Scheduling

[FurmAlum]

Somebody explain to me how the lacrosse team gets top ten teams to come to Greenville to play and the basketball team is lucky to get a mid level mid major to come here to play us?

Is it money?

Or is it because a top ten or other P5 team won't play us here cause they are afraid of a possible/likely ass-whooping and don't want to take a chance? Clempson/USC can you read?

Can't be the venue. We've got the BSWA.

[Roundball]

It’s all about $. We cannot afford to pay the big names to play at Timmons or The Well. You cannot compare basketball costs to lacrosse. It’s lacrosse for goodness sakes.

[fufanatic]

My guess is the lacrosse head coach's connections in the lax world are helping get big opponents to campus (the weather helps too) ... especially when said big opponents know that it's probably a pretty easy win. Will be curious to see if those same big opponents come to Furman when either the coach leaves or the program gets competitive enough to compete.

[Paul C]

It's absolutely money

The amount of $$ it takes to buy a home game is crazy. Even mid-majors get low six figures.....a P5 team? I'm guessing but maybe 200k-300k? and even at that, why give up a home game? Use your NCAA share to buy a bunch of home games from financially strapped mid majors and don't play a true road game until January....

[FurmAlum]

I knew the answer. I just couldn't help myself.

But...How did we get all those big teams to come play us at MA back in the 70's. Was money not as big an issue then?

How did we get USC to come play us at home in 2010?

[Paul C]

how are things different now than in the 70s? Really?

[FurmAlum]

how are things different now than in the 70s? Really?

Well, evidently they are different. We could get P5 teams to come play us at M.A. Clemson, USC, Illinois, and a few more I can't think of.

[apaladin]

It was a whole different landscape back in the 70’s. There were less than 50 percent in the number of D1 teams now. In the 70’s there was 4 D1 teams in SC. I think there are 10+ now. The NCAA tourney was not the mega million media event it is today. There was no national TV until the finals. You had to win your conference tourney to get in so regular season games didn’t matter that much.

[FurmAlum]

Thanks ap. You hit the nail on the head. But I don't have to like it.

[Paul C]

how are things different now than in the 70s? Really?

Well, evidently they are different. We could get P5 teams to come play us at M.A. Clemson, USC, Illinois, and a few more I can't think of.

Haha my point was you could write a book....a LONG book....on the difference between today’s landscape and the 70s.

[FurmAlum]

Sorry I asked. I surrender Paul.

[Furmanoid]

If you filled the Well or nearly filled it, wouldn’t you make enough to pay a couple hundred K to somebody? Just curious.

[Affirm]

If you filled the Well or nearly filled it, wouldn’t you make enough to pay a couple hundred K to somebody? Just curious.

I guess the answer is yes, IF you filled it.
But the real questions are
•“what teams would draw a sellout crowd vs. Furman?”
and
•”how many hundreds of thousands ABOVE 200 would it require to get any of those teams to come to Greenville vs. Furman?”
Furman is going to have continue to get better and stay better.
Not saying we are not good - just not quite good enough yet to fill BSWA.
Could we get Kansas or Gonzaga or Maryland or Baylor to come for $1,000,000? Those would sell it out now, but we’d lose a lot of money if we had to pay that amount.
Doubt being able to get Kentucky or Duke or UNC to agree to come (unless Furman is expected far in advance to be a consistent top 25 team) since they already come to SC regularly to play their conference games.

[Paul C]

What he said

[FurmAlum]

How did Wofford get UNC to play them in Spartanburg? Was that a relationship thing between Coach Roy and Mike?