Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Why is the IZOD Center no longer hosting NCAA games

You would think with this being the 75th Anniversary of the tournament, a venue that has had some memorable moments; The IZOD Center; formerly known as The Meadowlands, has not hosted an NCAA game since the 2007 season, would have the opportunity to host games at this storied venue

Here are some memorable moments games:

1990: Christian Latenner's jumper propels Duke to the Final four

1991: North Carolina outlast's Temple to advance to the Final Four
          Temple outlasts Oklahoma State in regional semis

1993: North Carolina defeats Cincinnati in the elite eight to make the Final Four ending the career of Nick Van Exel

1995: Oklahoma State defeats # 1 seed Wake Forest and #2 Seed UMASS to advance to the Final Four behind Bryant "Big Country" Reeves and Randy Rutherford

1996: Kentucky wins their 6th National Championship, Rick Pitino's first

1999: Duke defeats Temple in the Elite Eight

2004: John Lucas' the III's 3 pointer defeats St. Joseph's and sends Oklahoma State to the Final Four

2007: Georgetown defeats Vandy on a last second shot and then beats North Carolina in Overtime to advance to the Final Four

The Prudential Center in Newark hosted the regional in 2011.

You would think the a venue that has seen some memorable tournament moments like these, this would get some recognition to host more NCAA Tournament games. I do know that Duke has played a game there 3 times in the last five years ( beating Xavier in 2008, Butler in 2010 and Temple in 2012).

I know that Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville has not hosted any NCAA games since 1999, that was the year Ohio State beat Auburn and St. John's to go to the Final Four in Tampa.

No comments:

Post a Comment