Completed Event: General versus Arizona on January 18, 2002
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General
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The University of Utah Athletics
Transcript From Commissioner Craig Thompson's Chat
3/8/2002 12:00 AM | General
March 8, 2002
Moderator: (3:56 PM ET ) Mountain West
Conference commissioner Craig Thompson will be joining us shortly please
continue to use the form below to submit questions.
Craig Thompson: (4:03 PM ET ) I have been
following the RPI for more than two decades in many leagues that I've worked
in and for five years on the basketball selection committee. The RPI usage
is extremely overused and inaccurate. Because many leagues have built-in
advantages from playing numerous games against top 20 people in their own
conferences. The RPI is skewed. A league like the MWC with six top 70 RPI
teams does not get the credit for conference wins amongst each other. Also I
have seen many teams this year with one top 25 win and 10-15 wins against
teams rated 200 and lower yet they have RPIs in the 30s. It's
incomprehensible.
Craig Thompson: (4:06 PM ET ) Next year in 2003
the MWC Tournament will again be in Las Vegas. In 2004 through 2006, the
tourament moves to the Pepsi Center in Denver. This was a tough decision by
our administrators because the tournament does so well financially in Las
Vegas. However the need to get a neutral court outweighed finances. It will
be interesting to see how the tournament draws in Denver in those three
years. We had looked at both the Delta Center in Salt Lake City and other
sites but received no interest or bids from those cities.
Craig Thompson: (4:09 PM ET ) Our board of
directors (presidents) have stated that we should remain an eight team
league for the forseeable future and have placed a moratorium on expansion.
The topic is not even on the upcoming April athletic director's agenda. The
BOD discusses annually the overall status of the league and its growth, but
at this time feels strengthening the current eight members is more important
than expansion.
Craig Thompson: (4:12 PM ET ) All in all each of
our 19 championships delivers at least one or two top 25 caliber teams and
the remaining six teams are all very competitive. In the short term the
argument could be made that we have one top 10 team that dominates the other
seven. For the long term growth of the league we are better off having
numerous nationally ranked teams than just one.
Craig Thompson: (4:15 PM ET ) Our presidents and
athletic directors have spent countless hours discussing the status of
college football, both the regular and post-seasons. When the current
contract expires in 2006 there needs to be a mechanism by which the MWC has
greater access to the BCS bowls than the current requirement of finishing in
the top six. Our goal in the meantime is simply to play better schedules and
of course be successful.
Craig Thompson: (4:19 PM ET ) We haven't even
played three full seasons as a conference yet the national exposure we've
received by our top 25 teams and our television package have given us a
great opportunity so far. One thing that we constantly stress is playing
quality non-conference schedules in all sports. By playing with and beating
those programs, we aspire to be labeled as, is the only way we are going to
receive the type of national recognition we deserve. College athletics is
very regional and people in the West know of our strength, but we need to
expand it to other parts of the country.
Craig Thompson: (4:22 PM ET ) Very interesting
question because if there were a 16-team playoff we would probably only have
one participant vs. the three teams each year since our formation that have
played in a bowl game. No question the revenue would be greater for the MWC
in a play-off situation but our number of post-season participants would be
reduced. Ideally we will have greater access to not only a BCS bowl but also
keep our other affiliations.
Craig Thompson: (4:26 PM ET ) I don't know where
you're getting your information because both men's quarterfinal sessions
yesterday shattered the previous two years attendance totals. First session
yesterday was 11,612 while the second session had 12,866. Tonight's
semifinals should set another attendance record. Wednesday's women's session
one attendance of 1,985 also set a MWC Tournament record.
Craig Thompson: (4:27 PM ET ) We are really
excited about the growth and future of the Mountain West Conference.
Tremendous gains have been made in a short period of time.
Craig Thompson: (4:28 PM ET ) Thanks for all the
great questions, gotta run
A Cowboy Fan in
Cheyenne: Craig, why do the media and fans make such a big deal of the
RPI? The SEC and ACC, for example, played 84% of their games either at home
or on neutral courts, while the MWC only played 65% home/neutral. Because
the RPI is an AVERAGE WINNING PERCENTAGE, teams/conferences who play a much
higher percentage of games at home will have a HUGE advantage in this highly
flawed formula. Fans and media just don't understand this, obviously.
Comments?
Ron Hardy (Salt Lake
City): I applaud your decision to move the MWC Basketball tournament off
the game/practice floor of UNLV. For years, the WAC favored New Mexico by
playing the tournament on their home/practice floor. Is there any plan to
rotate the tournament between professional basketball arenas in Utah, So.
Calif. and Denver?
Ted, Fresno: What is
your philosophy on expansion?
Jarad (Salt Lake
City): The parity in MWC really has been extraordinary, as exemplified
by the near-upsets of Utah and Wyoming in the first round. Does this parity
give the conference an advantage, or a disadvantage, in the effort to
acheive greater national recognition for the conference?
Aaron (Loveland,CO):
Are you confident that the MWC will be included in the next "chapter" of the
BCS after it expires in 2006?
Len (Denver): What
issues do you think are currently the most pressing concerning the health of
this conference and its member schools?
Brian, Dallas Texas:
What do you prefer for college football, a play-off or the BCS? why?
Joey B (Ft. Collins):
Will MWC be focusing on marketing its product more. Attendance doesn't seem
to be large in Las Vegas this week, Denver 2004!!
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