Women’s super regional in Las Vegas floated

LAS VEGAS >> Women’s basketball fans were treated to quite a show this week in Las Vegas with four conference tournaments played there. Could an NCAA regional be in the cards down the road — or even a Super Regional? Consider the coaches, administrators and players big proponents of the idea. “I think Las Vegas is one of the few places that it could make sense,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said of hosting a Super Regional with either eight or 16 teams. “Multiple arenas, a lot of hotel capacity . ... One of the things our fans love about Las Vegas is the frequency of flights, it’s relatively inexpensive, well-located, easy to get to, experiences for all kinds of different price points. There’s no doubt it would be a fan favorite for folks. And the city has the capacity to handle an event of that scale, magnitude and complexity. It would be very interesting to consider that.” This wasn’t even a conversation until last year when the NCAA announced a temporary lifting of its longstanding rule banning championship events from states where single-game betting is allowed. The move came soon after a Supreme Court ruling in May that overturned a federal law barring most states from allowing gambling on college and pro sports. “Championships can now be played where there’s single-game betting,” said NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn. “Prior to that ruling it wouldn’t have been possible, but, now, it’s up to the various bids that go out.” ESPN commentator Deb Antonelli has been on a mission to bring the Sweet 16 to Las Vegas as a Super Regional for the past nine years. She feels that it would be the perfect destination, similar to what college softball has in Oklahoma and baseball in Nebraska. Nothing can be done in the immediate future to have Las Vegas host a regional as the NCAA women’s tournament is locked in with its sites through 2022. While getting a regular regional would just require the city bidding on one, the idea of having all 16 teams play in Las Vegas to create a Super Regional is a little more complicated. It would need membership approval since it would be a tournament format change. The women’s basketball committee has had discussions this year about the regional format that includes the number of sites and locations. The committee hopes to have the review done by the end of summer in preparation for the next championship-wide bid process, which begins in August. “It would be a very different approach to the regional, but I’ve certainly been in favor of the NCAA considering the postseason here. (NCAA President) Mark Emmert has been to Las Vegas,” Scott said.