The Southland Conference Elevates Their Title Through Social

The conference title.

That's the ultimate goal when you play in a low-major Division 1 conference. And it's one of the goals for programs at all levels of play. It's fully controlled by the conference. But it's seldom elevated to the showcase it can be, from a digital and social POV.

Enter our friends at the Southland Conference.

Hit the Southland website and click into their Basketball Tournament section.



You can get there directly by clicking here. (Or you can dive into the Basketball page and select "Tournament.") I'll illustrate the 2010 Tournament site, below.

The Destination is Katy, Texas. And there's a slew of ways to dive into and join the Madness (literally) that is the SLC tournament. That means not just a tournament and stats/leaders but conversation...

The tournament features a blog, here, and a Twitter page, here.
The blog is personal and emotional. It is updated throughout each game, witnessed by this post:

"The game has slowed to a pace that suits the Bearkats. Owning such a sizable margin has allowed Sam Houston coach Bob Marlin to methodically wear the clock down and look for the ideal shot."

And the Twitter page, while dormant in the regular season, pumps up the volume come tourney time -- as you can gather from this Tweet:

"Sam Houston fans rushing the court to share in the moment with their newly crowned tournament champs."

Here's what works. This is a model that can be (and has been) built upon year over year.

It gives you a reason to follow along with both tournaments through the same system (website plus blog plus Twitter) and, much like the real world, it isolates and elevates the title game and the conference tournament to an achievement area we all aspire to.

So, how could this be better?

1. Emotion. I'd love to see pictures of the celebrations. Give me videos of the huddles at the tournament or from the locker room speeches.
2. The Dream. What happens after the SLC title? Who do they match up with? What's Selection Sunday like? How do the fans go nuts? Can the SLC rally everyone behind the school(s) in the tourney?
3. In season. How can this develop a voice in-season? Perhaps it is sharing news/blogs who predict the SLC teams to make the dance? Or maybe it is interviewing past title MVPs on what they are doing now? I think there is a real possibility to develop a voice that lives beyond this moment.

Come back tomorrow as we extend our week-long look into the best practices of the Southland.

Don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm@pawlow34.

Andy