First-ever Summit League Basketball Championships in March

The 2008 Summit League—formerly Mid-Continent Conference Basketball Championships—will take place March 8-11 in Tulsa , Okla. All eight teams eligible for postseason play will compete in the men's and women's tournaments at the John Q. Hammons Arena at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center (UMAC). Ticket information is available at www.thesummitleague.org or by calling 866/395-9550.

The Summit LeagueNorth Dakota State and South Dakota State are in the final year of reclassifying to Division I status and, per NCAA rules, are ineligible for postseason play.

The conference has been known as The Summit League since June 1. In May 2007, The Mid-Continent Conference Presidents Council embraced a strategic plan that places a renewed emphasis on improving the academic and athletic performances of all its student-athletes.

The Summit Plan, which places an emphasis on presidential leadership, seeks to advance the league to one of the premier mid-major conferences in the country. It focuses on student-athlete welfare, academic performance, increased home attendance and improving the league's rating percentage index (RPI) in all sports.

The league plans to recognize the academic achievements of its student-athletes at every opportunity, while seeking to improve the Academic Progress Report (APR) scores of each team. Marketing efforts will be focused on increasing home attendance, which helps support student-athletes and provides additional exposure. In addition, the Summit Plan includes a review of staffing, budgeting and scheduling by each member institution to be conducted with the goal of improving the RPI in all conference sports.

The conversion to The Summit League name included the creation of a new image, logo and Web site (www.thesummitleague.org).

“We are extremely pleased with our new name and logo,” said WIU President Al Goldfarb, who serves as chair of the Presidents Council. “We look forward to continued successes in our league as we reach higher with the implementation of the Summit Plan.”

The Summit League includes Centenary College of Louisiana (CC), Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), North Dakota State University (NDSU), Oakland University (OU), Oral Roberts University (ORU), South Dakota State University (SDSU), Southern Utah University (SUU) and Western Illinois University (WIU).

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