Sometimes, home is where the win is

[60Shock]

Sometimes, home is where the win is Sun, 07 Nov 2010 00:02 CDT

"Wichita State's men's basketball team will play several teams this season and you might wonder where they came from. Those are known as guarantee games, and they are usually against schools from low-profile conferences. They are often the final games to click into place when assembling a schedule. This season, WSU is paying guarantees to Chicago State, Nicholls State, Texas Southern and Alabama A&M. Those teams will come to Koch Arena, receive a check (ranging from $73,000 - $80,000 plus expenses) and, barring a major surprise, a loss."

Anybody have any idea how much more it would cost to bring in perhaps one or more significantly better teams like a Butler, Gonzaga, or possibly even teams from BCS confernences?

And if we could accomplish this for say two games at $100K -$150K, would it be worth it?

[The Mad Hatter]

Re: Sometimes, home is where the win is

Sometimes, home is where the win is Sun, 07 Nov 2010 00:02 CDT

"Wichita State's men's basketball team will play several teams this season and you might wonder where they came from. Those are known as guarantee games, and they are usually against schools from low-profile conferences. They are often the final games to click into place when assembling a schedule. This season, WSU is paying guarantees to Chicago State, Nicholls State, Texas Southern and Alabama A&M. Those teams will come to Koch Arena, receive a check (ranging from $73,000 - $80,000 plus expenses) and, barring a major surprise, a loss."

Anybody have any idea how much more it would cost to bring in perhaps one or more significantly better teams like a Butler, Gonzaga, or possibly even teams from BCS confernences?

And if we could accomplish this for say two games at $100K -$150K, would it be worth it?

Teams like the ones you listed are not going to be taking buy-out games from us under any price tag. As for higher level buy-out games, I don't know the exact price tag, but the issue extends beyond price. The competition for teams that are bad enough to take buy-out games, but good enough to not provide a RPI hit is extremely high. Trying to outspend for these games is very hard when schools like UNC, Kentucky, Syracuse, etc. can keep out-bidding you. Furthermore, geography and prestige plays a role in what games school want to take.

I really do think that there isn't a lot we can do most years to get higher profile buy-out games. If we are going to improve our schedule, it will likely require going on the road for either 1-1, 2-1 (in either direction), or being bought out ourselves.