The 2012 NCAA women’s basketball Final Four will be played at the Pepsi Center from April 8-10.
The Mountain West Conference won one of five bids to host the premier women’s Division I basketball event. New Orleans (2013), Nashville, Tenn. (2014), Tampa Bay (2015) and Indianapolis (2016) were the other site selections announced Friday by the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee.
There were 12 cities in the initial running, with the field pared to eight in August. The MWC and Denver Sports, which helped bring the Frozen Four to Denver last spring, pulled out all the stops to lobby the selection committee.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a prepared statement, “We thank the NCAA for their commitment to Denver and thank Denver Sports and the bid committee for their hard work in securing this exciting, fun tournament.”
In conjunction with USA Basketball, there will be a leadership academy for the region’s youth and high school athletes and their coaches.
MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said it presented the league with the opportunity to continue to grow its name. Hosting the Final Four in conjunction with the local organizing committee “will be one of the highlights of this conference,” Thompson said in a release.
Denver and Nashville are first-time women’s Final Four hosts, although Denver was the site for the 1990 men’s Final Four won by UNLV. The MWC has also served as host for several NCAA men’s regional tournaments.
