The United States could have home-court advantage in its quest to qualify for the Olympics.

USA Basketball will learn Monday if it will host next year's FIBA Americas tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Venezuela beat out Chile earlier this year for the right to host the 10-nation event that will send two teams to the Olympics. USA Basketball, the national governing body, didn't originally submit a bid, hoping it wouldn't even have to play in the qualifier at all by winning the world championships and gaining that automatic berth to the Olympics.

But the U.S. lost to Greece in the semifinals and finished third in Japan this summer.

When Venezuela missed its payment deadline, FIBA Americas reopened the bidding and USA Basketball decided to submit a bid, as did Puerto Rico.

Venezuela was given back the money that it paid late and allowed to bid again, and FIBA Americas said Tuesday that it will select the host site on Oct. 16.

If the U.S. bid is accepted, USA Basketball expects to host the tournament in Las Vegas, spokesman Craig Miller said. The U.S. team held training camp there last year and is committed to doing so the next two summers.

That would make for a busy basketball year in Las Vegas, which is already set to host NBA All-Star weekend in February.

If Puerto Rico wins, the event heads to San Juan for the third straight time. The Puerto Ricans hosted the tournament in 1999 and 2003.

The champion and runner-up will earn spots in Beijing. China, as the host country, has an automatic berth as does Spain, which won the world championships.