The Atlantic conference in 1999 returned to a 6-team single knockout tournament,  usually held at Halifax Metro Centre. Teams seeded 3 thru 6 meet in a pair of Friday night quarterfinals. The winners advance to face the 1 and 3 seeds. The lower advancing quarterfinalist faces the #1 seed, while the higher advancing faces #2. The Final is held Sunday. Since AUS is the host for 2004 and 2005, both of its semi winners advance to theFinal8. 

Quebec's now five teams have a 4-team playoff. #2 hosts #3 an #1 hosts #4 in  single semi games, with the winners playing a single championship game at the home of the highest ranked.. 

Ontario's OUA West and OUA East each hold a 6-team single knockout to declare a champion. 6 plays 3 and advances to play 2, while 4 plays 5 and advances to play 1. OUA East plays its tournament over 3 days at a host school. OUA West plays its over several days, like W/S/W with the game hosted by the highest seed in each pair. We do not know how they will select the third entry in 2003, but suspect it will be an additional game matching the two Division runners-up. 

Canada West now has three 4-team divisions. Each holds its own playoff, with a best-of-3 semi hosted by 2, then the winner meeting 1 in a best-of-3 hosted by 1. The three Division winners then meet in a 2-day Final Four, joined by a wildcard team. With 3 berths for 2004, the two semi winners advance to the Final8, while the losers meet to determine the third rep.

The ten teams in 2004 will come from:
AUS (2) Champ plus a host team (AUS runner-up)
QSSF (1) Champ
OUA (4) Champ plus runner-up plus Div runners-up
CW (3) Champ plus runner-up plus playoff third-place finisher

SEEDING The four conference champs plus the two highest others from the 2003 Top-Ten and Final8 seeding are placed in seeds 1-6. The remaining 4 teams are seeded in the 7-10 pool. Teams within each pool are then assigned seeding numbers mainly according to the  final Top-Ten rank.

The committee has some leeway in adjusting seeds and game times. Two teams from the same conference cannot meet in the first round. Conference head-to-heads in the second round (quarter-finals) are to be avoided if possible, without compromising the integrity of the event, and the home conference AUS champ must be scheduled Friday night.

.... Adult $102
.... Senior/Student $78
.... Youth (u-12) $54

Admission for each Double Header
.... Adult $20
.... Senior/Student $16
.... Youth (u-12) $10
Ticket Orders: (902) 451-1221 

Metro Centre Seating

 Here is a simple seating plan of the Metro Centre. Use it to select your preferred locations before calling in to order tickets.

 Some prefer watching basketball from the corners, like Sections 4 and 5.

 Seating Rows:
Lower Bowl: A-S
Upper Bowl: A-V

 Row V is quite high, yet still a good place to watch championship basketball in a full house.
 
 
 
 

Staying downtown?

(These maps are a few years old. Some names may have changed but the places are essentially the same. A pub or hotel may have a new name, but odds are you'll find the same bartender there.)

A secret to picking a good location is to study the pedways and tunnels, the coloured lines on the map. If the weather is bad, (it seldom is in Halifax) you will be mostly indoors, under cover.

 You can stay at the Prince George, and be totally indoors for the three days of the tournament, by taking the tunnel to the World Trade Centre, then escalators up to the Metro Centre.

From hotels connected through Scotia Square you can now walk directly in to the World Trade Center and Metro Centre through a new tunnel under Duke Street, opened in 1996.

The passage from WTC to the Metro Centre is through an office corridor that may be shut down after hours. If it is closed, you can easily step outside and re-enter through a nearby door to continue on your way.

Don't ask about amenities. The hotels all have their own, and the area is crammed with eating and drinking spots. Check out Argyle and Grafton Streets to begin.

A block left on Granville Street is NS Sport Heritage Museum. Worth a visit, if you want to get outside and get some fresh air. While there you can shoot some baskets, play a bit of one-on-one, or shoot some pucks at a Tony Esposito.