Alamodome - March Madness 2008 - March Madness

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams in the United States. Colloquially known as March Madness (as the tournament takes place mainly during the month of March) or the Big Dance (as opposed to the now smaller and less prestigious NIT), the tournament takes place over 3 weeks at sites across the United States, and the national semifinals (the Final Four) have become one of the nation's most prominent sporting events.
Since its 1939 inception (a brainchild of Phog Allen at the University of Kansas), it has built a legacy that includes dynasty teams and dramatic underdog stories. In recent years, friendly wagering on the event has become something of a national pastime, spawning countless "office pools" that attract expert fans and novices alike. All games of the tournament are broadcast on the CBS broadcast television network in the United States, except for the Opening Round game (or "play-in game" as it has been called), which aired on TNN in 2001, and ESPN since 2002.

The tournament bracket is made up of conference tournament champions from each Division I conference, which receive automatic bids. The remaining slots are at-large berths, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. The selection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors, including team rankings, win-loss records and RPI data.
Two low-seeded teams (typically teams with poor records that qualified by winning their conference tournament championships) play the "opening round" game to determine which will advance into the first round of the tournament, with the winner advancing to play the top seed in one of the four regions. The opening Round game was added in 2001 and has been played in University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio each subsequent year. The opening round is considered part of the tournament and is often referred to as a "play-in" game.

The Alamodome is a 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, at a cost of $186 million.

Along with placating the San Antonio Spurs ownership's demands for a larger basketball venue, the multi-purpose facility was intended to increase the city's convention traffic and attract a professional football franchise. The Spurs played basketball in the Alamodome for a decade, but became disenchanted with the facility and convinced Bexar County to construct them and the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc. a new arena now called the AT&T Center.

The Alamodome was constructed after voters in 1989 approved a five-year, half-cent sales tax increase that was collected by VIA Metropolitan Transit, the local transit authority. Upon completion of the facility, it was nearly debt-free and showed a net operating profit within its first two years of operation. On June 9, 1994, ownership of the Alamodome was transferred from the transit authority to the City of San Antonio.

Aside from the annual Alamo Bowl and certain high school events, future events scheduled for the Alamodome include the 2007 Big 12 Championship Game, the 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four, and the 2010 NCAA Women's Final Four. Also, the Notre Dame football team will face Washington State on Oct. 31, 2009. In addition, the Dallas Cowboys preseason training camps will be held each summer in the Alamodome from 2007 to 2011. The Alamodome will also be home to a All American Football League team in 2008.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is in the process of forming a football program which will utilize the Alamodome as their home stadium.

On Sunday, March 16, the 65-team bracket for the 2008 NCAA� Division I Men's Basketball Championship� will be announced at 5pm CST on CBS.
Tune in to all the 2008 Championship action on CBS beginning Thursday, March 20. The Opening Round game will be broadcast live on ESPN on Tuesday, March 18.
Game times will be confirmed and announced no later than 3:30pm on Monday afternoon, March 17 on.................................................. www.NCAAsports.com.

March 18, 2008
UD Arena
Dayton, Ohio
Host: University of Dayton
UD Arena Concierge

March 20 and 22, 2008
Honda Center
Anaheim, California
Host: Big West Conference
Honda Center Concierge

Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
Hosts: Colorado State University
Pepsi Center Concierge

Qwest Center Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Hosts: Creighton University
Qwest Center Omaha Concierge

Verizon Center
Washington, D.C.
Host: Georgetown University
Verizon Center Concierge

March 21 and 23, 2008
BJCC Arena
Birmingham, Alabama
Host: Southeastern Conference
BJCC Arena Concierge

Alltel Arena
Little Rock, Arkansas
Host: University of Arkansas
Alltel Arena Concierge

RBC Center
Raleigh, North Carolina
Host: North Carolina State University
RBC Center Concierge

St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa, Florida
Host: University of South Florida
St Pete Times Forum Concierge

March 27 and 29, 2008

East Regional
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Charlotte, North Carolina
Host: University of North Carolina
Charlotte Arena Concierge

West Regional
US Airways Center
Phoenix, Arizona
Host: Arizona State University
US Airways Center Concierge

March 28 and 30, 2008

Midwest Regional
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Host: University of Detroit Mercy
Ford Field Concierge

South Regional
Reliant Stadium
Houston, Texas
Host: University of Houston and Rice
Reliant Stadium Concierge

Final Four: April 5 and 7, 2008
Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas
Host: Univ. of Texas-San Antonio
Alamodome Concierge

The Alamodome was the site for the 2006 state high school football championship games for University Interscholastic League Class 5A Divisions I and II. On December 23, 2006, Southlake Carroll took the Class 5A Division I title after defeating Austin Westlake, and Cedar Hill took the Class 5A Division II title after defeating Cypress Falls. The 2007 Class 5A Division I and II high school football championship games are also scheduled to be played in the facility. The stadium also regularly hosts playoff games in earlier rounds.