By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
After two seasons of using a four games in four days format, the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship is changing its schedule.
The 2011 tournament next March in Kansas City will feature four days of play over five days and the championship game will be on Saturday. The past two seasons, the event has started on Thursday and finished with a championship game on Sunday.
"When the Big 12 women's championship moved from its usual Tuesday start, there was hope that attendance would be increased without playing on weekdays. That did not prove to be the case," Big 12 Senior Associate Commissioner Dru Hancock said. "Additionally, having the women's final on Sunday following completion of the men's event on Saturday created an anticlimactic feel."
Big 12 women's coaches and administrators did not see an increase in attendance or television ratings during the two-year experiment with the "four-in-four" format. Also, the Big 12 is the only major conference that finishes its tournament the weekend before the NCAA women's bracket is announced. Ending the Big 12 tourney on Saturday instead of Sunday was seen as a positive in making the change.
"We liked getting another day off between having our championship game and when the committee finishes up with the bracket. Most of the coaches didn't feel like we gained a lot with the change the last two years. And building in a day off helps any team that might wind up playing four games."
The Big 12 women's championship will start on Tuesday, March 8 with four opening round games. Four quarterfinal games will be played Wednesday, March 9. Thursday will be a day off before Friday's semifinal games and the championship game on Saturday. The Big 12 hopes both games will benefit from being played on the same day.
The Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship schedule remains the same. Its championship game will be played Saturday, March 12, a few hours after the women's title game is completed.
2011 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Championship schedule
March 8: Four first-round games (Municipal Auditorium)
March 9: Four quarterfinal games (Municipal Auditorium)
March 11: Two semifinal games (Municipal Auditorium)
March 12: Championship game (Municipal Auditorium)
2011 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Championship schedule
March 9: Four first-round games (Sprint Center)
March 10: Four quarterfinal games (Sprint Center)
March 11: Two semifinal games (Sprint Center)
March 12: Championship game (Sprint Center)
