While Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany this week in DC "does not expect standing-room-only crowds" for the conference's first men's hoops tournament outside the Midwest, he does expect to "underline a message sent three years ago, when he spearheaded the conference's additions of Maryland, Rutgers and the major Mid-Atlantic television markets that came with them," according to Roman Stubbs of the WASHINGTON POST. The event at Verizon Center, which starts today, is the conference's first men's tourney not held in Chicago or Indianapolis. While Delany noted that around 250,000 Big Ten alumni "live in the Washington area and nearly another 100,000 live in Baltimore," it "remains to be seen how well the conference will tap into those swaths." Delany said, "I really don't expect us to have the same experience in D.C. I think we'll have a good experience, but I think it's a build. I would love to sell it out. But we're not at a sellout. There are public tickets available. I think we'll have very good crowds. A little bit depends upon who wins and moves on." Stubbs notes the proximity of Maryland's campus to Verizon Center "should create a pro-Maryland environment." UM Senior Associate AD/Strategic Communications & Media Relations Zack Bolno said that the school has "already sold out its allotment of 750 tickets and requested more last week." Stubbs notes the tournament will be played at Madison Square Garden next year, and that is a "bold move," as MSG's commitment to the Big East will "force the Big Ten to play its tournament a week earlier than other power conferences," compressing the '17-18 conference schedule. The tournament will then rotate between Chicago and Indianapolis from '19-22 (WASHINGTON POST, 3/8).
NOT EVERYONE EXCITED: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein noted Big Ten coaches view the conference's "foray" into DC with "some skepticism." Some coaches "wonder, like all of us, whether people will show up." Last year's games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse averaged 16,722 fans, down from an every-session sellout (18,596) in '14 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/4).
