CenturyLink's the limit for Big Sky hoops

When the news surfaced that the Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were moving to Boise, effective in 2019, it was noted the games would be played at the smallish CenturyLink Arena in downtown Boise.

My first thought, after covering state high school basketball tournaments in the Boise area for nearly two decades, was, why not the larger Idaho Center in Nampa?

The answer — location, location, location.

“The Big Sky was looking for a downtown sports arena that could generate the ‘synergy’ of having activity around it along with hotels for fans and teams,” Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said. “Basically, replicating the setting of Reno — hotels and arena close to each other — but with a more fan-friendly, walkable downtown.”

THE TRADEOFF from Reno, which will host the tourneys in March for the third straight year, “was giving up all teams being in 1-2 (hotels) versus the downtown setting and a true sports arena that is the perfect size for what the Big Sky wants,” Spear said.

CenturyLink Arena seats around 5,300. The Idaho Center seats roughly twice that much.

But apparently the Big Sky doesn’t need a building with that many seats. And, if a downtown location is what the conference wants, the Idaho Center definitely isn’t that. Motels and other businesses have sprouted up near the Idaho Center over the past two decades, but the area isn’t nearly the gathering place for fans that downtown Boise figures to be.

(Though it is closer to that real thick bacon at JB’s in Meridian, but apparently that wasn’t a selling point to the conference).

Besides, Big Sky honchos think CenturyLink is big enough for their tourneys.

In last year’s Big Sky men’s title game, North Dakota beat Weber State in overtime before 2,025 in the 7,500-seat Reno Events Center. North Dakota’s win over Idaho in the semifinals drew 2,003. Weber State beat Eastern Washington in the other semi before 2,265. Idaho beat Montana in the first round before 1,762.

In 2016, Weber State beat Montana in the conference title game before 2,516.

THE REAL benefit for the Big Sky tourneys moving to Boise, at least for fans up here, is that Boise is a fairly quick drive for fans of Idaho, Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State — even Idaho State.

And that’s not to mention the alums of said schools living in the Boise area.

If that means it can somehow double in Boise what it drew in Reno, well, that would be a nice problem for the Big Sky to have.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.