The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Committees have announced decisions about future championship sites.

The men's committee has selected a group of finalist cities in the first step of a two-part process to choose hosts for the Men's Final Four beginning in 2008. The committee also has chosen the sites for the first/second and regional rounds of the 2006 championship and the opening-round game beginning in 2004.

The committee chose six sites to compete for the right to host the Final Four in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The committees will evaluate the six cities this winter and spring, and will name the sites in late June.

"We are pleased with the quality and enthusiasm of the cities and with their commitment to host the Final Four," said Jim Livengood, chair of the men's committee and director of athletics at the University of Arizona.

For the Final Four, the competition venue must have a minimum of 40,000 seats and the city must have 8,500 first-class hotel rooms for the official block.

"The committee uses four general criteria when evaluating sites: the competition venue, lodging, transportation, and the commitment and ability of the host and the city to administer the championship according to the committee's policies," said Livengood.

The finalist cities for the Men's Final Four, competition venues and host institutions or conferences are:

The committee also selected the following sites for the preliminary rounds of the 2006 championship:

First/second rounds:

March 16 and 18 -- Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina, Atlantic Coast Conference, host; Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville University, host; Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, University of Utah, host; Cox Arena, San Diego, San Diego State University, host.

March 17 and 19 -- UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio University of Dayton, host; First Union Center, Philadelphia, Atlantic 10 Conference, host; American Airlines Arena, Dallas, Big 12 Conference, host; Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan, Oakland University, host.

Regionals:

East (March 24 and 26) -- MCI Center, Washington, D.C., Georgetown University, host; South (March 23 and 25) -- Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia Institute of Technology, host; Midwest (March 24 and 26) -- Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, host; West (March 23 and 25) -- Oakland Arena, Oakland, California, University of San Francisco, host.

The committee also selected the University of Dayton to host the opening-round games in 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the UD Arena.

Women's sites

The Division I women's committee identified seven cities for consideration to host the Women's Final Four beginning in 2008.

The committee will evaluate the cities this winter and spring and will name the sites in late June.

The cities with venue(s) and host(s) are:

For the Women's Final Four, the minimum facility capacity is 18,000 and the minimum hotel room requirement is 3,500.

The committee uses four general criteria when evaluating sites: the competition venue, lodging, transportation, and the commitment and ability of the host and the city to administer the championship according to the committee's policies.

"We are thrilled with the amount of interest in the Women's Final Four," said women's committee Chair Cheryl Marra, senior associate director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "The number and quality of bids we received are positive signs that this event is continuing to grow as one of the premier events in intercollegiate athletics."