Here's A Crazy Idea

Ready for the idea?

Marquette should look into getting involved in the Tip Off Marathon and put the game in the Al McGuire Center.

Odds are that (all times Central) the midnight and 2am starts are always going to be hosted by teams in the western half of the United States, ESPN openly admits that the 4am slot is the Hawaii game, and a 6am tip probably needs to be an East Coast game. So that leaves ESPN with five game slots during the day to fill before whatever finale they put on in prime time.

Those of you who remember the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game against Louisville will remember that the game drew an impressive crowd of 16,000+ for a mid-day start. But that was on a day that a lot of people have off from work, so even if season ticket holders couldn't make it to the game, they were able to find people able to use the tickets. We're talking about a random Tuesday in November, so it's going to be harder to find people able to avoid work for a 10am or noon start.

So the easy solution is cut down the number of seats available. Split the McGuire Center mostly down the middle: behind the benches and on the ends for the students and the rest for season ticket holders. Use a lottery system for people who can make it to the game for both sets of ticket holders and turn the building into a complete madhouse for whichever unlucky suckers opponents that Marquette and ESPN arrange to bring in.

I know there's been some clamor from people about putting a game in the McGuire Center, but the financial aspects of home games generally prevent this idea from working. The mid-day starts needed for the Tip-Off Marathon create a perfect opportunity for the event to happen, so why not see if it could work?