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NCAA AWARDS 2007 MEN'S BASKETBALL REGIONAL TO ST. LOUIS

ST. LOUIS — July 8, 2004 — The NCAA has awarded the city of St. Louis a 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Regional, and the games will be played in the Edward Jones Dome on Friday, March 23, and Sunday, March 25, 2007. The announcement was made public today after the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball committees met last week in Denver, Colo. The administrative committee of the NCAA Championships/Competition Cabinet has approved the sites.

The 2007 award gives St. Louis its sixth NCAA basketball tournament event this decade, which includes three Final Fours. Beginning with the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Midwest Regional at Savvis Center, and culminating with the 2009 NCAA Women's Final Four, the city of St. Louis will have hosted eight NCAA basketball events in a 12-year span. During the period from 2004 through 2009, St. Louis will host more NCAA basketball events than any other city -- with four NCAA events slated to come to the Gateway city in that six-year time period.

Additionally, the NCAA announced that Creighton University and the Missouri Valley Conference will co-host a first and second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008 at the Qwest Center OMAHA on March 20 and 22, 2008.

“The award of the 2007 St. Louis Regional is testimony to the faith and trust the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee has in the Missouri Valley Conference and in St. Louis,” says Doug Elgin, commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference and chair of the St. Louis Local Organizing Committee. “The Valley and its partners have always been committed to conducting first-class, fiscally responsible events. We are thrilled to have another chance to host an NCAA Tournament event.”

The St. Louis Local Organizing Committee -- comprised of the Missouri Valley Conference, Saint Louis University, the St. Louis Sports Commission, and the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission -- will host the 2005 NCAA Men's Final Four at the Edward Jones Dome, with the Valley serving as host and partnering with the three other members of the SLOC to administer the event. The Missouri Valley Conference either has or will serve as the host institution to each of the nine NCAA basketball championship events that have been staged in St. Louis since 1993.

“We have so much at stake as we gear up to host the 2005 NCAA Final Four,” says Elgin. “How well we do as a host city and region will go a long way toward determining how soon the Final Four will return to our city. I am confident that the SLOC partners, local and regional businesses and volunteers will step up and deliver an exciting, well-run and memorable Final Four.

“We've had so much continuity among the SLOC's leadership and organizations, who have combined to do such a remarkable job in hosting these events. The combination of the Edward Jones Dome and the connected America's Center, along with the Renaissance Grand and Suite Hotel complex truly makes St. Louis one of the best cities in America to host NCAA basketball.”