Many teams play in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships only because their athletic conference has an automatic qualifier. These teams from mid-major conferences may win infrequently and have only been to the tournament a few times. In the case of my school, Canisius College, when we went to Dallas to play Utah in 1996 it was the first time since most of the athletic staff was born. I learned so much during that experience and took great notes so the next time we went to the Men’s tournament I would be more prepared. Still have the notes…still haven’t gone back.
Years before the tournament, when the NCAA awards sites based upon a bidding process (think Olympics on a smaller scale) a Local Organizing Committee is formed. This LOC does a great deal of logistical planning, guided by the NCAA. This includes determining and booking the hotels which will house the eight teams. Your hotel is assigned by your seed in the tournament. No discussion.
Our conference (MAAC) plays the conference tournament one week before selection. This is a great thing because it gave us a chance to assemble the travel party and make some preparations for our team and staff that would apply no matter where we were selected to play. Back then we communicated by fax and FedEx. The day after we won the tournament we received eight site manuals which include a script and schedule for each team. These manuals are now electronic and on a secure part of the NCAA website.
The manual (for some dry reading here is a short link to the NCAA handbook page http://tinyurl.com/ykslela notice no Men’s/Women’s Division I Basketball Championships!) clearly defines the roles of each person on the travel party. Only a certain number of people get bench credentials (notice all of the coaches etc. are wearing pins) and the rest of us have limited arena access. The party of 75 includes the usual team travel party (players, coaches, athletic trainers, athletic communications, radio/TV production and, in our case, our chaplain). The remainder include staff, upper administration, cheerleaders (limited to eight I believe) pep band and mascot.
There was a great deal of wailing and gnashing of the teeth as the cheerleading coach had to pare down her squad to eight. There was also a slot (cannot remember the number) for a pep band. We did not have a pep band so decided to “rent” one from a local university. I guess that did not fit in with the spirit of the rule but we were evenutally allowed to do it. Schools that have both their men’s and women’s teams qualify also have decisions to make. My favorite phone call prior to the 2007 1st and 2nd rounds in Buffalo was from a favored colleague from a university in Chicago. Their men’s team was coming to Buffalo and their women’s team was traveling elsewhere. They had to split their band and were short a tuba player. I actually made phone calls to local high schools looking for a tuba player. We made the match and they had a full band!
Once the travel party is set, the teams must wait until the selection before they can do specific preparation.
See also: Life of an NCAA Team Host: http://tinyurl.com/yhk9bvq
Coming next: what happens immediately after the selection show on Sunday
Until next time!
Jude Russo Caserta
AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog
Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta
E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com
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