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The Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship returns to Oklahoma City's AT&T Bricktown Ballpark for the annual eight-team championship in 2008. The Brick, which was opened on April 2, 1998 and seats 13,066 fans, serves as the home facility for the Class AAA Oklahoma Redhawks. The facility is hosting the ninth baseball championship in the league's 12-year tenure. Previous championships have set almost annual attendance records while playing at three sites to date: All-Sports Stadium (1997) in Oklahoma City, AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (1998-2001, '03, '05-08), and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (2002, '04). Past championship winners include Kansas (2006), Nebraska (1999-2001, '05), Oklahoma (1997), Oklahoma State (2004) Texas (2002-03), Texas A&M (2007) and Texas Tech (1998). CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT The Big 12 introduced a two-division, pool play format for the championship in 2006. Each of the eight teams competing is guaranteed a minimum of three games. Results from the league's 27-game round-robin conference schedule will determine the eight seeds for the Championship. Seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 will compete in pool play on one side of the bracket, while seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 will play in the other. The two teams with the best record within their bracket will advance to the Championship game, with the winner earning the Big 12's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Head-to-head competition will break ties within each bracket. In the event of more than two teams being tied for the top spot within a bracket, the highest seeded team will advance to Sunday's winner-take-all Championship game. CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY Oklahoma City and AT&T Bircktown Ballpark will host the Phillips 66 Baseball Championship through the 2011 season. The event has been contested in Oklahoma City 10 of the last 11 years (All Sports Stadium - 1997; Bricktown Ballpark - 1998-01, '03, '05-07). In 2002, the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship moved to the largest postseason venue with the exception of football and outdoor track and field in Big 12 history. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, home of the American League's Texas Rangers, set a national record with 150,196 tickets sold for 14 games. In the two years (2002, '04) at Rangers Ballpark, the tournament had 275,824 tickets sold for 27 games - an average of more than 10,000. The 1999 event had then-record fan support with a record 129,334 attendance for 13 games. Fans also had the opportunity to watch an expanded, eight-team event (from the previous six-team contests in 1997 and '98) at Oklahoma City. One year after that record turnout, the 2000 Phillips 66 Championship had the third-largest turnout in Division I baseball history with 126,482 tickets sold for 14 games. In 1997, the initial six-team Big 12 tourney drew a then-nation's best total attendance of 56,742. The Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship has received consistent television coverage over the years. FSN and its regional affiliates have carried each title game as well as the "if necessary" contests in the 1997 and '98 classics at OKC. TICKET INFORMATION For ticket information, contact the Oklahoma Redhawks at (405) 218-1000.
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