Need to ditch the Sun Carnival/Haskins Tournament

[TenaciousD]

Whats the point of having a tournament where the 3 other schools are games we would play in pre-conference anyway? It used to feature one top opponent who was semi-guaranteed an easier first opponent, then play UTEP the next night (Purdue, Penn State, Texas, etc), and now its a meaningless tournament.

We keep it for the sake of tradition? Screw tradition, our tradition is not winning a NCAA Tournament game in 25 years, of not winning conference titles in the last decade, of having coaches quit mid-season.

I'd rather see UTEP go on the road to an Oklahoma, Arizona, UCLA, Mizzou, A&M, etc that preps the team for conference play and then have UNC-W or NJIT come to El Paso. What good does playing Howard in front of a half-filled Haskins Center really do for a team or our RPI?

 

[ShovelMan66]

Agreed. I dont have a problem playing at UNCW or NDSU in the future either. Tim Floyd ruined this program. His scheduling was pathetic and archaic. Who turns down a chance to play at Kentucky on a ESPN channel? Only losers and boneheads.

The DHC won't even be half-filled. Howard hasn't beat a D1 team this year, but Bill Knight said they had a chance to win most games. I guess if you count not getting blown out by the 1st TV timeout, he's right.

Kill this tournament and this dumb staff. UTEP fans don't want you anymore!

 

[unihorn]

Why not keep it and bring in better teams?

 

[ShovelMan66]

I guess they didn't already think of that? Do you really believe THEY decided to bring in Summit and CAA schools over Big 10 teams?

Yeah, lets bring in North Carolina next year instead of UNCW. Great idea Unihorn!

 

[FiliUTEP]

Utep needs to be good to get good teams to come. It use to always be like 2 crappy teams and 1 good team to come. UTEP hasnt been good lately so no good team is going to come. Utep is not a good win anymore.

 

[picks up]

What's most embarrassing to me about this tournament is that we haven't won it in a while despite the sub-par competition

 

[FiliUTEP]

Whatever happened to that game they were going to have at Ft Bliss? When is it?

 

[unihorn]

I guess they didn't already think of that? Do you really believe THEY decided to bring in Summit and CAA schools over Big 10 teams?

Yeah, lets bring in North Carolina next year instead of UNCW. Great idea Unihorn!

I wouldn’t be surprised if Floyd lobbied for cupcakes.

 

[utep2step]

Why not keep it and bring in better teams?

The better teams do not want to come here. Period. Also, the fields are tight as well since there are many tournaments from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

If UNCW was undefeated coming into tourney we wouldn't be having this conservation and it would tilt more towards "Does a win against an undefeated UNCW help our RPI (much)?"

 

[ShovelMan66]

Nobody would be buying tix to see an undefeated UNCW team anyway. They have only played 1 power team (at LSU) and would not be getting any national attention.

Again, I am perfectly fine with teams like UNCW being on our schedule, but this tournament is GARBAGE and will likely remain that way.

 

[unihorn]

Nobody would be buying tix to see an undefeated UNCW team anyway. They have only played 1 power team (at LSU) and would not be getting any national attention.

Again, I am perfectly fine with teams like UNCW being on our schedule, but this tournament is GARBAGE and will likely remain that way.

I’ve bought tickets to the tournament for 12+ years in a row. I like a little holiday hoops.

 

[utep2step]

Nobody would be buying tix to see an undefeated UNCW team anyway. They have only played 1 power team (at LSU) and would not be getting any national attention.

Again, I am perfectly fine with teams like UNCW being on our schedule, but this tournament is GARBAGE and will likely remain that way.

Even when UTEP brought is power programs they didn't sell out the then called Special Event. They sold more but there were still plenty of seats available back then. So your point of argument just for the sake of argument is growing a beard.

 

[utep2step]

I’ve bought tickets to the tournament for 12+ years in a row. I like a little holiday hoops.

A lot of people do but thanks to Floyd it's also fun to kick'em when their down. Knucking Floyd!!

 

[ShovelMan66]

Even when UTEP brought is power programs they didn't sell out the then called Special Event. They sold more but there were still plenty of seats available back then. So your point of argument just for the sake of argument is growing a beard.

Where did I say it would sell out? Its during the holidays so a sell out isn't likely happening anyway. Just saying nobody is going to see UNCW or NDSU.

 

[ShovelMan66]

I’ve bought tickets to the tournament for 12+ years in a row. I like a little holiday hoops.

Nothing wrong with that. Just saying you did not buy tickets because UNCW and NDSU were in the tournament.

Casual fans would be more likely to buy tickets to the tournament featuring some different teams.

 

[jdubb66]

Shouldn't this be left up to Bernie and Sun Bowl committee? I mean why is this any of your business? If you don't like it, vote with your feet.

 

[unihorn]

Maybe Dimel can help get K-State to come.

 

[Axe-cuseme]

Shoveldude66 does not speak for me. Not ALL fans want the tourney dead. We all know UTEP has been down, we all know the tourney isn't loaded with big names, but all we hear is Whining, crying, and Debbie downers these days. BE HAPPY !!!!! We finally ended the disaster of a coach Floyd turned out to be. A new AD, A New FB Coach, and now a New BB Coach soon. What a Great time to be a MINER !!!! Quit Complaining about everything !!!! It's not going to be fixed overnight, so don't Stress !!!!! GEEZ ALREADY !!!!

 

[Nugget 07]

Scrap the tournament and scrap the Sun Bowl. Next year the Sunny will be getting the 12th team in the PAC 12 and the 6th of the Sun Belt.

Bernie: “What a great matchup!”

Both are trash and watered down. End it now.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Shoveldude66 does not speak for me. Not ALL fans want the tourney dead. We all know UTEP has been down, we all know the tourney isn't loaded with big names, but all we hear is Whining, crying, and Debbie downers these days. BE HAPPY !!!!! We finally ended the disaster of a coach Floyd turned out to be. A new AD, A New FB Coach, and now a New BB Coach soon. What a Great time to be a MINER !!!! Quit Complaining about everything !!!! It's not going to be fixed overnight, so don't Stress !!!!! GEEZ ALREADY !!!!

Well said. I agree.

It is good to be a Miner when my only complaint in 2 weeks time has been the 52% FT average the other night against UIW...in a game that we won...with only 8 scholly players...

 

[axingfools1]

I think we have addressed 'crappy' teams playing here before so here goes....

I like the home games but the constant barrage of 'crappy' teams doesn't help UTEP (even if we win them all). The Sun Carnival/ Haskins tournament has been chalked full of these teams. I know some of the teams have had good records or had been to the post-season the year prior, but you know what I mean. Problem is that UTEP fits right in at the moment.

UTEP needs to start winning consistently at a higher level to attract big time programs to the DHC. Big time teams don't want to come here because if they lose it might dent their RPI. They are not literally afraid to lose, but they are not willing to risk it.

UTEP needs to win, raise their RPI, play big teams on the road and then try to bring better teams to our tournament.

 

[unihorn]

The thesis of this thread is stupid. El Paso is undergoing a resurgence of hotel and entertainment options. Winter is a desirable time to visit here. The Sun Bowl and related basketball tournament are underdeveloped assets that should be improved not scrapped.

 

[JCorona]

I wonder if there is a way for the Sun Bowl committee to work out a two for one deal. For example who ever plays in the Sun Bowl game the previous season has to send their basketball team to the Sun Carnival tournament. Last season Stanford and North Carolina made the bowl game so this season their basketball teams would be contractually obligated to make an appearance.

Most likely this would never happen but it’s a solution that can at minimum be explored.

 

[ShovelMan66]

I wonder if there is a way for the Sun Bowl committee to work out a two for one deal. For example who ever plays in the Sun Bowl game the previous season has to send their basketball team to the Sun Carnival tournament. Last season Stanford and North Carolina made the bowl game so this season their basketball teams would be contractually obligated to make an appearance.

Most likely this would never happen but it’s a solution that can at minimum be explored.

Not possible.

 

[EPTUTEP]

I wonder if there is a way for the Sun Bowl committee to work out a two for one deal. For example who ever plays in the Sun Bowl game the previous season has to send their basketball team to the Sun Carnival tournament. Last season Stanford and North Carolina made the bowl game so this season their basketball teams would be contractually obligated to make an appearance.

Most likely this would never happen but it’s a solution that can at minimum be explored.

I’m pretty sure that would be against the law to do that.

 

[unihorn]

Maybe we pay some better teams to come just to get it rolling.

 

[kickballpro]

Whatever happened to that game they were going to have at Ft Bliss? When is it?

It's in November 2018.

 

[redrob]

Instead of ditching the tournament, change it. Expand the field to 8 teams and bring in the top powerhouse teams in high school state basketball. This might actually help recruiting for UTEP by giving high school kids an opportunity to see that El Paso is actually a cool place. The 8 teams play double elimination. The question would be can El Paso support such a tournament. Of the 8 teams, reserve two spots for El Paso teams.

 

[Cube Jack]

This entire thread is pointless. The tournament will continue for many years to come no matter what anyone's opinion

 

[ShovelMan66]

The tournament will continue for many years to come no matter what anyone's opinion

It will be gone within 10 years and will be gone even sooner since nobody goes anymore. Fans have voted with their wallets.

 

[utep2step]

Instead of ditching the tournament, change it. Expand the field to 8 teams and bring in the top powerhouse teams in high school state basketball. This might actually help recruiting for UTEP by giving high school kids an opportunity to see that El Paso is actually a cool place. The 8 teams play double elimination. The question would be can El Paso support such a tournament. Of the 8 teams, reserve two spots for El Paso teams.

El Paso already has that. The McDonald's Showcase or whatever it's called.

 

[shyminer81]

UTEP needs to get NMSU on board. Play cupcakes then most times NMSU vs UTEP in the championship game. Would sell Tix.

 

[kappasigmaminer]

I may be missing some of the convo here cause of the ignore feature but overall I think it’s a great tourney. I love the tradition of watching b-ball over the holiday weekend and it’s part of the season tkts so it’s not extra for the season tkt holders. I do wish we could consistently get a solid team every year. I liked the last couple of years when we had colorado state and Nebraska, those were good name schools. Either way I guess my biggest positive is the tradition of watching several utep b-ball games with the family over the holiday break.

 

[El Paso 777]

Whatever happened to that game they were going to have at Ft Bliss? When is it?

Next year

 

[66CHamps]

Whatever happened to that game they were going to have at Ft Bliss? When is it?

UTEP is not involved in this event.