Louisville Officially Locked In For 2012 Tournament In The Bahamas

Here's a portion of the release from U of L:

The University of Louisville men's basketball team will participate in the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis, an eight-team tournament staged on Nov. 22-25 at the famed Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas. The impressive field includes six teams that have participated in the NCAA Final Four over the last 15 seasons and three that are ranked among the nation's top 25 teams in the most recent Jan. 16 polls.

The 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis field consists of Duke, Louisville, Memphis, Minnesota, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Stanford and Virginia Commonwealth in a 12-game tournament that will be televised by NBC Sports Network and HDNet. Harvard won the 2011 event, which also included such teams as Connecticut, Florida State and UCF. The eight teams in the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis field have combined for more than 160 NCAA postseason appearances.

The temporary arena boasts state-of-the-art regulation facilities at the epicenter of the world's largest open-air marine habitat, complete with lavish guest accommodations, restaurants, bars, spa, lounges, waterslides and the largest casino in the Bahamas. The event, which drew more than 4,000 fans to the 2011 championship game featuring UCF and Harvard, will award more than $2 million to participating teams.

Great competition, great paycheck, great location; pulling out of Maui was the right call.