Pittsburgh's new arena doesn't have walls or a name yet, but plans are under way to try to lure a major event to the venue.

Robert Morris University and VisitPittsburgh, with strong support and input from the Penguins, are preparing a bid to play host to the 2013 Frozen Four, the NCAA hockey equivalent of basketball's Final Four.

It's believed it would be the first time in half a century that an NCAA champion is crowned in Pittsburgh. The NCAA men's gymnastics finals were at Fitzgerald Field House in 1963.

"It would be a great thing for everybody involved," Colonials men's hockey coach Derek Schooley said yesterday. "Pittsburgh is doing a great job with all the new facilities. It seems only natural to continue to put quality events in the new arena."

The new building, across the street from Mellon Arena, is scheduled to open for the Penguins' 2010-11 season. The team has informed the NHL it would like to bring a league All-Star Game and/or entry draft to the new arena after it opens, but the push for the Frozen Four is the first formal bid being assembled.

Representatives from Robert Morris, VisitPittsburgh and the Penguins met last week to discuss the state of the plans.

"We've talked about this for a while preliminarily," said Tom McMillan, Penguins vice president for communications. "It's an indication that having a new arena can bring in these types of events."

McMillan was probably the first one to toss out the idea, though no one seems to remember the exact genesis. The Penguins reached out to Robert Morris when the school was organizing its hockey program. The men's team began playing in 2004-05.

"We were very excited that a local school was playing Division I hockey," McMillan said. "We like hockey at all levels, and that was one area we didn't have."

In late March 2004, not long before the start of a lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 NHL season, the Penguins invited Schooley and a few Robert Morris athletic administrators to a game at Mellon Arena.

"We started talking partnerships and hockey," said Marty Galosi, Robert Morris associate athletic director for marketing and sales.

That led to the Colonials playing Notre Dame at Mellon Arena last season and Ohio State this season. Now it has spawned the bidding process for the Frozen Four.

"Hockey fans are so into their niche, a lot of people come to this even if their team is not in it," Galosi said. "The fans get fired up. We all feel strongly about our town. This will bring a lot of visitors."

The Frozen Four sites are determined through 2012. The dates for 2013 are April 10 and 13, which means the college games could be worked into a busy week with Penguins playoff games.

Four of the next five Frozen Four sites are NHL arenas, including this year at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Submitting a bid for an NCAA tournament or championship event is a long, complex process.

Robert Morris, VisitPittsburgh and the Penguins will soon send letters to the NCAA, which officially will solicit bids in fall 2009.

The bids are due in spring 2010, with a presentation to the NCAA in summer 2010. Robert Morris and VisitPittsburgh will make the bid, but the Penguins will be heavily involved. VisitPittsburgh, formerly the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, is the official tourist promotion agency of Allegheny County.

"We're still in the beginning stages," Schooley said. "There's a lot of work to be done just to get heard."

Galosi said Robert Morris officials have had conversations with athletic directors of schools that have sponsored the Frozen Four. In April, he and Jennifer Hawkins of VisitPittsburgh are scheduled to attend the Frozen Four in Denver to gather information.

Several regional rounds of NCAA tournaments in various sports have been played in the area over the years. In March, Pitt was the host for early rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at the Petersen Events Center. Duquesne sponsored NCAA regional men's basketball games in 2002 and women's regionals in '01 at what was then called Civic Arena, now Mellon Arena.

The bid for a Frozen Four ramps things up with national semifinals and a final.

"This will be a feather in the cap of Robert Morris and the city," McMillan said. "For a school that didn't have a hockey program a handful of years ago to now putting together what we think will be a very good bid for a Frozen Four, that says something."