When the pairings came out Sunday I thought MSU got screwed out of a one. When I saw that Mark Hollis their athletic director was on the committee I thought he must have been asleep at the switch. After thinking about it some more I came to the realization he was brilliant. First, the switch of Kansas from Chicago to Louisville did not make sense as it was not the closest region for them. So others had to be changed to cover that up. Thus us and X were moved from their logical locations as well as Virginia from Louisville to Chicago. Also aking MSU a two focused everyone's attention on their not being a one not where they were playing.
Chicago is MSU's second home. They have tens of thousands of alumni in Chicago as that is the go to city for employment of MSU grads. When you watch the games in Chicago the arena will be more than 50% MSU fans. THe other three teams will share the rest. It will be an away game for whoever they meet.
North Carolina did not need for us to be moved. As close as we are to the Philly site they still would have had more fans in the arena than us because they have 5 times as many alumni and their alumni travel. I remember the last time we played in Philly in 2006 the casual fans were rooting for our opponent just because we were the one. It was not a forgone conclusion that we would have had a home court advantage over NC.
Chicago is MSU's second home. They have tens of thousands of alumni in Chicago as that is the go to city for employment of MSU grads. When you watch the games in Chicago the arena will be more than 50% MSU fans. THe other three teams will share the rest. It will be an away game for whoever they meet.
North Carolina did not need for us to be moved. As close as we are to the Philly site they still would have had more fans in the arena than us because they have 5 times as many alumni and their alumni travel. I remember the last time we played in Philly in 2006 the casual fans were rooting for our opponent just because we were the one. It was not a forgone conclusion that we would have had a home court advantage over NC.
