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The Horizon League Tournament Needs to Stay at a Single Venue
March 23, 2023
Editor’s Note*: The opinions shared in this article do not reflect Colonial Sports Network as a whole. You may read the conflicting argument here
With the conference tournaments in college basketball concluding, there is an age-old question going around of should conference championship tournaments have home games or just be a one-venue arena.
In lieu of the Colonials second round exit to Cleveland State and the shenanigans that have taken place two years in a row at the Wolstein Center, it is time to open the horizons and make the Horizon League Tournament a one-venue tournament in every round.
Now the first question that comes to mind is where would the right venue be to make sure that it is fair for all teams to travel.
I think I have found the perfect spot for the Horizon League Tournament. The perfect spot for the tournament would be in the great State of Michigan at the Western Michigan University Arena.
The Arena opened up for Bronco basketball in 1957 and has been through a lot of renovations to make the perfect basketball arena. With new renovations as of 2016, the arena is ready to host a tournament.
The capacity of the Read Fieldhouse is about 5,500. The location is spot on for teams to come and play. It is smack dab in the middle for most of the Horizon League teams, so location wise it makes perfect sense.
Now that we have the arena location out of the way, another reason it is time to make the tournament a one-venue tournament has to be that there would be no more home-court shenanigans that happen.
The venues that the Horizon League provides are questionable, to say the least. Cleveland State can not seem to get its shot clock working. For the second consecutive year in a row, against the Colonials, the shot clock has gone out and the game was delayed by 20 minutes.
When the Colonials went to IUPUI, there was a metal piece sticking up through the court and they had to stop the game and repair the court. Player safety should be a big reason to make this tournament a one-venue tournament.
It would also cut costs for travel and food for a lot of teams. If the teams just stayed at one hotel, it would make sense so that the lower-seeded teams do not have to travel a whole lot. There are multiple teams that are close to the Read Fieldhouse so multiple teams would not have to travel as much.
Also just look at some of the conferences that are like the Horizon League that have one venue for their tournaments. You have conferences like the Atlantic-10 Conference that holds there tournament at the Barclays Center, and the Colonial Athletic Association held its tournament at the Entertainment and Sports Arena for the fourth consecutive time.
The Western Athletic Conference held its tournament for the 13th time in a row at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. There are so many mid-major conferences that hold their conference tournaments in one venue and it works. They get good-sized crowds for each game.
In conclusion, it is time to make the Horizon League tournament a one-venue tournament because the venues for the HL are not up to par to hold home games as stated earlier.
Costs for teams would be a lot less then what they are now because multiple teams are by the Read Field-House, to begin with. That is why it is time to make the Horizon League a one-venue tournament.