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Greensboro ‘solid’ as men’s site
• The league hasn’t determined sites for the men beyond 2014-15.
BY DAVID MORRISON
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — The ACC men’s basketball tournament has bounced around over the past eight years, with host sites including Washington, Tampa and Atlanta, site of this year’s tournament at Philips Arena.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford doesn’t expect that sort of experimentation to change as the conference expands northward with the impending additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
But he also doesn’t expect the tournament to stray from Greensboro Coliseum, the place that has hosted it 23 times in its 58 seasons. Greensboro, site of the last two, will also host the event in the 2013-15 seasons.
“I don’t see that changing in the future,” Swofford said after speaking at a luncheon Monday at the Greensboro Coliseum, kicking off a three-week run in which it will house the ACC women’s tournament and the second and third rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament.
“There’s a belief from our schools that the ACC tournament was born in this state, and this is its real home.”
Swofford said Greensboro’s future with the ACC men’s and women’s tournaments is “very, very solid,” even as the conference’s agreement with the Greensboro Coliseum Complex is set to expire after the next three seasons.
Matt Brown, the Coliseum’s managing director, said it’s mostly up to the ACC to start taking the next round of bids for future tournaments.
Brown’s team is expecting that to be sooner rather than later, maybe even after this year’s tournament ends.
To keep up with structures like Orlando’s Amway Arena and New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Greensboro Coliseum is scheduled for $24 million in improvements.
“It’s important for us to keep the focus that the patrons coming to the ACC tournament are paying a pretty attractive ticket price, and they want to have all the amenities that they would view to be in a modern, state-of-the-art facility,” Brown said.
And, when it comes to the conference’s new northern additions, there’s always the climate factor.
“We feel their fan bases would embrace the opportunity to come south in March,” Brown said. “They’re coming down to play golf and watch the tournament instead of sloshing through the snow up at Madison Square Garden.”
Meanwhile, Swofford said he doesn’t expect Pittsburgh and Syracuse to enter the league for the 2012-13 season.
Swofford said the ACC’s future schools are not quite as eager to circumvent the 27-month notice outlined in the Big East’s exit clause like West Virginia, which came to a recent settlement with the conference to join the Big 12 this summer.
“We’re ready to take the two schools whenever they can come,” Swofford said. “But we have felt — and Pitt and Syracuse have felt — that they need to go about this in a way that serves who they’re leaving as well as coming here.”
When the two teams do join, it sets up another challenge in planning a 14-team tournament as opposed to the 12-team model it has employed the past seven years.
Swofford said the league has reached no conclusions about changes to the tournament format, other than there’s a strong feeling that all 14 teams should be included.
The conference will try to learn from the example of the Big East, which has spread its 16-team tournament over five days since 2009, and also see what works for the SEC as it expands to 14 teams next season.
“You want to learn as much from others, understanding that the ACC tournament — in terms of collegiate tournaments — is sort of the granddaddy of them all,” Swofford said. “It’s something that’s very special to this league and its history.”
Swofford
• The league hasn’t determined sites for the men beyond 2014-15.
BY DAVID MORRISON
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — The ACC men’s basketball tournament has bounced around over the past eight years, with host sites including Washington, Tampa and Atlanta, site of this year’s tournament at Philips Arena.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford doesn’t expect that sort of experimentation to change as the conference expands northward with the impending additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
But he also doesn’t expect the tournament to stray from Greensboro Coliseum, the place that has hosted it 23 times in its 58 seasons. Greensboro, site of the last two, will also host the event in the 2013-15 seasons.
“I don’t see that changing in the future,” Swofford said after speaking at a luncheon Monday at the Greensboro Coliseum, kicking off a three-week run in which it will house the ACC women’s tournament and the second and third rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament.
“There’s a belief from our schools that the ACC tournament was born in this state, and this is its real home.”
Swofford said Greensboro’s future with the ACC men’s and women’s tournaments is “very, very solid,” even as the conference’s agreement with the Greensboro Coliseum Complex is set to expire after the next three seasons.
Matt Brown, the Coliseum’s managing director, said it’s mostly up to the ACC to start taking the next round of bids for future tournaments.
Brown’s team is expecting that to be sooner rather than later, maybe even after this year’s tournament ends.
To keep up with structures like Orlando’s Amway Arena and New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Greensboro Coliseum is scheduled for $24 million in improvements.
“It’s important for us to keep the focus that the patrons coming to the ACC tournament are paying a pretty attractive ticket price, and they want to have all the amenities that they would view to be in a modern, state-of-the-art facility,” Brown said.
And, when it comes to the conference’s new northern additions, there’s always the climate factor.
“We feel their fan bases would embrace the opportunity to come south in March,” Brown said. “They’re coming down to play golf and watch the tournament instead of sloshing through the snow up at Madison Square Garden.”
Meanwhile, Swofford said he doesn’t expect Pittsburgh and Syracuse to enter the league for the 2012-13 season.
Swofford said the ACC’s future schools are not quite as eager to circumvent the 27-month notice outlined in the Big East’s exit clause like West Virginia, which came to a recent settlement with the conference to join the Big 12 this summer.
“We’re ready to take the two schools whenever they can come,” Swofford said. “But we have felt — and Pitt and Syracuse have felt — that they need to go about this in a way that serves who they’re leaving as well as coming here.”
When the two teams do join, it sets up another challenge in planning a 14-team tournament as opposed to the 12-team model it has employed the past seven years.
Swofford said the league has reached no conclusions about changes to the tournament format, other than there’s a strong feeling that all 14 teams should be included.
The conference will try to learn from the example of the Big East, which has spread its 16-team tournament over five days since 2009, and also see what works for the SEC as it expands to 14 teams next season.
“You want to learn as much from others, understanding that the ACC tournament — in terms of collegiate tournaments — is sort of the granddaddy of them all,” Swofford said. “It’s something that’s very special to this league and its history.”
Swofford
