Will the Big 12 Tournament come back to OKC?

[seniorsooner]

You're right, it does sound funny.

I won't pretend to be any kind of outdoorsman. I have gone fishing a few times in my life (thanks, Granddad Oakes), but I've certainly never paid to watch someone else do it.

God bless all 100K of 'em; knock yourselves out.

I admittedly don't know much about it but from what I understand you don't actually watch people fish. I believe the fishing will be going on at/around Grand Lake but the weigh ins will be in Tulsa. Apparently people find it enjoyable to watch fish being weighed. I also read that the fish will have a police escort from Grand Lake to Tulsa since that is normally about an hour's drive. It is catch and release so after they are weighed the fish then have to be transported back and put back into the water. 'm not kidding.

 

[campbest]

This isn't the West Coast Conference. And it's an exception rather than rule when it happens.

There aren't any "rules" associated with hosting a conference tournament.

 

[Sooner04]

I don't understand why any Big XII fan that did not live in KC or Lawrence would support such a ridiculous concept as having the tournament in KC 2/3 of the time. I don't think it should ever be in KC again. If the State of Missouri did not think about this when they left the conference, too bad.

The reason I support this concept is because I've been to every Big 12 Tournament since 2003, so I've seen each venue get a chance to host it multiple times. The overall presentation in Kansas City is much better than anywhere else. The short distance between venues in Oklahoma City cannot be denied, and that's why I think they should be in some sort of rotation.

 

[OUHoops]

The reason I support this concept is because I've been to every Big 12 Tournament since 2003, so I've seen each venue get a chance to host it multiple times. The overall presentation in Kansas City is much better than anywhere else. The short distance between venues in Oklahoma City cannot be denied, and that's why I think they should be in some sort of rotation.

How does the Power and Light District in KC compare to Bricktown? Haven't had a chance to see that or the Sprint Center yet. Hoping to do so this year.

 

[campbest]

How does the Power and Light District in KC compare to Bricktown? Haven't had a chance to see that or the Sprint Center yet. Hoping to do so this year.

P&L > Bricktown. I don't know about the dining environment, but it is a much better place to have a few (or many) beers after the game. Looking to make the trip this year.

 

[CzechM8]

Okay, first of all the "state of Missouri" didn't abandon the Big XII, just mizzou... and secondly anyone that has been to KC (especially for the tourney) will tell you that KC is MUCH more of a KU and Purple Kansas town that a mizzou town. Incidentally, Columbia is 125 miles from KC... Manhattan is 125 as well, but Lawrence is only 40 miles away. There's a MUCH better case to be made that if KU had left the conference you should drop KC from consideration long before you would because mizzou leaves.

There's no reason KC should be shut out of the tourney rotation. Should they get 2 out of every 3 years???? That's very debateable. But, cutting them out of the loop would be pretty stupid.

And, I'm sure Dallas/Houston will get the majority of the football championship games (when we get back to 12, that is) so it makes sense to continue a post-season presence near the basketball heavy weights, especially when you consider the attendance ramifications.

And, of course OKC will probably remain the permanent home of the softball/baseball tourneys.

Oh, and P&L is quite a bit more advanced than Bricktown. I'd say about double the amount of establishments right now.

 

[oSuJeff97]

I know that there is at least one new hotel that is going to be built right across the street from the BOK Center. The old city hall is being converted in to a hotel and I think there is another one planned, as well.

Correct. The old City Hall is currently being converted into an Aloft Hotel by the Snyder family. It's the same group that did the renovation of The Mayo.

Construction is also underway for a new Fairfield Inn & Suites in the Brady District.

There will be one more new hotel underway shortly, either on the east end of the Brady District, or possibly in the One Place development, which is the one across the street from the BOK Center.

We did so-so with the C-USA tourney a few years ago... for the most part, a lot of empty seats (ESPECIALLY on the womens side) but it was only because the wrong teams were still in it. If Tulsa and/or Memphis stayed deeper, we would have sold out the final games, methinks.

The C-USA Tournament isn't anywhere near a close comparison. The only team with local interest has a very limited fan base.

The Big 12 Tournament would be a smashing success in Tulsa.

KU fans traveled pretty well to Tulsa for the first rounds of the NCAAs last year. I don't think the Big 12 tourney would be much different.

Tulsa did very well in NCAA Tournament appearence, outdrawing the other cities of comparable size, even without a "home" team playing at the site.

I admittedly don't know much about it but from what I understand you don't actually watch people fish. I believe the fishing will be going on at/around Grand Lake but the weigh ins will be in Tulsa. Apparently people find it enjoyable to watch fish being weighed. I also read that the fish will have a police escort from Grand Lake to Tulsa since that is normally about an hour's drive. It is catch and release so after they are weighed the fish then have to be transported back and put back into the water. 'm not kidding.

Correct.

The fishing part of the event isn't really "the event." There will be the "expo" that will fill the entire Tulsa Convention Center for several days... this is where all of the various eqiupment manufactuers (boats, engines, fishing gear, etc.) will show off (and sell) all of their stuff.

Then the "weigh-in" will be at the BOK Center, which is like the big "main event" for the fans.

I'm with you guys... the Bassmaster thing really doesn't interest me at all... but it's a MAJOR event that will bring tons of people to town and generate some $25-30 million in economic impact. IIRC, the estimated economic impact of the NCAA Tournament was like $20 million.

 

[campbest]

Okay, first of all the "state of Missouri" didn't abandon the Big XII, just mizzou... and secondly anyone that has been to KC (especially for the tourney) will tell you that KC is MUCH more of a KU and Purple Kansas town that a mizzou town. Incidentally, Columbia is 125 miles from KC... Manhattan is 125 as well, but Lawrence is only 40 miles away. There's a MUCH better case to be made that if KU had left the conference you should drop KC from consideration long before you would because mizzou leaves.

There's no reason KC should be shut out of the tourney rotation. Should they get 2 out of every 3 years???? That's very debateable. But, cutting them out of the loop would be pretty stupid.

And, I'm sure Dallas/Houston will get the majority of the football championship games (when we get back to 12, that is) so it makes sense to continue a post-season presence near the basketball heavy weights, especially when you consider the attendance ramifications.

And, of course OKC will probably remain the permanent home of the softball/baseball tourneys.

Oh, and P&L is quite a bit more advanced than Bricktown. I'd say about double the amount of establishments right now.

People are also conveniently forgetting Iowa State, which has a pretty big draw in the KC area.

 

[Sooner04]

That's true about the Cyclones. With any sniff of success they come in droves to KC.

I don't remember P&L having as many restaurants as Bricktown, but I do remember the P&L's bar scene being much better than Bricktown.

 

[campbest]

I don't remember P&L having as many restaurants as Bricktown, but I do remember the P&L's bar scene being much better than Bricktown.

Which is the only thing that matters.

 

[CzechM8]

People are also conveniently forgetting Iowa State, which has a pretty big draw in the KC area.

That's a very good point. KU and Purple Kansas alone provide reason enough, but when you add ISU, it's a no brainer to keep KC in the rotation.

That's true about the Cyclones. With any sniff of success they come in droves to KC.

I don't remember P&L having as many restaurants as Bricktown, but I do remember the P&L's bar scene being much better than Bricktown.

Yeah, while Bricktown and P&L are both entertainment districts, they are different in a lot of ways. You are right that P&L is definitely more of a party spot, but it's really good as that. There is pretty much a bar for ANY taste, age, or genre. Plus it's all in one big U shape so it's really well designed for a big party.

But, Bricktown does have more restaurant type places, as well as several other activity options for not only partying but also for family friendly entertaining.

IMO the bball tournament is much more likely to have FAMILIES taking the trip versus the normal hordes of drunken students like you would find with post season football trips.

But, all in all, I think both KC and OKC should be the main stops for the bball tourney... when you consider venues and the tourney experience as a whole, I think both cities really hit the mark.

 

[WTSooner]

It should rotate between KC, OKC/Tulsa, and Dallas.

That keeps everybody happy.

 

[Sooner04]

Dallas, with all the new stuff around Victory Park, should get one last shot. But I'm not even sure they deserve that with how lousy their last couple of tournaments were attended.

 

[stoops4pres]

This.

The idea that Tulsa could not host the Big 12 basketball tournament is beyond ridiculous.

There are enough hotel rooms to host the NCAA Tournament this past year and the freaking U.S. Open and other golf majors at Southern Hills.

Not to mention that at least 3 new hotels will be opened downtown by the time the Big 12 Tournament would come to Tulsa.

As a side note - Tulsa/Grand Lake was just announced as the site for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. (It sounds funny, but don't laugh - it's an event that will draw 75-100K people.)



This is simple. The men would be in the BOK Center and the women would be in the newly renovated Tulsa Convention Center, which is right across the street from the BOK Center. If you recall, the Tulsa Convention Center was TU's home court before they built the Reynolds Center.

Part of the reasoning for renovating the Convention Center was in anticipation for putting in a bid for the Big 12 basketball tournaments.

Beat me to it. Like WTSooner said, if Tulsa can host a NCAA Tournament (and like you said, in addition to one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world), then it'd certainly be a good spot for the Big 12 tournament.

 

[stoops4pres]

I would love to see us give Tulsa a chance!

We did so-so with the C-USA tourney a few years ago... for the most part, a lot of empty seats (ESPECIALLY on the womens side) but it was only because the wrong teams were still in it. If Tulsa and/or Memphis stayed deeper, we would have sold out the final games, methinks.

KU fans traveled pretty well to Tulsa for the first rounds of the NCAAs last year. I don't think the Big 12 tourney would be much different.

I see how we'd want to keep KC in Big 12 turf, but there needs to be some way of saying that Mizzou abandoning the Big 12 was not cool and the KC bball tourney would be one way of showing that.

No doubt Kansas would fill the seats if the tournament were in Tulsa. Not only because they have shown to fill up the place during the NCAA tournament in Tulsa/OKC and at Lloyd Noble (which was pathetic on OU's part), but also because there is a solid core of KU alums in Tulsa anyways.

 

[WTSooner]

So it's settled.....we're going to have this thing in Tulsa, every year, going forward.

Glad we got that out of the way.

 

[DenverSooner]

Okay, first of all the "state of Missouri" didn't abandon the Big XII, just mizzou... and secondly anyone that has been to KC (especially for the tourney) will tell you that KC is MUCH more of a KU and Purple Kansas town that a mizzou town. Incidentally, Columbia is 125 miles from KC... Manhattan is 125 as well, but Lawrence is only 40 miles away. There's a MUCH better case to be made that if KU had left the conference you should drop KC from consideration long before you would because mizzou leaves.

There's no reason KC should be shut out of the tourney rotation. Should they get 2 out of every 3 years???? That's very debateable. But, cutting them out of the loop would be pretty stupid.

And, I'm sure Dallas/Houston will get the majority of the football championship games (when we get back to 12, that is) so it makes sense to continue a post-season presence near the basketball heavy weights, especially when you consider the attendance ramifications.

And, of course OKC will probably remain the permanent home of the softball/baseball tourneys.

Oh, and P&L is quite a bit more advanced than Bricktown. I'd say about double the amount of establishments right now.

The State of Missouri should lose benefits of being associated with the Big XII. These are state institutions (with the exception of Baylor and now TCU) being funded with taxpayer money. The financial benefits of a tournament or championship game should go to the taxpayers of a city that has a school in the conference.


Someone else noted that the West Coast Conference holds its tournament in a different state. I simply don't use anything from the West Coast as an example of how to do something. Any President of any of the Universities that approves anything associated with the Big XII being in Missouri should be replaced . As citizens of the remaining member states it is completely reasonable to expect events to not be in the State of Missouri. I would prefer to see it in Wichita or Des Moines. We have plenty of venues in this conference, OKC, Tulsa, Des Moines, Wichita (admitiedly small but I am not opposed to Kansas getting to host the event), Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston are all perfectly acceptable options. Missouri should not be rewarded with one nickle of revenue associated with the Big XII conference.

 

[Sooner04]

That seems a bit harsh.

 

[MsProudSooner]

So it's settled.....we're going to have this thing in Tulsa, every year, going forward.

Glad we got that out of the way.

Someone needs to let Chuck Neinas know.......:woot

 

[playmakr]

The State of Missouri should lose benefits of being associated with the Big XII. These are state institutions (with the exception of Baylor and now TCU) being funded with taxpayer money. The financial benefits of a tournament or championship game should go to the taxpayers of a city that has a school in the conference.


Someone else noted that the West Coast Conference holds its tournament in a different state. I simply don't use anything from the West Coast as an example of how to do something. Any President of any of the Universities that approves anything associated with the Big XII being in Missouri should be replaced . As citizens of the remaining member states it is completely reasonable to expect events to not be in the State of Missouri. I would prefer to see it in Wichita or Des Moines. We have plenty of venues in this conference, OKC, Tulsa, Des Moines, Wichita (admitiedly small but I am not opposed to Kansas getting to host the event), Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston are all perfectly acceptable options. Missouri should not be rewarded with one nickle of revenue associated with the Big XII conference.

Des Moines??? Shoot me in the face instead.