UD Arena - March Madness 2008 - NCAA 2008 Final Four - Final Four Transportation - NCAA Final Four Transportation - NCAA Final Four 2008 - Final Four Alamodome - Final Four Alamodome - 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.

University of Dayton Arena is a 13,409-seat multi-purpose arena in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams, and has hosted 72 games in the NCAA men's basketball tournament over its history, the fourth most prolific venue in NCAA history and the second most prolific among active venues, with the most recent in the first and second rounds of the 2006 tournament.
Since 2001, the facility has hosted the annual "play-in" game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament (officially the "opening round" game) which features the teams rated 64th and 65th in the tournament field. The playing court is known as Blackburn Court, named after historic UD coach Tom Blackburn. The Donoher Center expansion on the southwest corner of the Arena was completed in 1998. Named for former Flyers basketball coach Don Donoher, the Center provides a state of the art, NBA caliber facility for conditioning and game preparation. The arena was extensively renovated during the summer of 2002. The additions include new and expanded concession areas, luxury boxes, disabled access improvements, and a restaurant/bar named the Time-Warner Flight Deck. Because of this, the venue was awarded the 2003 and 2004 Atlantic Ten Conference men's basketball tournaments.

The Arena has been hailed by sportscasters and opponent coaches alike as one of the greatest venues in college basketball. Since its opening in 1969, over 14 million visitors have witnessed events at the Arena. In 2002, the Arena was the site of the first ever high-definition television (HDTV) broadcast for ESPN.
During the 2004-2005 season, the University of Dayton ranked 18th in the nation in attendance at the arena.

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

Along with its hosting duties for the NCAA Tournament "play-in" game, the UD Arena also served as the host of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournament from 1989-91 and as the host of the Atlantic Ten Basketball tournament in 2003 and 2004. The Arena is scheduled to host the Opening Round game through 2010, the first and second round men's tournament games in 2009 and will be a regional venue for the women's tournament in 2007 and 2010.