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Tournament Games At Assembly Hall?

Of all the things Mike Thomas talked about at his press conference about the Assembly Hall renovations, there was really only one thing that stood out to me.

By Apollo Forza

On Thursday Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas held a press conference to discuss the upcoming renovations to Assembly Hall. We've gone over these renovations here before, but this is the first time Thomas really addressed what the school plans to do publicly.

And, for the most part, there wasn't anything you wouldn't expect. If you're interested in all the details I suggest you head on over to Marcus Jackson's Twitter feed and scroll down, or watch it yourself right here. As you're doing so I bet there's one tweet that will grab your attention much like it did mine.

That'd be this one:

What's that you say? Tournament games at Assembly Hall? Why tell me more, Mr. Thomas!

I think this is a very interesting idea, though I'm not sure how feasible it is. Still, if Champaign was selected as a region for the men's tournament -- and to a lesser extent, the women's -- it could be a nice financial boost not only to the school, but the town itself.

That's a lot of people needing hotel rooms for four days and spending their money around town. Money that would help offset the costs of the renovations in the first place.

Also, it'd be pretty fun to have NCAA Tournament games on campus, wouldn't it? You'll never see the Illini play a game there, but wouldn't it be fun to wake up one morning, head over to Assembly Hall and then loudly boo Indiana in a tournament game?

Of course it would be.

Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room. You can follow Tom Fornelli on Twitter at @TomFornelli.