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Columbus, Ohio State welcome NCAA in hopes of hosting another Women’s Final Four

2018.4.1 Osaka University Notre Dame Fighting Irish When bulldog in mississippi They sat level at 58-58 with three seconds left in the fourth quarter. Fighting his Irish inbounds the ball and finds his Arike Agunbowale at guard where he drains a three, sending the sold-out crowd to his feet and giving Notre Dame his second National his championship. I was. Now, in 2022, Columbus is bidding for another spot on the NCAA Final Four calendar to try to win his second championship of its own.

The Greater Columbus Sports Commission, responsible for sports advancement and attracting sports in Central Ohio, completed a two-day tour of the city on Tuesday with the NCAA Sites Commission. Columbus is one of seven finalist cities from 2027 to 2031 as he works to win one of five National Championship Final Four tournaments.

Greater Columbus Sports Commission CEO Linda Logan said: “We all know we can’t rest on our laurels. As a community and as the team that surrounds us today, they really put their arms around each other to elevate the experience and we introduce a lot of new things.” I was able to do.”

During the site visit, the Commission took the NCAA Commission to new spots around the city.New professional soccer stadium Lower.com Field, home of Major League Soccer columbus crew, the new Hilton Tower opening in two weeks, and a trail of other updates highlighted by stickers tour guides plastered around town. The site has all undergone renovations and additions since the city last hosted the NCAA.

In 2018, Columbus sold out all three games, literally rolling out the red carpet (for the first time in tournament history), shattering market ratings and social media engagement numbers, and driving women’s basketball’s continued growth.

If you look at the growth and trajectory of women’s sports over the past 10 to 15 years, especially the women’s basketball championship and the women’s Final Four,” said Lynn Holtzman, NCAA women’s basketball vice president. “We remain very bullish about what’s going on around the championship.”

Part of that bullishness is what the NCAA Commission looks for in a potential host. I’m here. In 2016, Indianapolis, Indiana hosted all three of her NCAA Championships, followed by Dallas, Texas in 2023.

If chosen, Columbus could become the third city to host all three. I give each division’s student-athletes a chance in the division that I have experienced.

There are some wrinkles in the process. Ohio will host another Women’s Final Four in 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible, because there are no known rules within the committee for avoiding certain conditions by frequency. However, the six-year gap between the 2018 Columbus edition and Cleveland’s 2024 hosting could mean that Columbus is set to host the finals, but that would take five years. Not until later in the planning process.

Still, there’s something about tournament bidding that many other cities don’t have. Ohio University.

“The Ohio State University (note I used the correct title there) has an excellent track record in supporting the NCAA championship and clearly has a very successful athletic program,” Holzman said. said. “Under the leadership of Athletic Director Gene Smith, its president, they have continued to invest in and support his NCAA championships, particularly the women’s basketball championship.”

In December 2021, Ohio State will host the NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship in partnership with Nationwide Arena. The Buckeyes also played in his 2018 basketball finals and most recently hosted college title events in bowling, swimming and diving.

In addition to Buckeyes, columbus blue jacket of the National Hockey League. After all, the game will take place in the Blue His Jackets arena. This venue is what Nationwide his arena executives see as a space that the community can make the city stand out from. As the tour draws to a close, the arena is being updated, as evidenced by his availability to media on Tuesday along with the sound of construction at the suite level.

By the time the game flips, Arena will likely have a yet-to-be-planned update, and the first game may not have been played for at least five years.

Bidding for a tournament of this size is a long game, but the city will soon know where they stand. Columbus was halfway through the site-visiting process, with only a few cities left on the NCAA selection committee.

Columbus is competing with San Antonio, Dallas, Tampa, Portland, Sacramento and Indianapolis for the venue.

In mid-November, the final seven cities will land in Indianapolis, Indiana for their final presentation. From there, the committee will decide the fate of the tournament. It may take days or weeks for a decision to be made and even longer for it to be published. Either way, by the end of 2022, Columbus will need to know where they stand.

If 2018 is any indication of Columbus’ chances of hosting again, they make a compelling argument to hold the tournament in Central Ohio.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without communities, hosts and places like Columbus that have supported this championship in the past,” said Holzman. “We look forward to the future and are excited about what it will bring.”

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