Mohegan Sun Arena "looks to be getting the American Athletic Conference women's basketball championships in 2014, but its hopes of getting some NCAA Tournament games were delivered a blow Thursday," according to John Altavilla of the HARTFORD COURANT. The NCAA "frowns on putting tournament games in a casino." NCAA Associate Dir of D-I Women's Basketball Rick Nixon said, "At this point in time, the NCAA policy has not changed (regarding casino sites), so we could not consider their bid for a regional." The NCAA has "no direct jurisdiction over where regular season games or conference tournaments are played, but has all the power with its own tournament." WNBA Sun VP & GM Chris Sienko, whose team plays at Mohegan Sun Arena, said that the casino "wanted to bid" on future NCAA subregional and regional tournament games. But he added, "I don't know if the NCAA would change their opinion on us." A UConn spokesperson this week said that the school, which hosted first- and second-round games in '13 at Gampel Pavilion, "might not submit a bid to host at Gampel or the XL Center this year" (HARTFORD COURANT, 5/24).
