Thompson-Boling Arena is as fine a place to watch a college basketball game as any on-campus facility you'll find.

But don't look for the NCAA men's tournament to return to Knoxville any time soon.

After Thompson-Boling arena opened in 1987-88, the men's tournament visited three times — 1990, 1994 and 1999. In '90, the venue also staged the women's Final Four.

Before that, Stokely Athletics Center was picked to host men's rounds in 1972, 1978 and 1983.

But as the second weekend of the current tournament gets underway Thursday, Thompson-Boling doesn't figure in any future brackets.

"The arena is as good as any in the country on campus,'' Jon Gilbert, Tennessee executive senior associate athletic director said Tuesday. "But the infrastructure is not conducive to holding events of that magnitude.''

It was in the 1990s, but criteria have changed.

Gilbert, who works with men's basketball, said the NCAA's contemporary list of specifications includes more rooms and space than Thompson-Boling can offer.

"Dining, corporate hospitality, training, drug-testing, breakout rooms,'' Gilbert said. "And media areas. Our infrastructure would need some significant overhaul.

"Take Raleigh (PNC Arena) where we were two years ago. There is a small city that operates underground. Given the new parameters, we don't necessarily have that city that lies beneath.''

UT is preparing to launch a locker room renovation that would be adequate for NCAA requirements. The other needs, however, would still leave UT in the cold.

Gilbert said UT bid on the men's tournament as recently as 2010 but was passed by.

In addition to venue requirements, the NCAA considers size of the airport and quality of hotels, Ron English, director of men's basketball championships, said in an email.

Criteria for hosting the women's tournament are very different. The first two rounds are played almost exclusively on campus.

Thompson-Boling is almost a lock if the Lady Vols merit a top-16 overall seed. This year they did not, but SEC schools South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas A&M and even Mississippi State did host first- and second-round games.

The men's tournament has largely moved away from on-campus venues. There are still exceptions such as arenas in play at Boise State, Syracuse and San Diego State.

This year's sites include arenas in Raleigh, N.C., Louisville, Ky., and Providence, R.I., that are home courts for N.C. State, Louisville and Providence College, respectively. But they are not actually on campus.

"If our venue (becomes) more in line with what the NCAA is looking for,'' Gilbert said, "we would not be opposed to bidding.''

 

Source : knoxnews.com

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