Taking Confederate flag down opens door for USC to bid on postseason events
As the state legislature decided what to do with the Confederate flag on Wednesday, the South Carolina athletics department planned its next move.
If the flag is removed from the Statehouse grounds, USC and the state stands to benefit economically.
“There have been some opportunities that have not been possible in the past that we would get a chance to engage in,” USC athletics director Ray Tanner said. “If the flag is removed and the sanctions are lifted, then we can bid for events, whether it’s a women’s regional championship or basketball for the men, the first or second rounds, and other events around the state.”
The flag was moved from the State House dome to the grounds in 2000. The compromise wasn’t satisfactory for the national NAACP, which had called for a tourism boycott of the state in 1999 and continued it through the flag’s removal and installation at its current location. The NCAA took up the cause in 2001, maeaning any pre-determined championships had to bypass South Carolina.
The boycott has caused Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena and Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena to miss hosting NCAA Tournament basketball games and for Myrtle Beach to lose a three-year deal to host the ACC baseball tournament.
While the NCAA would not legislate performance-based championship events – USC, Clemson and Coastal Carolina hosted baseball regionals and Super Regionals – it denied the state any consideration of bowl games (Charleston lobbied for one in 2004) and other postseason events.
The NCAA has allowed the Charleston Classic basketball tournament every year since 2008 and cleared the Division II Pioneer Bowl at Benedict College in 2009. Because of a change in NCAA women’s basketball postseason rules, USC got to stay home for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2015 after traveling to Indiana, Colorado and Washington the previous three seasons.
Tanner hopes that if the flag comes down, the boycott will immediately be lifted and USC can begin bidding on other postseason events.
“This is a tremendous facility that we have here,” Tanner said, motioning to CLA. “Certainly there are deadlines for different events where you have to turn in a bid by, and we’d have to satisfy those, but I’m anticipating that if the flag is removed, then those sanctions will be lifted very soon.”
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POSTSEASON POSSIBILITIES
If the Confederate flag is removed from Statehouse grounds, the NCAA most likely would lift its ban on pre-determined postseason events in South Carolina. What could that mean for the future?
▪ NCAA men’s basketball regionals: Sites have been pre-determined through 2018, but Colonial Life Arena and Bon Secours Wellness Arena could host
▪ NCAA women’s basketball regionals: Sites for the first two rounds are merit-based, but the third and fourth-round regionals could be hosted at Bon Secours (CLA could not because it is USC’s home arena). Regional sites have been pre-determined through 2018.
▪ SEC/ACC league basketball tournaments: The SEC men’s tournament has been booked through 2025, and the ACC men have been booked through 2020. The ACC women are booked through 2017, but Greenville could host the SEC women in 2017 (CLA could not because it is USC’s home arena).
▪ League baseball tournaments: Greenville, Charleston and Myrtle Beach have parks to host, while Columbia’s new minor-league stadium will be completed by 2016. The SEC’s agreement with Hoover, Ala., ends in 2016 and the ACC’s agreement with Durham, N.C., ends in 2018.
▪ Bowl games: Charleston lobbied for a “Palmetto Bowl” in 2004 but was turned down. Williams-Brice Stadium and Clemson’s Memorial Stadium could potentially host bowls.
This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Taking Confederate flag down opens door for USC to bid on postseason events."