March 8, 2008

Oklahoma State was one of 32 winners in the NCAA Division I "Pack the House" Challenge.

Schools urged fans to "Pack the House" for selected women's basketball games from January 1 through February 17. Almost two-thirds of the Division I membership - 198 institutions - participated in the effort that attracted more than 592,000 fans.

On Jan. 12, the Cowgirls hosted a school-record 13,611 fans for their victory over in-state rival Oklahoma. The sellout crowd represented the first in program history and was the largest crowd to take in a women's basketball game in the state of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State was one of six schools to produce a sellout for the event, while 70 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."

The ideas to market the games were as diverse as the membership itself.

For example, OSU sent out an e-mail to the student body as well as a FaceBook event ad and distributed flyers around campus. Discounted tickets were offered to groups of 15 or more, helping draw in several hundred fans from groups that included Fellowship of Christian Athletes and 4-H.

Several contests and giveaways as well as a postgame autograph session with the team were among the game's promotions. In addition, both print and radio ads were run in Stillwater and the surrounding communities.

"This recognition shows that support for our women's basketball program is growing and is a credit to Coach Budke and his coaching staff as well as our fan base," OSU marketing coordinator for women's basketball Tia Scott said. "It was so exciting to see a history-making night for the program."

Winners of the "Pack the House" Challenge are:

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 - 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