The Seahawk

@larryhansgen @DaytonMBB @WHIORadio Welcome to Wilmington. Hope the team enjoys a full day at Wrightsville Beach, with temps in the 80s, it’s a perfect beach day. ☀️ Trask is a quick drive, so they can stay out there until around 5pm before that 7pm tip. 😎 #UNCW #DaytonMBB #NIT

Getting up some shots. @DaytonMBB vs UNCW tomorrow night at 7:00 @WHIORadio

@TheNCSportsNet @TheSeahawkPerch Right, it’s not new. It’s just the same built-in bias, just with bigger money and bigger impact now. #UNCW #CAAHoops #NIT

Welcome to college athletics since the 1980s... due to the 1984 Supreme Court ruling (NCAA v. Board of Regents) that broke the NCAA's monopoly on TV rights. This opened the market, allowing the College Football Association (CFA) to negotiate its own lucrative, unrestricted deals with networks such as ABC and ESPN, leading to increased revenue and greater game visibility. This is NOT a new thing.

Anyway, the real bracket is updated.

@TheNCSportsNet @TheSeahawkPerch All true. But that’s exactly the point. The “business model” creates a built-in bias toward the leagues ESPN has deals with. #UNCW #CAAHoops #NIT

Easy. The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) exited its ESPN partnership after the 2012–13 season, marking a pivotal shift in its media exposure. Without ESPN’s platforms—like ESPN3, SportsCenter, and studio programming—the league lost consistent national visibility and narrative support. Since then, the CAA has relied on a hybrid model with CBS Sports Network for limited TV games and FloSports for the majority of streaming content. The impact is significant: fewer highlights, less daily discussion, and reduced at-large consideration momentum. In today’s media-driven college basketball ecosystem, not being on ESPN doesn’t just limit exposure—it directly affects perception, relevance, and opportunity. CAA hoops media reality is… 📺 Limited games on CBS Sports Network 📱 Majority behind FloSports paywall Translation: low exposure, low conversation, low at-large equity. And here’s the truth… ESPN isn’t in business to promote leagues it doesn’t own. No rights = no highlights, no studio talk, no algorithm push. Meanwhile leagues with ESPN deals get: 📈 Constant visibility 🎙️ Daily debate coverage 🔥 Built-in narrative momentum That’s not bias — that’s business. If you’re in the CAA, you’re not just fighting opponents, you’re fighting distribution.

@Zach_Ferny @TheSeahawkPerch Teams from ESPN leagues (SEC, ACC, AAC, A-10, WCC) are on ESPN2/ESPNU. Teams from non-ESPN leagues (MWC, CAA) are on ESPN+. ESPN owns the NIT. This isn’t a limitation. It’s a programming decision that consistently favors its partner conferences. #UNCW #CAAHoops #MWC #NIT

@seahawk96 @TheSeahawkPerch I think its purely scheduling conflicts: ESPN: NCAA Wrestling Championships ESPN2: NCAAW Basketball (#8 Syracuse vs #9 ISU at 5:30pm followed by #8 Oklahoma St vs #9 Princeton at 7:30pm) ESPNU: BIG 12 Gymnastics ESPNEWS: NCAAW Basketball (#15 HPU vs #2 Vanderbilt, 7PM)

@teacher_bracket @awfulannouncing And 5 of those Sunday slots are NIT games. So there was clear flexibility. Putting Dayton–UNCW on ESPN+ wasn’t about scheduling. It was a choice.

@seahawk96 @awfulannouncing Still a lot of spots taken up by 2nd round of women’s tournament

Flynn Clayman: "High Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-0 in Quad 1 games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games. Akron couldn't get games. UNCW couldn't get games. Belmont couldn't get games. We won 22 of our 23 last games, and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics..."

@teacher_bracket @awfulannouncing So why not slot the Dayton vs UNCW game on Sunday, where slots were open?

@seahawk96 @awfulannouncing I don’t think it’s that at all. Saturday schedule for espn is jammed packed

@SSN_UNCW Starting to feel like the CAA is blacklisted by ESPN. ESPN controls every NIT platform. All but 3 second-round games are on ESPN channels, not behind the paywall ESPN+. Yet Dayton vs UNCW, the most competitive game by the odds, is on ESPN+. Make that make sense. #NIT #UNCW

This will be fun to see after Round 2. Trask Coliseum has only a handful of tickets remaining for Saturday’s game against Dayton.

Is the CAA is blacklisted by ESPN? ESPN controls every NIT platform. All but 3 second-round games are on ESPN cable channels, not behind ESPN+ paywall. Yet Dayton vs UNCW, the most competitive game by the odds, is on ESPN+. Make that make sense. #NIT #CAAHoops #UNCW #Dayton

@ByChrisMurray @gronk based on UNC Wilmington average attendance at home games, what would you estimated the attendance would have been if the Yale vs UNC Wilmington game would have been played at Trask Coliseum? Give me estimated attendance and also the percent full Trask would have been at.

First-round NIT attendance: New Mexico: 7,286 Nevada: 5,588 Wichita St: 3,733 Illinois St: 2,565 Bradley: 2,436 Auburn: 2,169 Wake Forest: 1,823 Utah Valley: 1,582 Oklahoma St: 1,581 Tulsa: 1,679 George Mason:  1,485 CSU: 1,332 Cal: 1,258 UC Irvine: 1,113 Seattle: 686 Yale: 542

@thebarkingcrow @joestunardi #UNCW

#NIT Championship probabilities after one night of hoops: thebarkingcrow.com/nit-probabilit…

@EMU_MBB Congrats, Billy. #SeahawkNationIsProud #UNCW

Welcome to 𝓨𝓹𝓼𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓲‼️ We’ve hired 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗻 🚨 MORE: tiny.emueagles.com/56wdf2sy

@teacher_bracket I did see one, but she had a UNCW sweatshirt on too. 🤣 #UNCW

Are there even Yale fans at the game?

@ChromeDrop29 Yea, this one didn’t age well, did it?

Lights too bright for Siddle in front of a crowd of 230 people. Embarrassing.

@SSN_UNCW UNCW avgs 5,079 fans at Trask Coliseum (97.7% full). Yale avgs 1,352 at John J. Lee Amphitheater (53% full). Packed Trask vs an empty gym at Yale. This game should have been at Trask. Maybe this weekend…

Yale’s gym is pretty empty. If we hosted Trask Coliseum would’ve been sold out and rocking. Shame.

@TheDegenWeekly The oldest 40’something there’s ever been.

Will Wade gotta be the goofiest coach in the history of college basketball

@aarmstrong023 @BBustersHoops It’s March!

@BBustersHoops Ugly basketball, but an exciting finish

Yale and UNC Wilmington should have been on National TV 🙁

@SSN_UNCW 🍨 🍦

BOOOOOOM

@mid_madness What’s the bigger shame….the fact that the game was played in front of a handful of people at Yale and not in a sold out Trask Coliseum on campus at UNCW. #SurviveAndAdvance

This UNCW team. - Well paid - Well coached - Extremely talented - Experienced It's a shame they didn't make the tourney, but they're going on an NIT run. 27-6

Takayo Siddle can really coach ball. Just went into New Haven and beat Yale, 68-67, with the Seahawks. Go get some Frank Pepe's or Sally's before you leave town!