NCAA to Add Second Opening-Round Host City for 2027 Tournament Expansion

The men's NCAA tournament will expand to 76 teams in 2027, raising the opening round from four to twelve games. Six contests will be played Tuesday and six Wednesday, with Dayton, Ohio—home of the First Four since 2011—and a second city each hosting three games. The added games decide 11-13 seeds for at-large teams and 15-16 seeds for automatic qualifiers.

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Bids from the Central, Mountain and Pacific zones include Albuquerque’s Pit (15,000+ seats), Sioux Falls’ Denny Sanford Premier Center (a neutral-site arena), and Las Vegas (its teams did not submit a bid; venues mentioned are T-Mobile Arena and Thomas & Mack Center).

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The NCAA said it will announce the second-site winner soon, selecting from bids in the Central, Mountain or Pacific zones.

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Commentators differ: some push rotating the second site to showcase mid-major arenas like the Pit; others favor larger markets such as Las Vegas despite no bid; a third group stresses community passion, citing Dayton’s strong support.

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Sources say Denver and Las Vegas did not file bids, yet commentary still promotes Las Vegas, creating a gap between bid status and advocacy. The NCAA has not disclosed its evaluation criteria, leaving the process opaque.

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The NCAA is expected to announce the second opening-round host city within weeks, setting the stage for the 2027 tournament.

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• "Simply put, the NBA just announced that it will highlight and celebrate one of college basketball's historic venues by taking the championship game of the NBA Cup to Hinkle Fieldhouse. This is college basketball's opportunity to do the same for that beautiful playing surface situated 37 feet below street level, and the sport would be wise to do it." — Gary Parrish

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• "Premier Center in Sioux Falls has quietly established itself as an elite location for neutral-site college basketball and has earned the right to put that reputation on the national stage." — David Cobb

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• "You could play games at T-Mobile — where NCAA Tournament games were held before — or another option would be playing games at Thomas & Mack Center, where the Las Vegas Summer League is held every year. I would lean towards the latter because of the nostalgia. Sin City would be perfect to kick off the Big Dance." — Cameron Salerno

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• "One of my favorite things about college basketball is how so many of the venues are special and unique places filled with history. In professional sports, we usually turn such arenas into parking lots. But in college, we tend to keep them. They're upgraded from time to time, sure. But the Palestra is still the Palestra, Allen Fieldhouse is still Allen Fieldhouse and Cameron Indoor is still Cameron Indoor." — CBS College Basketball writer

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