The opening round of the expanded NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament will be split between Dayton, Ohio, where those early games traditionally have been played, and Wichita, Kansas, for at least the next two years.
The NCAA said Thursday that both cities would host six games apiece in the enlarged 76-team field.
“Like Dayton, Wichita is a basketball-crazed community that we expect will embrace the reimagined start of the tournament,” Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, the chairman of the NCAA’s Division I men’s basketball committee, said in a released statement.
“Having a city in Middle America will be advantageous for getting teams from various points around the country, many of which won’t be known until Selection Sunday, to the opening round and subsequently first-round sites,” Gill said.
The NCAA approved the expansion of the tournament from 68 teams in May. The first edition of the new-look opening round will take place March 16-17, with Dayton and Wichita hosting a tripleheader each day. Those games will feature the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.