitimate basketball league.

[Gato78]

MSG is the World's Greatest Arena. The Ali-Frazier fight, the Willis Reed injury return, some of the country's most memorable concerts from Sinatra to Springsteen, all of the great BIG EAST Tourney's (think Carnesecca vs Thompson; McNamara's 4 game run; the 6 OT game). MSG is basketball's biggest stage. Indy vs MSG? Get frickin' serious. Barclay's has some current cachet but it is in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is where people live who cannot or will not afford Manhattan--New Yorkers, back me up here. We were with MU team in 2002 when they played MSG and the players were so pumped to play in the cradle. There is no question MSG is the place. We should'nt even be talking about any other venue unless we must.

[Hamostradamus]

Ugh...no. Definitely not. The first weekend is for the crappity low and mid-majors. The second weekend is for the real basketball conferences. I'd rather we play at The CUC in Saskatoon on the second weekend of March than in the Taj Mahal (the real one, not the Trump one) on the first weekend. Playing that first weekend is basically a statement that you are not a legitimate basketball league.

A-10 has the second weekend for 2013 and perhaps through 2018, so the discussion may be moot.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Better to go to Chicago or Indy or DC or Philly for 5-6 years than play the week before. By the time Selection Sunday rolls around, everyone has forgotten about you.