Tampa Bay Named A Finalist for Future NCAA Women's Final Fours

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee has identified four cities for consideration to host the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Women's Final Four. Tampa Bay and the University of South Florida are among the four potential hosts.

“Being a finalist is a tremendous compliment to our entire Tampa Bay community and the outstanding teamwork from a lot of people who helped make this happen,” said USF Director of Athletics Lee Roy Selmon from the Conference USA meetings in Destin, Fla. “This is by no means our end goal, though. We are intent on bringing the Women’s Final Four to Florida for the first time ever, and we look forward to the day we announce that Tampa Bay will host the Women’s Final Four.”

The committee will review presentations from the four cities at its summer meeting, June 24-28, in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, and announce the selection of the three sites Monday, June 30. The four cities were selected from an initial pool of seven that were identified in December 2002.

The cities with venue(s) and host(s) are:
Denver, Pepsi Center, University of Colorado, Boulder and University of Denver.
San Antonio, Alamodome, University of Texas at San Antonio
St. Louis, Edward Jones Dome or Savvis Center, Missouri Valley Conference
Tampa, St. Pete Times Forum, University of South Florida

"We have been so pleased with the number of cities that expressed interest in hosting the Women's Final Four," said Lynn Parkes, site selection subcommittee chair of the women's basketball committee and associate director of athletics at the University of Memphis. "The committee will have difficult decisions to make in determining the final three cities."

For the Women's Final Four, the minimum facility capacity is 18,000 and the minimum hotel room requirement is 3,500. The committee uses four general criteria when evaluating sites: the competition venue, lodging, transportation and the commitment and ability of the host and the city to administer the championship according to the committee's policies.

Next year, Tulane will host the 2004 Women’s Final Four at the New Orleans Arena on April 4 and 6, 2004.


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