Consider the Summit League Basketball Championships property of Sioux Falls for a long time. There is not a facility or city that can duplicate or surpass what happened over the last four days.

Granted, having the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State as pre-eminent players in the tournament helped immensely. The North Dakota State factor must also be considered.

The Summit League currently has nine teams which is subject to change. West of Sioux Falls you have Oral Roberts from Tulsa, Oklahoma and Denver University. Then go east to find Western Illinois, IUPUI, and IPFW. Interstate 29 links the other institutions mentioned above plus Omaha.

Current league footprint indicates that for the group to gain its highest concentration of basketball fans for the league tournament, Sioux Falls is the way to go. Factor the facility into the mix it’s even stronger in favor of the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

Could you draw 60,000 in Omaha to the Century Link Center? It’s possible, but Omaha’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau would most likely not put in the man-hours needed to pull it off. Denver is too big and too far west to pony up and Tulsa already had their shot. Neither Fargo nor Fort Wayne would have a comparable facility plus both are geographically challenged. Indianapolis (IUPUI) hosts Final Four tournaments, so the Summit League would be an afterthought.

Congratulations, Sioux Falls. We’ve got ourselves a basketball tournament.

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