What an ASUN neutral site means for fans and players
The ASUN Conference’s decision to move its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to a neutral site in Jacksonville marks more than just a location change; it signals a shift in philosophy about what the postseason is supposed to represent. For years, the ASUN tournament has lived on campus floors, in packed student sections, and in the heart of communities that earned the right to host by grinding through the regular season. Now, that reward is gone, replaced with a single destination that, while convenient on paper, strips away much of what made March in the ASUN feel earned.
Historically, the conference has seen some of its best crowds when the No. 1 seed hosted. There’s something powerful about a season’s worth of work culminating in a home gym filled with students, alumni and locals who’ve followed the team all year. It wasn’t just louder, it was meaningful. Winning the regular season mattered because it gave you an edge, not just in seeding, but in energy. Home court wasn’t a handout. It was a reward.
And that reward felt especially real last season when Lipscomb captured the ASUN championship on its home floor. Allen Arena was alive in the way only a campus crowd can be, a building full of people who knew the players, the storylines and the stakes. That moment wasn’t just about cutting down nets; it was about a program being lifted by its community. That’s the kind of scene that grows college basketball. That’s the kind of memory recruits, students and fans carry with them long after the final buzzer.
Lipscomb sophomore and radio play-by-play announcer for The Bison radio station, Will Blackmon, mentioned the impact it will have on fans and players alike.
“The environment and atmosphere that was brought to Allen Arena last year was unreal, and even the traveling fans would agree with you,” Blackmon said. “At the end of the day, I don’t see how you can just take away something that brought so much excitement to the players and the fans, and take away the amount of people that can go cheer on their respective team.”
Moving the tournament to Jacksonville risks flattening all of that.
Neutral sites work in massive conferences with national followings and corporate sponsorships. But in a league like the ASUN, built on regional rivalries and campus culture, the home environment is part of the product. Taking away hosting rights makes the regular season feel less like a journey toward something earned and more like a long warm-up for a location everyone ends up at anyway.
It also quietly shifts the competitive balance.
Teams located closer to Jacksonville now walk into the tournament with a built-in advantage. Shorter travel, easier fan turnout and more familiarity with the environment all matter, especially in March. Schools from Florida and nearby states will naturally have more supporters in the stands, while northern programs like Lipscomb now face longer trips and thinner crowds. It may be called a “neutral” site, but in reality, neutral rarely means equal.
The heart of the issue isn’t just geography.
College basketball thrives on earned moments, home crowds exploding, students rushing the court, seniors playing their final games where their story began. When the best teams are rewarded with hosting, the regular season has weight. Every conference game matters. Every win builds toward something tangible.
By centralizing the tournament, the ASUN risks turning one of its most electric weeks into something that feels generic.
There’s efficiency in Jacksonville. There may even be consistency. But there’s a cost too, one paid in atmosphere, fairness and the emotional payoff of excellence.
And for a conference that has grown by leaning into community, intensity and earned opportunity, that’s a heavy price to ask its teams and fans to accept.
Featured image courtesy of ASUN sports.
