Indeed. I'd imagine more Sweet 16 guests would be affected by conflicting dates with the SEC Tournament than they would the NCAA, in part because the SEC dates/location are set years in advance, whereas you can only confirm the NCAA dates a few days in advance (unless you're just guessing).

 

And with UK often playing Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday in succession in the SEC tournament, it's just not wise for the KHSAA to try and compete with that. While you might see individual sessions at the SW16 empty because of the bad-luck draw of playing opposite of UK in the NCAA (v. Indiana last year was a good example; the most extreme being UK-Duke in '92), UK in the SEC tournament can wipe out four straight days of a five-day SW16.

2018 SEC Tournament is March 7-12 in St. Louis. That means the boys Sweet 16 would be February 28-March 3. I'm assuming the girls tournament would fall after the boys, so the boys regions would be February 19-23. The district tournaments would be February 12-17, one week earlier than in most previous years.

 

An added point to this: If the KHSAA plans to play the Sweet 16 the week before the SEC Tournament, then UK will either have to play a road game the last day of the season or the Sweet 16 will have to work around a Saturday afternoon UK home game like it did a few years ago. I don't see UK giving up their bi-annual Saturday senior day so the KHSAA will have to make adjustments.

 

Semis are now on Saturday night.

They're talking about bumping it up two weeks?!?

 

Yes and girls the same week it already is.

2018 SEC Tournament is March 7-12 in St. Louis. That means the boys Sweet 16 would be February 28-March 3. I'm assuming the girls tournament would fall after the boys, so the boys regions would be February 19-23. The district tournaments would be February 12-17, one week earlier than in most previous years.

 

 

This is what what said at the last delegate meeting that they were looking at.

If they are going to cut the regular season a week shorter, they really need to let the schools know ASAP since teams are in the process of scheduling games.

Semis are now on Saturday night.

 

I know, and the reason for the initial move to Saturday semifinals and a Sunday final was to avoid a UK game. I think it went well, but I'd imagine swinging a college and two high school games in one day wasn't something Rupp, UK, or the KHSAA was real excited about. If they make this move, it will have to be done every other year. Are all parties prepared to deal with that?

I know, and the reason for the initial move to Saturday semifinals and a Sunday final was to avoid a UK game. I think it went well, but I'd imagine swinging a college and two high school games in one day wasn't something Rupp, UK, or the KHSAA was real excited about. If they make this move, it will have to be done every other year. Are all parties prepared to deal with that?

 

Great question. Was not told more than that they were looking into it.

If they are going to cut the regular season a week shorter, they really need to let the schools know ASAP since teams are in the process of scheduling games.

 

I can think of several schools that back-load their schedule with tough teams the final 2 weeks of the season after district games are done so as to get their teams prepped for the postseason. I hope that instead of those games going away, they are able to salt them into the regular season.

If they are going to cut the regular season a week shorter, they really need to let the schools know ASAP since teams are in the process of scheduling games.

 

I don't think we would see it next year but it is something they are definitely looking at.

I don't think we would see it next year but it something they are definitely looking at.

 

Do you think a regular season that is one week shorter would reduce the number of games played to 28 or would they stay at 30? Obviously just asking an opinion since nothing is yet set in stone.

They could have it at the arena at the horse park.

Do you think a regular season that is one week shorter would reduce the number of games played to 28 or would they stay at 30? Obviously just asking an opinion since nothing is yet set in stone.

 

They said game limit would still be 30 but one less week to play them.

They could have it at the arena at the horse park.

 

This is also a good idea.

And with UK often playing Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday in succession in the SEC tournament, it's just not wise for the KHSAA to try and compete with that. While you might see individual sessions at the SW16 empty because of the bad-luck draw of playing opposite of UK in the NCAA (v. Indiana last year was a good example; the most extreme being UK-Duke in '92), UK in the SEC tournament can wipe out four straight days of a five-day SW16.

 

Kentucky rarely ever plays on Thursday during the SEC tournament....

So what's the bottom line here? Is the Sweet 16, boys or girls, supposed to drive revenue or crown a State Champ?

 

The model has changed because society has changed. We are more fragmented because there are more sports, both High School and Club, and more entertainment options, especially digitally. Movie attendance is down. College football attendance was down for the 6th straight year. NFL is down. Remember when NASCAR was a hot ticket? Now they race in front of empty stands. It's happening across all of sports, why would High School be any different?

 

The Sweet 16 attendance is going to keep going down no matter where it's played. All you can do is have a great sponsor and a great venue and put on a great Championship. Planning around the UK schedule or March Madness schedule seems like a waste of effort. If they played the Girl's Sweet 16 at the end of April, would more people go because college hoops was over? Of course not.

 

Have your Championship, don't worry about attendance, and look for other ways to grow revenue. Want to grow attendance and build a fan base? Let every grade school player in for free for the whole tournament.