The University of Oregon will be involved in the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Whether the men’s basketball team will be participating in the tournament is still to be determined, but the NCAA announced Thursday that Oregon will host first and second-round games at the Rose Garden in Portland on March 19 and 21, 2009.
The University won’t make any revenue in the process and will be involved in all aspects, said sports information director Greg Walker.
“Literally, Oregon will be involved in every logistical operation of hosting the first and second rounds,” Walker said. “That comes from staffing the event, providing hosts for the schools, your athletic training facilities; anything you can imagine that we would do to run a basketball game here in Eugene at McArthur Court. We would be responsible for that and everything else.”
The host selection process, which occurs every two years, started last spring when the University submitted a bid. The field was narrowed down from 56 cities roughly one month ago before the final 22 were selected for 2009 and 2010.
Oregon hopes it will impress the NCAA and potentially earn a bid to host NCAA Tournament games at its new basketball facility, which is in the “securing funds and financial commitments” process and the earliest a bid to host in Eugene would be the 2011 season, said Walker.
“It’s been a long time since the state has been a part of the NCAA Tournament, so just bringing it back to the state is positive all the way around,” Walker said. “For the University of Oregon, it benefits us just to be associated with hosting these types of events. We’ve done it in track and we’re doing it again in track coming up and we’ve done it in other events.
“From the NCAA standpoint, the basketball tournament is perhaps the premier event that they run. If we can put on a successful first and second round in 2009, it is going to open the door to host it again in Portland down the road. And ultimately, we may be able to host it here in Eugene when we have a new building that has the attendance requirements
that the NCAA is looking for. It can indirectly help build
the momentum to get that arena constructed.”
Other cities earning bids in 2009 are Philadelphia, Miami, Minneapolis, Greensboro, N.C., Kansas City, Mo., Spokane, Wash., and Dayton, Ohio.
The four regional sites are Boston, Indianapolis, Memphis, Tenn., and Glendale, Ariz. In 2003, Detroit was selected as host of the Final Four in 2009.
It will be the first time the NCAA Tournament has participated in the state of Oregon since 1983, when two rounds were held in Corvallis.
Portland will host the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 34 years. The city has previously played host in 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1975. In 1965, the Final Four was held in Portland with UCLA defeating Michigan 90-81.
“It is exciting to know that a piece of March Madness is finally coming back to our state,” said Bill Moos, Oregon’s director of athletics. “This is something that we have had as a goal for the past 10 years.
“In addition to the financial impact, this premier event will provide tremendous exposure for the University, the city of Portland and the entire state of Oregon.”
The University won’t see any money in the process, but Walker estimated Portland will receive at least $1,000,000 from travelers.
“We will not be seeing any money,” Walker said. “I think the attendance that we are going to see will offset the cost of hosting the event. The real money that is going to be generated is going to be for the Portland area in terms of the fans and the teams that are traveling there. You’ve got eight teams (that are) going to be coming in, staying in hotels, all their fans following them. It’s a pretty significant revenue generator that weekend that the tournament is going to be in Portland.”
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