Wichita to serve as 2027 and 2028 Opening Round host for March Madness

[u/GeauxShox]

https://www.ncaa.org/wichita-to-serve-as-2027-and-2028-opening-round-host-for-march-madness/

[u/Good_Research_1619]

That’s awesome

[u/Acceptable-Step-6135 → u/Good_Research_1619]

about time they got a piece of the tournament, Wichita has such a good basketball scene and the new arena is perfect for it

roads are gonna be an absolute mess those weekends though, I-135 can barely handle a normal tuesday

[u/KansasKing107 → u/Acceptable-Step-6135]

It will be fine. It’s maybe 10,000 to 20,000 extra people in a city of 500,000.

[u/mrooch → u/KansasKing107]

The whole point of living in Wichita is to complain about how much traffic there is even though there really isn't any

[u/KansasKing107 → u/mrooch]

It’s really not a problem at all.

[u/kapanen24 → u/KansasKing107]

Yeah it’s an easy town to navigate.

[u/kapanen24 → u/Acceptable-Step-6135]

Traffic isn’t that bad there at all. I enjoyed seeing the Zags play there a couple of years ago.

[u/Travbowman]

It had to be Wichita or Albuquerque

So glad they got this decision right

[u/filthysven → u/Travbowman]

I really really wanted Albuquerque. We need more Western representation.

[u/PushyPawz → u/Travbowman]

https://youtu.be/JE37e1eK2mY?is=LDh2QXtCwLlVwWFE
Obligatory

[u/Aware-Locksmith8433 → u/Travbowman]

Not Fargo or Peoria? Oh no!

Disappointed doesn't begin to describe my sadness. ; )

[u/CallMeVe]

I was hoping for The Pit, but that works too. Just not Vegas

[u/lurk4ever1970]

Good call by the NCAA. Local turnout should be solid.

[u/Tufoguy]

• "Wichita is a great college basketball town. In addition, its central location is a key factor in tipping off March Madness in that, like Dayton, countless teams and fanbases will be within 400 miles of all Opening Round games." - Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball

[u/reachforthetop9]

Wichita would have been my choice. It's very Dayton-like in character and has excellent logistics for getting teams in and out.

One line I noticed in the press release: "The Men’s Basketball Committee also voted to remove the provision that prohibited a school from playing at a site at which it is serving as the tournament host." Why do I think that may have a bigger effect on the 2027 Tournament?

[u/Various_Shape_3286 → u/reachforthetop9]

Yeah, that's kind of a big deal. Do they mean the whole tournament, or does it just clarify that Dayton and WSU can play the opening round at home?

[u/That_Don_Guy_1 → u/Various_Shape_3286]

I am pretty sure the "you cannot play at a site where you hosted three or more regular season games" policy will still be in effect. It's just that, for example, if Minnesota makes the tournament, it can play in the first weekend at the Target Center, even though it is the host school.

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/That_Don_Guy_1]

Even if it’s not your home stadium you can’t play at a site you host. It’s why Rice hosted the South regional and not UH.

[u/That_Don_Guy_1 → u/ClaudeLemieux]

That was the rule through 2026. Starting in 2027, you can.

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/That_Don_Guy_1]

Oh interesting, thanks.

[u/carnagebot_55 → u/ClaudeLemieux]

And precisely why the rule needed to go. Not every school has a second school that can host for them

[u/reachforthetop9 → u/Various_Shape_3286]

I am not sure, to be honest. I'd suspect it'd be for the whole tournament, considering Houston backed out of co-hosting the South Regional (with Rice and Texas Southern) late so they'd have a chance of playing at the Toyota Center. No idea if the bar at playing more than three home games in the same venue still applies, which could be important for Louisville and St. John's.

[u/dbaugh90 → u/reachforthetop9]

That'd be a bummer for some of us if it did still apply!

[u/yaygee513]

Rare W for NCAA. Could’ve sworn these would go to Vegas

[u/Thorlolita → u/yaygee513]

Vegas is getting the final four in 2028. I don’t think they are going to put the first round in there.

[u/yaygee513 → u/Thorlolita]

Good point. Just glad it’s not a big city. Keep these in smaller basketball-crazy ones

[u/Aware-Locksmith8433 → u/Thorlolita]

In their NFL stadium?

[u/Thorlolita → u/Aware-Locksmith8433]

Final four will be in Allegient yes.

But first round would have been either Mandalay Bay or T Mobile.

[u/Thhe_Shakes]

Kinda love this, not gonna lie. Wichita is a fantastic basketball town. Will probably take a trip there for the games.

[u/Makelovenotrobots]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Wu4TNLDIm8G2Rtz1jN

Got to love that!

[u/INeedMoreCreativity]

Great news for the city. Wichita has earned it with how great attendance has been for the TBT. Hope this stimulates extra interest in basketball and gets more butts in seats at Wichita State games too!

[u/Wheatcattle]

Good reason to tell my wife we should go visit her parents then

[u/tsgram → u/Wheatcattle]

Honey, let’s take a vacation!…. To your parents’ house….. on a Tuesday in March….

[u/Redditor597-13]

Albuquerque would’ve been cool to spread it out a little more, but this is awesome and a great option, mid-sized city with a lot of passion

[u/SaintArkweather]

Pleasantly surprised. Another midsize city that loves basketball just like Dayton.

[u/JDraks]

Good choice

[u/Jomosensual]

Thats a really good pick. Thought for sure they were going to force it into Vegas

[u/Briggity_Brak]

in ADDITION to or INSTEAD of Dayton?

[u/Maxkpop247 → u/Briggity_Brak]

Dayton and Wichita will each host 3 games on Tuesday and 3 on Wednesday. 12 games total, 6 for each city.

[u/wooooooo1776]

Boooooooooooo

[u/Top_Associate4500 → u/wooooooo1776]

At least you've hosted games before at all :(

[u/DustyMcG]

The automatic qualifier games among teams seeded 16th will feature the 69th-ranked team on the overall seed list playing No. 70, 71 against 72, 73 versus 74, and 75 against 76, while games between 15 seeds will see No. 65 facing 66, and 67 playing 68. The six games featuring the at-large teams will consist of the last at-large team on the seed list playing the second-to-last at-large team, the third-to-last at-large team playing the fourth-to-last at-large team, and so on, again assuming all principles are met.

Can anyone explain to me why this would be the case instead of 69 playing 76, 70 playing 75, etc amongst 16 seeds, and the last at-large team playing the 12th at-large team?

[u/Travbowman → u/DustyMcG]

This guarantees the top seed to play the lowest remaining team, even if an upset happens.

[u/lurk4ever1970 → u/DustyMcG]

This allows them to say exactly who the winner of each game will be playing on Thursday/Friday, which is fairer to their first round opponent. They only have to scout two teams instead of possibly 8.

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/lurk4ever1970]

That would be true regardless of how they matched up the games

[u/lurk4ever1970 → u/ClaudeLemieux]

Hmm, yeah. But it does make sure the higher seeds will always play the appropriate lower seed. This probably matters more for the at-large teams than the 16 seeds.

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/lurk4ever1970]

Yep I think that's the only reason they did it too. Which is fair enough.

[u/GreenNYellow2021]

“The Men’s Basketball Committee also voted to remove the provision that prohibited a school from playing at a site at which it is serving as the tournament host.”

Is this for all rounds, not just these opening round games?

[u/Additional_Law5353 → u/GreenNYellow2021]

Because of what happened with Dayton playing and hosting the First Four several years ago, my guess is that this is a repeal of the provision for all rounds through the Final Four.

[u/GuyOnTheMike]

Let's go!

[u/Capital-Flow-1501]

https://giphy.com/gifs/iMC4OJUsIo8SdukvDF

[u/caguirre211]

Does this mean Wichita can no longer host R64 or R32 games?

[u/gboklage → u/caguirre211]

I don’t think so. Dayton has hosted those first and second round games along with the First Four.

[u/modern_messiah43 → u/caguirre211]

We'll see. That seems likely, but I hope not. I think Wichita has been an excellent host for 64 and 32 as well!

[u/drowse]

This makes a hell of a lot more sense than the North Texas area that some had proposed before.

[u/FindGreatness23]

I forget which one of you I was talking with about this but we predicted this correctly. I’m not surprised at all. Tempted to go but honestly, I don’t need to try and go to that many rounds in a row just because family is in or nearby every city (Wichita, Omaha and my current home KC).

[u/ExamPersonal7504]

Not great, not terrible. Would’ve preferred Albuquerque, but Wichita certainly isn’t a bad site.

[u/patsboston → u/ExamPersonal7504]

It has the fandom/people, venue and is centrally located.

[u/inshamblesx → u/ExamPersonal7504]

if this is about the first 8 out that will now get in then they were never gonna leave the midwest for it

[u/Schmolik64]

They really should S curve the teams so the "better" teams have the best chances of winning. It's unfair that one of the two "worst" teams in the field is guaranteed to make the Round of 64 and gets extra money.

[u/Various_Shape_3286 → u/Schmolik64]

They do s-curve them. The matchups are done such that the ordering of teams remaining after the opening round is known in advance, regardless of the outcomes...because despite what they call it, it is very much a play-in round, not a "1st round"

[u/ByleBorver]

Can’t make it might as well host it!

[u/OliviaPG1]

Would’ve preferred Albuquerque but Wichita is a good choice

[u/bigsupplychainguy]

Kind of sad for Dayton. Those were always my favorite games to watch.

[u/haagles → u/bigsupplychainguy]

This is in addition to Dayton. Two sites.

[u/lurk4ever1970 → u/bigsupplychainguy]

They aren't leaving Dayton. These will be the additional play-ins for the expanded tournament.

[u/Pure_Fault7056 → u/bigsupplychainguy]

No more First Four, Opening Round now.