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Out With the Old
All eight men's and women's teams that qualify for the tournament will play in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Tennessee. Previously, opening round games were played on campus while semifinals and finals were held at various venues in Nashville. The tournament will span four days, and the Municipal Auditorium has agreed to host it for the next four years.

"This is a positive development for our conference and will truly enhance the championship experience for our student-athletes," OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche said in a press release. "Having 16 teams come to Nashville gives us the opportunity to showcase what our student-athletes and our member institutions are all about."

The tournament will also take on format changes that grant two rounds of byes to the top two teams and one to the third- and fourth-seed teams. As opposed to the current format that pits no. 1 vs. no. 8, no. 2 vs. no. 7, etc., the fifth seed will play the eighth seed and the sixth will play the seventh in the opening round. Winners will play the third and fourth seeds, and the victors of those games will take on the top two teams to set up the final matchup.

"Having a permanent home to call our own and an expanded format makes Nashville a destination location for our fans," said DeBauche. "The former structure limited our fan base's ability to plan ahead, but now our fans will be able to plan well in advance and make a trip to Municipal Auditorium for the OVC Basketball Championship an annual part of the basketball season."

What the top teams lose in home-court advantage for the opening round games, they gain back with byes. The new structure would also force the bottom of the bracket teams to win four games in four days to win the championship. But, as the Southeast Missourian notes, no men's team outside the top four has ever won the conference tournament, and only one women's team has: fifth seeded Austin Peay State University last year.

New Digs
In preparation for hosting the tournament, the Nashville Municipal Auditorium will make $200,000 in improvements, including new scoreboards, turning a storage room into a locker room for officials, and importing the floor used in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. So far, the new venue is receiving approval, and no one is up in arms about the structure.

"All the coaches in the league over the years have wanted to make the tournament all inclusive ... so this is sort of a compromise with the logistical scenario," Tennessee Tech University Head Men's Coach Mike Sutton told The Tennessean. "Any time you have a central location it helps the fans and the schools prepare, and it will make it a better tournament atmosphere. With the first-round byes there is still a reward for regular-season performance."

Kyle Garratt is an assistant editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: kg@momentummedia.com.