Spokane/Cheney named finalist for Big Sky postseason tournaments

The Big Sky Conference announced that five locations have been selected for site visits as the league explores potential permanent host sites for its men’s and women’s basketball championships. One of them is a combined entry from the Spokane Arena, which would host the men’s tournament; and Reese Court at Eastern Washington University, which would host the women’s event. In the coming weeks, members of a special committee committee will take site visits to four other cities: Billings (Rimrock Auto Arena); Missoula, (Dahlberg Arena); Reno (Reno Events Center); and Ogden, Utah (Dee Events Center) Billings and Ogden put forward bids to host the men’s championship. Missoula presented a bid to host the women’s championship. Only Reno and Spokane/Cheney submitted bids to host the men’s and women’s championships. “All of the bids were outstanding,” said Big Sky Deputy Commissioner Ron Loghry. “The committee faced a daunting task of sifting through all of the data, and ranking the potential sites. Our next step is to visit these cities and venues, and we’re excited to begin that process soon.” For more than two decades, Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s basketball championships have been hosted by the regular-season champion. Last fall, the Big Sky Conference began soliciting bids to find predetermined locations for the championships beginning in the spring of 2016. A committee consisting of a university president, a faculty athletic representative, a senior women’s administrator, two athletics directors, an outside consultant, and two members of the conference staff recently reviewed and ranked bids submitted by cities and arenas. League presidents reserve the right to deny all of the bids and keep the current championship structure in place. A final decision is expected in April.