Not a heck of a lot of earthshattering news came out of Tuesday's press conference announcing the Big East's two-year extension to keep the conference's women's basketball tournament at the XL Center in Hartford.

Personally, I viewed the process of other venues trying to pry the tournament rights away from Hartford the same way I look at the NFL lockout. It's not so much of a case of if the announcement to keep the event in Hartford (through 2013) was going to happen but more of a case of when it became official.

Coaches, especially those who have lost to UConn in the tournament final, understandably would rather not have to play on one of UConn's home courts. That, it seems to me, would be more of an issue than any philosophical objection to moving the event to Mohegan Sun Arena. More than anything, the Big East knows a good thing when it sees it and the last 32 sessions of the tournament have drawn crowds of more than 8,000. If the Big East moved the event to a venue outside the state of Connecticut, could they guarantee crowds of 8,000 even in sessions when the home team wasn't playing?

"I think if a venue where to pursue us, it is important that they would include figures that are important to us which would be attendance, which would be business support, which would be community support, which would be the way they would run an event," said Danielle Donehew, the Big East's associate commissioner for women's basketball. "There are so many events that come through the XL Center and there are excellent examples to us of the first-class organization this is. It is important for us to see success at a venue so we could make a decision if we wanted to be at that venue or not."

Another issue, judging by people's reasons for not going to the Big East tournament, was parking fees around the XL Center. The Church Street garage, attached to the Hilton, has a flat rate of $10 per day. The garage affixed to the XL Center charges $15 a day during the five-day event. So I asked both Donehew and XL Center vice president and general manager Chuck Steedman if there has been a push to lower parking prices.

Steedman took the high road, claiming that the XL Center has no control over the prices contractors charge. Donehew admitted that it was an issue they are currently looking into.

"Parking is a very big part of the fan experience. I also think one thing is to try to encourage the restaurants to stay open later so when a fan gets out of a late game, some of the restaurants are open. Whoever touches our fan, it is important in terms of their experience. We are having lots of conversations."

Donehew had no interest in going into specifics about how many venues were in the mix or close the conference came from moving away from the facility where the tournament has been held every year since 2004. But listening to Steedman say "I never had a concern about it. I never did." and then Donehew proclaim that the process "was a thorough one, I don't know if it was difficult. We evaluated and re-evaluated what was important to our schools and Hartford came (out on) top."

A few other pieces of information.

First, a ticket to all sessions remains $99 for the seventh straight year.

This year's tournament will be held from Mar. 2-6 with the 2013 event going from Mar. 8-12. Donehew said discussions are still ongoing to determine the format of the 2013 tourney since the addition of Texas Christian will bring the field from 16 teams to 17.

A total of $80,000 has been put aside for ticket purchases by Aetna, Bank of America, Hartford Hospital, Northeast Utilities, Phoenix, Prudential Retirement, St. Francis Hospital, Travelers and United Health.

Steedman said the XL Center started the process of extending its contract the first day that the previous two-year contract began although the official bid was not presented until February.