Keeping Score
WHAT a relief. ...The men's volleyball selection committee yesterday didn't yield to the whinings of UCLA to take the Bruins as the at-large team in this week's NCAA Championship. NCAA shows
sense, should
show moreInstead, Long Beach State will be there. The 49ers will be playing for their first national title since 1991, when they topped Southern Cal at Blaisdell Arena.
The final four is at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, where the Bruins have won nine of their 17 national titles. For the first time ever -- courtesy of the Rainbows -- UCLA will be playing host but not playing on the court.
The consensus of the coaches at last week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament in Provo, Utah? "It's good for the sport of volleyball," they said.
But it wasn't a done deal until yesterday. UCLA was still lobbying for the at-large berth, saying the home team needed to be there to help with attendance.
Gee, didn't they notice the 9,000-plus at the Stan Sheriff Center last year when Hawaii wasn't in the field? It's called ticket presales, something UCLA appeared to be clueless about as late as late week.
UCLA reluctantly sent a representative to the MPSF Tournament, setting up a table for ticket sales. Actually, it was only for ticket information; to get tickets, one had to call UCLA and purchase them over the phone -- a price that included a surcharge and handling fee.
If you want people to come, shouldn't you make it easy? How about taking a tip from the UH athletic department, which had a table at the women's championship last December in Wisconsin and was selling ticket packages ... a year in advance of the 1999 event at the Stan Sheriff Center.
It's called marketing. And, unfortunately for men's volleyball, once UCLA was eliminated, it seemed that school officials didn't care if anyone came to watch four other teams.
LAST Friday, the MPSF coaches voted to change the playoff format again, a change that not only makes sense but also is more fair than what is in place. Currently, the top three teams from each of the two divisions advance, with the two teams with the next-best records -- regardless of division -- advancing as at-large teams.
As of next season, the eight teams with the best league records qualify and the tournament will be seeded 1-8. This will avoid what some saw as an inequity when Hawaii, the No. 2 team in the Pacific, hosted the No. 3 team from the Mountain -- UCLA -- which had a better record.
Unfortunately, no expansion is on the horizon for the MPSF. Cal has been promising to upgrade its club team to Division I status for several years now and club teams at other Pac 10 teams are enjoying successful seasons.
If men's volleyball is to survive as an NCAA sport, there needs to be some vision and commitment. Hawaii has shown that it can be a revenue-generating sport and more than pay for itself.
Here's one other vision for the men's game: Get rid of the politics surrounding the at-large berth selection.
The way the lobbying goes on, one would think it was a confirmation vote for an attorney general or something.
How about starting the playoffs with a Sweet 16? Take the top four finishers from the EIVA and MIVA as well as the top eight teams from the MPSF. Seed them nationally into four regionals with the four winners earning their way to the final four on the court, not though some conference call.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.