GARLAND, Texas -- No school in the Southwestern Athletic Conference is within 200 miles of Garland. But for the third consecutive year, the Curtis Culwell Center will host the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this week.
Of the 31 NCAA Division I conference tournaments, 17 are played within 20 miles of at least one league school and 24 are within 60 miles.
The SWAC’s closest school to Garland?
Prairie View A&M, 235 miles away.
The location seems strange, but there is a method to the SWAC’s March Madness. The tournament is simply catering to an area that represents the conference’s second-biggest alumni base, SWAC commissioner Duer Sharp said.
“We have a lot of SWAC alumni, a lot of SWAC supporters in the area of Dallas, Garland, Richardson and the other communities,” Sharp said. “For us, we just want to have a great venue, which the Curtis Culwell Center is, and then get the support from those surrounding communities. And we’ve been able to do that.”
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