like playing at a military base in Germany?
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/wvu/no-wvu-no-texas-a-m-set-to-tip-off/article_21dd5fe0-e95e-5ef0-896c-04dd49822294.html

Yeah, pretty sure we've been at the point of gimmicks for a while now. Maybe not to the point of total absurdity, but not far from it.

We're set to get international games this year... Still due for some outside games. Haven't quite yet hit MLB's "Field of Dreams" gimmick level yet.

There have been some outdoor games and they've almost all been awful. I think we crossed that off the gimmick list already.

I had no problem with the Germany game. Given our connection to the US Armed Forces it always makes sense to play games like that and occasionally mix in games against the service academies.

The NHL's outdoor games work well and are well received by fans. But basketball is an indoor sport. It can be played outside and most pickup games probably are outdoors. The best players learned the game first outdoors and best ball handlers seemed to always be dribbling wherever they were. But it's a sport that gets us from fall football to spring baseball and north of the Red River that's a lot of snow and ice driving it indoors.

But I don't mind gimmicks...that work!!!

There is no bigger gimmick game than @Vandy.

I'd watch if they played at Rucker, Venice Beach, Mosswood, etc.

I'm sure coaches at the big schools wouldn't want to play a game that counts on those courts, but maybe an exhibition game would get approval.

Those courts are all used to hosting events, I'm sure it wouldn't cost much to get some cameras out there.

AAU, absurdly early recruiting, etc. has all kind of helped destroy blacktop basketball. I would love to see college hoops help support it.

Projecting the 2021 SEC Conference schedule. The new format with 3 Permanent Rivals started during the 2015-2016 Season.

Permanent Rivals (Home and Away) - 6 games
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri

Home (Even Years) / Away (Odd Years) - 5 games
Florida
Kentucky
Mississippi St
Ole Miss
South Carolina

Away (Even Years) / Home (Odd Years) - 5 games
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

Rotating Games (10 year rotation?) - 2 games
2016
@Mississippi St
Vanderbilt

2017
@Vanderbilt
Kentucky

2018
@Kentucky
Alabama

2019
@Alabama
South Carolina

2020
@South Carolina
Georgia

2021
@Georgia??? (Home game previous year)
Florida or Ole Miss??? (Already rotated though UK and USC. Played @Miss St first year of new format.)

2022
@Florida or Ole Miss???
Auburn or Tennessee???

2023
@Auburn or Tennessee???
Florida or Ole Miss???

2024
@Florida or Ole Miss???
Auburn or Tennessee???

2025
@Auburn or Tennessee???
Mississippi State???

2021 SEC Schedule Projection

Home
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Florida or Ole Miss???

Away
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Florida
Kentucky
Mississippi St
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Georgia???

That's pretty good, I didn't even realize there was some kind of order to those other two games. Kind of thought someone at the SEC office pulled numbers from a hat or something.

expresswrittenconsent said:

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Bunk Moreland said:

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Toyota Center looks rad with 1400 fans.

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We've been social distancing in Reed for the last 2 years...

Brand new joke.

Just... why...

It's strange for sure.

Playing AT Boise makes zero sense, and maybe the only way to get them on the schedule (without paying them) was to go neutral?

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I'm interested to see how Covid changes scheduling. I seriously doubt programs are going to be allowed to shell out 80k+ to buy a win, much less do it 5 or 6 times.

I for one am glad. I'm hoping this will put an end to athletic departments like A&M paying for the Southerns and Prairie Views to exist in D1. Also, maybe this will put an end to ridiculous rising coaching salaries, etc. College sports needed a "bust", and maybe Covid will be the needle for a much needed change.

It's a doubleheader.

Shame it's not a 2-round tournament

Absolutely terrible...

OK who is doing this?!? WTF

Last year we decided not to play at Texas even though we were already getting Oklahoma St, Gonzaga and Oregon St at home.

This year we are all but guaranteed to be on the road for the Big 12 Challenge, scheduled TCU on a "neutral court" 5 miles from their campus that won't count as a road game on our resume, and then get Boise in Houston. No high profile non-conference game at Reed, and 2 overpriced neutral site matchups instead.

LawHall88 said:

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It's a doubleheader.

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We should never play a team like Boise on a neutral floor.

It isn't the end of the world. You know what you are getting. It is a A&M and Texas doubleheader against a couple of good mid majors who will be hungry for a upset for their resume. Boise was #90 NET rating and LA Tech was #87. Texas was #70 and we were #113. Both games should be competitive. I just hope they don't overprice it. Hopefully it replaces a home game against a team over #300.

It'll be priced just like every other neutral site game with teams of this caliber.

Great seats, $100-$150

Decent seats, $50-$60

Then **** seats for as low as $15-$20 before fees.

Day of game, if (when) attendance is low, you upgrade people to better seats for free.



There's really no incentive any more not to overprice things, as teams/venues can just sell at full price to the people who are willing to pay it, then backdoor everything else to the secondary market at market price.

Maybe we were going to play Texas but we're going to play Texas in the SEC/Big12 and so they turned this into a double header against other teams rather than us play twice?

Otherwise I can't figure out why us and Texas would play in the same building on the same day and not play against each other.

bingram1230 said:

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We should never play a team like Boise on a neutral floor.

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It would be a tier 2 game almost any given year, nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of problems with our scheduling, a neutral game vs Boise would rank very low on the list

So 0 decent home non-conf games? Wow

bobinator said:

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Maybe we were going to play Texas but we're going to play Texas in the SEC/Big12 and so they turned this into a double header against other teams rather than us play twice?

Otherwise I can't figure out why us and Texas would play in the same building on the same day and not play against each other.

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Weren't we already supposed to play Texas this year at their place?

First year was neutral site
2nd year at Texas for their new arena
3rd year at A&M

edit: new arena not opening for awhile...so maybe i'm off on that.

I don't remember that being a thing, but it would be cool

There will be like 1000 people in the seats

It's not necessarily Boise that I don't like, I think they're respectable. It is the fact that we don't have a home game that is annoying but we play in ft worth and houston

bingram1230 said:

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It's not necessarily Boise that I don't like, I think they're respectable. It is the fact that we don't have a home game that is annoying but we play in ft worth and houston

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And if playing in those cities; would be nice to play on home courts (TCU/UH) and get a return trip out of it back to A&M.

bobinator said:

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Maybe we were going to play Texas but we're going to play Texas in the SEC/Big12 and so they turned this into a double header against other teams rather than us play twice?

Otherwise I can't figure out why us and Texas would play in the same building on the same day and not play against each other.

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Does the Boise St game mean we are out of the SEC-Big 12 challenge? Arent we have at our limit of non-conference games now?

Yeah I thought we had counted up a full schedule but maybe a game got dropped or something.

Or do teams still do that thing where a couple of your home non-con games count as part of the tournament?