Columbia Wins NCAA/Conference 'Pack the House' Challenge for Ivy League
3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK ? Columbia was one of 32 winners in the NCAA Division I “Pack the House” Challenge, the NCAA announced.
Schools urged fans to “Pack the House” for selected women's basketball games from January 1 through February 17. And pack the house, they did.
Columbia sold a school-record 818 tickets to its women's basketball game on February 15 vs. Dartmouth. Half the proceeds from the ticket revenue went to support breast cancer research for The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia as part of the "Think Pink" event.
As the Ivy League's winner of the event, the NCAA provided $500 to Columbia Athletics, to be donated to the charity of Columbia Athletics' choice. The $500 will supplement the donation to The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center from the Think Pink event, bringing the total contribution to $3,500.
Almost two-thirds of the Division I membership ? 198 institutions ? participated in the "Pack the House" effort that attracted more than 592,000 fans.
Events at Duke, Louisville, Marist, Navy, Oklahoma State and Presbyterian produced sellout crowds. Seventy other programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year.
“Pack the House” is a first-year national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. One winner from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution's choice.
“We believe the effort motivated schools to attract new fans to our game,” said NCAA Vice President for Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe. “Campuses devoted additional time and resources to the competition. We are already being asked for information about next year. New alliances were formed among conference offices, member institutions and (NCAA) national office staff that will only strengthen efforts in the future.”
CONFERENCE WINNERS
America East - Hartford
Atlantic 10 ? Rhode Island
ACC ? Virginia
Atlantic Sun ? Lipscomb
Big 12 ? Oklahoma State
Big East ? Louisville
Big Sky ? Sacramento State
Big South ? Winthrop
Big Ten ? Michigan
Big West ? UC Davis
CAA ? Delaware
Conference USA ? East Carolina
Horizon ? Youngstown State
Ivy League ? Columbia
MAAC ? Marist
MAC ? Miami (Ohio)
MEAC ? North Carolina A&T
Missouri Valley ? Evansville
Mountain West ? Brigham Young
NEC ? Wagner
Ohio Valley ? Eastern Illinois
Pac-10 ? UCLA
Patriot ? Lehigh
SEC ? South Carolina
SoCon ? Georgia Southern
Southland ? Texas State
SWAC ? Jackson State
Sun Belt ? Middle Tennessee
Summit ? IUPUI
West Coast ? Portland
WAC ? Louisiana Tech
Independent ? Longwood
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Louisville
