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PHOENIX (April 21, 2008) -- Northwest Sports & Entertainment has announced that the 2008 Stadium Shootout featuring the BYU men's basketball team has been set for Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008. The four-team event will pit Louisville against Minnesota followed by the Cougars versus Arizona State in a double-header played at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Game times for the event are still to be determined as are television broadcast plans. Tickets will officially go on sale Sept. 27th.
The event will mark a homecoming for 2008 Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year Lee Cummard, who prepped at Mesa High School in Mesa, Ariz. Cummard received AP All-America honorable mention in 2007-08 after leading the Cougars to a 27-8 overall record and second-straight MWC title. BYU has earned NCAA Tournament invitations and top-25 rankings the past two seasons.
All four teams playing in the Stadium Shootout won at least 20 games last season. In addition to the Cougars, Big East power Louisville earned a three seed in the East Regional of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and finished the year 27-9 overall and ranked No. 6. The Cardinals will be taking on the Minnesota Golden Gophers out of the Big Ten Conference. In his first season at the helm, Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith engineered an 11-game turnaround en route to a 20-14 overall record. BYU will be taking on the hometown Arizona State Sun Devils, who were NIT quarterfinalists last year out of the Pac-10 Conference after a 13-game turnaround that saw them finish with a 21-13 overall record.
Home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, University of Phoenix Stadium also hosted the 2007 BCS National Championship college football game in Jan. 2007 and Super Bowl XLII in Feb. 2008. Since opening on Aug. 1, 2006, the multipurpose stadium has garnered such awards as the 2006 and 2007 "Best NFL Facility" by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily and 2007 Event Site of the Year by Event Solutions Magazine. The venue will host the 2009 Division I Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament West Regional. The Dec. 20th date of the Stadium Shootout occurs during week 16 of the NFL season when the Arizona Cardinals will be on the road at New England.
For more information on the Stadium Shootout, visit www.stadiumshootout.com.
