"Big Four Classic" Set For Wells Fargo Arena

[BriGuy]

DSM is set to be the host city for what will be the state of Iowa's four NCAA Division I institutions staging a "Big Four Classic" in men's basketball. Wells Fargo Arena will be the host site for the doubleheader to be played in December in each of the next four years, the institutions and the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today.

The inaugural Big Four Classic will be played on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, with Iowa State playing Drake and Iowa facing UNI in back-to-back games in the state of Iowa's premier special events center.

http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbm ... =205412765

I like this scenario as it allows the Big Two - ISU and Iowa - the opportunity to not having to play so many in-state contests while the other two institutions will continue to play either Iowa or Iowa State each year, albeit on a neutral floor. Instead of the Big Two playing Drake and UNI every year, it will now be every other year. Apparently, this compromise resulted when UNI's AD refused to play in Ames or Iowa City without those teams coming to Cedar Falls which the Big Two saw little benefit.

[CRUNIFan]

As a UNI fan this setup sucks. UNI has been to 5 NCAA tournaments in the last 10 years, ISU and Iowa have two appearances. We are 5-5 against Iowa in that time and 6-4 against Iowa State, yet we are continually treated like the annoying little school that should be honored to share the same court with them. If UNI wants to move to the next level we need to start acting the part, and participating in this "tournament" is just a reminder that we and this state think we cannot do any better than accept hand outs from Iowa and ISU.

[dogbo]

This is gonna be fun...and GREAT for Des Moines!

[Mastermind]

As a UNI fan this setup sucks. UNI has been to 5 NCAA tournaments in the last 10 years, ISU and Iowa have two appearances. We are 5-5 against Iowa in that time and 6-4 against Iowa State, yet we are continually treated like the annoying little school that should be honored to share the same court with them. If UNI wants to move to the next level we need to start acting the part, and participating in this "tournament" is just a reminder that we and this state think we cannot do any better than accept hand outs from Iowa and ISU.

With all due respect, UNI went 11-10 during the worst combined years for both programs in decades. UNI and Drake will actually make more money.

[dogbo]

^ It isn't about the money.

I understand UNI and Drake's disappointment, but at the end of the day they had sweet deals that other mid-major's didn't enjoy with their in-state larger schools. e.g....Kansas NEVER plays Witchita State in a home and away arrangement...I'm not even sure they ever play them period...even on a neutral site. Nebraska doesn't play Creighton.

[CRUNIFan]

Nebraska and Creighton play every year.

Wisconsin also plays its in-state schools.

Iowa uses the excuse it wants more freedom to schedule bigger games, but until they stop playing the Maryland-Eastern Shores, Campbells, and Chicago States of this world, then this is just Iowa and ISU getting out of trips to UNI and Drake because they are now too dangerous.

[Mastermind]

Nebraska and Creighton play every year.

Wisconsin also plays its in-state schools.

Iowa uses the excuse it wants more freedom to schedule bigger games, but until they stop playing the Maryland-Eastern Shores, Campbells, and Chicago States of this world, then this is just Iowa and ISU getting out of trips to UNI and Drake because they are now too dangerous.

They dont play these teams on the road....

[dogbo]

Nebraska and Creighton play every year.

Wisconsin also plays its in-state schools.

Iowa uses the excuse it wants more freedom to schedule bigger games, but until they stop playing the Maryland-Eastern Shores, Campbells, and Chicago States of this world, then this is just Iowa and ISU getting out of trips to UNI and Drake because they are now too dangerous.

Wisconsin reluctantly agrees to a 3-for 1 (three home games for one away) with Green Bay. Not eactly the same deal as a home and away (or home and home, if you prefer).

Bottomline: As a rule, BCS schools don't schedule mid-majors for home and away men's BB series any longer. Iowa and ISU aren't doing anything outside the norm going forward.

As a Drake or UNI fan, you have every right to be annoyed, but this is about the realities of the current environment....nothing that Iowa or ISU invented.

[1999]

This sounds like great news for downtown Des Moines and a fun event. Is that a good name though? Big 4 Classic? I suppose not as bad as names like HyVee CyHawk or Leaders and Legends.

[dogbo]

fyi...

Tickets to go on sale for Hy-Vee Big Four Classic

Iowa's four NCAA Division I institutions will host the inaugural Hy-Vee Big Four Classic, a men's college basketball doubleheader, at Wells Fargo Arena on Dec. 15. The University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa will tip off at 1:30 p.m. and the teams from Drake University and Iowa State University will square off at approximately 4 p.m. Tickets to the event go on sale to the public Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. The tickets, priced at $25, $50 and $70, can be purchased at http://www.dahlstickets.com, the Wells Fargo Arena ticket office, all Dahl's Foods locations and by calling (866) 55-DAHLS.

Read more: http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp? ... z2A9B52BIE

[dogbo]

As the event approaches (on tap for this Saturday), it occurs to me that the timing for this event is a bit off.

Hopefully it can be tweaked in future years but having this AFTER Iowa State and Iowa have already played just seems a bit odd to me. Granted, Iowa and ISU don’t ever meet in the Big Four Classic, but it just seems to me it would be a bit more of an intriguing event if the opposing fan bases were able to get a glimpse of each team during this weekend and then settling it amongst themselves on a date later in the schedule.

Also, I have no idea how ticket sales are going. Anyone else heard anything? I’m also going out on a limb and saying it might help overall attendance this Saturday since Iowa won the already played intrastate matchup. IMO, their fan base is starving for some success and had some raised expectations going into this year. Their win over a talented (yet early season sloppy ISU team) gives them some energy and a reason to go out and watch them play. I think ISU fan base knew the early season might have some bumps (similar to last year) given the challenge of trying to mesh a team together using so many transfers, so I’m thinking they will show up in about the same numbers they would have anyway.

Finally, I can’t help but hope the future might mean this could evolve into a two-day tournament where there actually is a champion crowned on the 2nd day. In addition to adding intrigue, it would mean some pretty nice added hotel/restaurant/bar activity over what you get out of a one-day event. That said, probably won’t happen as the two big schools don’t have a lot of incentive to give up the home game every other year

[Emil]

Hopefully it can be tweaked in future years but having this AFTER Iowa State and Iowa have already played just seems a bit odd to me. Granted, Iowa and ISU don’t ever meet in the Big Four Classic, but it just seems to me it would be a bit more of an intriguing event if the opposing fan bases were able to get a glimpse of each team during this weekend and then settling it amongst themselves on a date later in the schedule.

Neither Iowa or Iowa State has won this outright since 2005.

2006-07:
Drake 3-0 (if we only count the first Drake-UNI game)
UNI 2-1
Iowa 1-2
ISU 0-3

2007-08:
Drake 3-0
UNI 1-2
ISU 1-2
Iowa 1-2

2008-09
Drake 2-1
Iowa 2-1 (lost to Drake head-to-head)
ISU 1-2
UNI 1-2

2009-10
UNI 3-0
ISU 2-1
Iowa 1-2
Drake 0-3

2010-11
ISU 2-1
Iowa 2-1
UNI 2-1
Drake 0-3

2011-12
UNI 3-0
Drake 1-2
Iowa 1-2
ISU 1-2

Finally, I can’t help but hope the future might mean this could evolve into a two-day tournament where there actually is a champion crowned on the 2nd day. In addition to adding intrigue, it would mean some pretty nice added hotel/restaurant/bar activity over what you get out of a one-day event. That said, probably won’t happen as the two big schools don’t have a lot of incentive to give up the home game every other year

Actually, it won't happen because Drake and UNI aren't going want to play a third time.

I have not heard good things on ticket sales. We shall see. I'm guessing it's a bust of an event designed to get UNI/Drake to agree to play road games on a rotating basis, ie.

year 1: Drake @ Iowa, UNI @ Iowa State
year 2: Drake @ Iowa State, UNI @ Iowa
year 3: Drake @ Iowa, UNI @ Iowa State

and so on.

[dogbo]

^ ISU and Iowa didn't need to create this event in order to not agree to travel to UNI or Drake anymore. They could have just stopped scheduling them. What makes you think they needed any leverage? Additionally, they didn't need to agree to travel to DM for an event. This is mainly done with the fans in mind IMO.

I think there is a future for this event, but I"d like to see it timed differently within the schedules (as prevously mentioned).

Agreed about Drake and UNI potentially playing a 3rd time. Hadn't thought of that.

[Mastermind]

The problem is they didnt split the games up, so ticket prices are double what they should be. Inseatd of a nose bleed seat for $15-$20 i have to dish out $50! That is steepfor one game, when i dont care to see ISU vs. Drake. They should have 2 sesssions with a few housrs between games. This is why i didnt buy tickets and neither did my friends. If can pay $20 to see Iowa play #1 ranked Indiana, why would i pay $50 to see them play UNI?

[Emil]

The problem is they didnt split the games up, so ticket prices are double what they should be.

if you're going to split the games, it defeats some of the purpose of having them at WFA.

Of course, therein lies the problem. the overall product offered by the four schools isn't very good. Tickets for ISU or Iowa at Drake have usually been around $30. Assuming I want non-terrible seats, I'm paying at least $50. Maybe I value a Drake-ISU ticket at up to $35...but I don't really value a ticket to UNI-Iowa that much, particularly since it means sitting in an arena for 5 hours.

[Mastermind]

The problem is they didnt split the games up, so ticket prices are double what they should be.

if you're going to split the games, it defeats some of the purpose of having them at WFA.

Of course, therein lies the problem. the overall product offered by the four schools isn't very good. Tickets for ISU or Iowa at Drake have usually been around $30. Assuming I want non-terrible seats, I'm paying at least $50. Maybe I value a Drake-ISU ticket at up to $35...but I don't really value a ticket to UNI-Iowa that much, particularly since it means sitting in an arena for 5 hours.

Why would splitting the games defeat the purpose? They split games all the time in other tournaments, haigh school basketball, high school wrestling, etc. This is not a tournament. Rather just 2 in state games played on the same court on the same day. Drake was charging more like $35 + taxes and fees for Iowa a few years ago.

[dogbo]

^ I'm sure they don't split them for the same/similar reasons that you don't see other multiple team college level men's BB events (holiday tournaments, NCAA trouney, etc.) do split tix. I'm guessing in revolves around $$$.

[Emil]

The problem is they didnt split the games up, so ticket prices are double what they should be.

if you're going to split the games, it defeats some of the purpose of having them at WFA.

Of course, therein lies the problem. the overall product offered by the four schools isn't very good. Tickets for ISU or Iowa at Drake have usually been around $30. Assuming I want non-terrible seats, I'm paying at least $50. Maybe I value a Drake-ISU ticket at up to $35...but I don't really value a ticket to UNI-Iowa that much, particularly since it means sitting in an arena for 5 hours.

Why would splitting the games defeat the purpose? They split games all the time in other tournaments, haigh school basketball, high school wrestling, etc. This is not a tournament. Rather just 2 in state games played on the same court on the same day. Drake was charging more like $35 + taxes and fees for Iowa a few years ago.

Because then it isn't a "Big Four Classic", it's two random neutral games.

I shouldn't say "the purpose", but it certainly removes a benefit to playing two games. The schools aren't even filling up on-campus arenas against each other. Move them to Des Moines, and you get two 6000-fan crowds in a 16000 seat arena.

[Mastermind]

Because then it isn't a "Big Four Classic", it's two random neutral games.

I shouldn't say "the purpose", but it certainly removes a benefit to playing two games. The schools aren't even filling up on-campus arenas against each other. Move them to Des Moines, and you get two 6000-fan crowds in a 16000 seat arena.

Wrong, you get (2) 11-000-13,000+ crowds. Iowa vs. Creighton in 2011 sold 12,746 tickets. http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=313242294
ISU vs. Creighton in 2010 sold 10,252 http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=303250066
In 2005 ISU sold 12,500 vs. OSU http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=253510066

[Emil]

ticket sales are supposedly very strong. I'm surprised. It also means that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to combine the games.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ter.com%29

[Mastermind]

ticket sales are supposedly very strong. I'm surprised. It also means that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to combine the games.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ter.com%29

Your argument was disproven. Ticket sales are around 11,500 for 2 games! Either way the arena wont be full because not everyone will come early and not everyone will stay late.

[dogbo]

^ IMHO, the majority of seats that are sold will be filled at mimmum during the last half of the first game and a good portion of the 1st half of the 2nd game (and longer, if the 2nd game proves entertaining).

Drake is one of the top 3- point shooting teams in the nation and Iowa State is in the top 5...I suspect this will be a fun game to watch. UNI and Iowa are both solid teams.

Fans of college basketball will look forward to both games.

[dogbo]

Couple things I picked up from Hoibergs call-in show last night:

* Game will be Televised by Mediacom (I know ISU/Drake, assume Iowa and UNI too)
* Hoiberg stated ISU will have the most fans in attendance at WF. Hope so.

[Emil]

UNI-Iowa is on Big Ten Network.

[GoVerticalDSM]

The guy said 14,500 is capacity, they must have dropped a lot of seats for this game. The published capacity is over 16K.

[dogbo]

The guy said 14,500 is capacity, they must have dropped a lot of seats for this game. The published capacity is over 16K.

Yeah...I'm not sure what is up with that. I wonder if they have options for using portable seating and crowding additional people around and closer to the court if demand warrants.

Not believing demand would be that high, maybe they are sticking with just permanent seating and thus having a better chance for a sellout?

[dogbo]

Attendance was 13,180. I believe all parties will be please with this number for the first year of this event. In time, hopefully this will be a sold-out event each year.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ck_check=1

[Emil]

According to Dannen, UNI comes out ahead (based on that figure) of where they would for a home game against Iowa/Iowa State. I assume it's the same for Drake. I doubt the convention bureau is going to brag about that when they're bidding for the tournament again--- we can't even sell out one two-game session to local fans and alumni, but we're going to sell out three two-game sessions to teams that aren't from around here? (obviously, those schools would bring fans)

[Keepgrowingdsm]

Attendance was 13,180. I believe all parties will be please with this number for the first year of this event. In time, hopefully this will be a sold-out event each year.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ck_check=1

Was that total attendance between both games or just 1? I watched Iowa/Uni and it looked like a very good crowd. Because I don't have cable I couldn't watch ISU/Drake and couldn't see the crowd. Keep in mind this was held during the holiday season. Most colleges are either in finals or done with finals and starting holiday break so the migration of students here was probably pretty light. People had work parties (Like me) or family outings with the holidays upon us. This probably took priority over the games, especially if you could watch it on TV during the party like I did with a loaded glass of holiday cheer and plate of some unidentified dip with crackers. I did happen to watch the Crossroads classic afterwards held in Indianapolis. Indiana (#1 team in the nation) vs. Butler (Located in Indy and a very good team) looked 'almost' full in the same arena where the NBA Pacers play. The second game I watched from the same venue was Notre Dame vs Purdue. The place looked nearly empty and both schools have large fan bases. I think the Big 4 Classic is a great addition to WFA and hope it comes back bigger and better next year!

[Mastermind]

Attendance was 13,180. I believe all parties will be please with this number for the first year of this event. In time, hopefully this will be a sold-out event each year.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ck_check=1

Was that total attendance between both games or just 1? I watched Iowa/Uni and it looked like a very good crowd. Because I don't have cable I couldn't watch ISU/Drake and couldn't see the crowd. Keep in mind this was held during the holiday season. Most colleges are either in finals or done with finals and starting holiday break so the migration of students here was probably pretty light. People had work parties (Like me) or family outings with the holidays upon us. This probably took priority over the games, especially if you could watch it on TV during the party like I did with a loaded glass of holiday cheer and plate of some unidentified dip with crackers. I did happen to watch the Crossroads classic afterwards held in Indianapolis. Indiana (#1 team in the nation) vs. Butler (Located in Indy and a very good team) looked 'almost' full in the same arena where the NBA Pacers play. The second game I watched from the same venue was Notre Dame vs Purdue. The place looked nearly empty and both schools have large fan bases. I think the Big 4 Classic is a great addition to WFA and hope it comes back bigger and better next year!

The Indy Crossroads gave each team 4,000 tickets to sell, all 4 teams sold their allotment, official attendance was 19,192. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=323500084
To my knowledge none of the Big 4 Schools sold their entire allotment.