SAN ANTONIO ? The NCAA announced that all 10 cities, including San Antonio, that submitted bids to host the Men's Final Four from 2012-16 have been named as finalists. Other finalists include Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, North Texas, Phoenix and St. Louis.
This comes as welcome news to the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee (SALOC), which hosted the 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four in the Alamodome last April. SALOC is already slated to host the 2010 Women?s Final Four and last month was confirmed as a finalist to host the Women's Final Four for the same 2012-16 bid cycle.
"We knew this was going to be a competitive process and this confirms it," said Jenny Carnes, SALOC executive director. "We're honored to have the opportunity to bid again on an event that has such a successful history in our city. As a fan-favorite host, we will work to capitalize on the momentum of the 2008 Men's Final Four in delivering a creative, competitive bid."
The San Antonio Local Organizing Committee, which is a partnership between the City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Sports Foundation and UTSA, has a strong history of hosting successful NCAA Championships including three Men's Final Fours (1998, 2004, 2008), one Women's Final Four (2002) and one Women's Division I Volleyball Championship (2005). It has also hosted several regional basketball tournaments.
Site visits to each city will be conducted in upcoming months. Following the site visits, the finalists will participate in a presentation session with the NCAA Men's Selection Committee in mid-November and the 2012-16 Men's Final Four sites will be announced shortly after.
