Why the CIAA Has the Best Basketball Tournament
The CIAA doesn’t reign supreme because they have the best quality of black college basketball, or because it is the oldest black college athletic conference. The CIAA Basketball Tournament reigns supreme because of this image.
Consistency. From Day One.
The worst team in the CIAA has at least one more win than nine teams between the SWAC and the MEAC. Unlike the MEAC and the SWAC, the CIAA doesn’t worry about exchanging blowout defeats for dollars. The CIAA member schools stick to the script and build fan loyalty from the first day of the season. Now, its easy to understand the sacrifices that must be made for the MEAC and SWAC to be a viable part of Division I, but the truth is that none of them are viable, and only a few of them are approaching that point.
So far this season, the SWAC has Prairie View and Alabama A&M as its only two teams that would have a shot at any form of success in Division I. The MEAC has six teams with at least five wins on the year, but still have one of the lowest RPI ratings in all of college basketball.
So how can there be any wonder about why the MEAC and SWAC, with all of the money coming in, all of the television deals and all of spotlight, still can’t manufacture a tournament with half of the appeal of the CIAA? How is it that the conference with the least amount of nationally recognizable HBCUs, draws the most attention and money to its installment of March Madness?
Because the CIAA believes in letting the money come in with the victories.
The standings don’t lie. Division II or not, fans and observers know what their team is about from opening night. CIAA fans don’t have to wait 13 games to find out just how good their teams are. They don’t have to see highlights on SportsCenter of their schools traveling across the country to lose by 40 or more. In CIAA basketball, the schools and their supporters are all too proud to stay in their lanes.
And they are rewarded with one of the nation’s most lucrative sporting events.
I’m not slighting the MEAC schools for doing what they think is best to advance their basketball programs, but the truth is that chasing guranteed game money doesn’t shout “buy tickets” to anyone. Not fans, not sponsors, not anyone. The CIAA may not be the best basketball you’ll watch, but they are proud of the show they put on, and people are more than proud to pay to see it.
Short URL: http://www.hbcudigest.com/?p=1629
“The worst team in the CIAA has at least one more win than nine teams between the SWAC and the MEAC.” Really?!??! Once I saw that comment made, I HAD to leave a comment. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like to see my MEAC teams play their first 10-15 games of the season but when you see upsets like A&T going into Chicago to beat DePaul last year or watching Morgan State pull one out against Maryland this year, you have to be proud.
As for your statement, I have to correct you. The St. Paul’s College Tigers have an overall record of 6-22. Only three of those were conference wins. Ok, they beat the eventual CIAA Champs twice but they lost to The Apprentice School. The Apprentice School?!??! Maryland-Eastern Shore has one more overall win (7-22) and the same amount of conference wins with a victory over SC State (the #2 team in the MEAC that has a win over Idaho).
[...] it be the CIAA, which arguably has the best basketball tournament in the country? Will it be the MEAC, with balance and parity across the board in several sports? Will it be the [...]