The NCAA will soon announce which city will join Dayton, Ohio, as the second host site for an expanded opening round of the NCAA Tournament. As the field grows from 68 to 76 in 2027, an additional host city is necessary to accommodate a preliminary set of contests that is growing from four to 12.
There will be six games on Tuesday of the NCAA Tournament’s first week and six games on Wednesday, with Dayton hosting three games each day and the soon-to-be-named city hosting three games each day. Of the 12 games, six will be between at-large teams playing against each other for spots that will fall in the 11-13 seed range in the 64-team bracket.
The other six games will feature the proverbial “little guys” as teams who earned automatic bids from low-major conferences battle for spots on the No. 15 and No. 16 seed lines.
Typically, the NCAA selects host cities years in advance. But because tournament expansion wasn’t finalized until this spring, the process for selecting a second opening round host city is playing out on an accelerated timeline. At this point, cities have submitted their bids and now the NCAA is closing in on making an announcement on who it has selected.
We know the NCAA is looking in the Central, Mountain or Pacific time zones. But sources in Denver and Las Vegas confirmed to me that those cities did not submit bids.
Against that backdrop, our CBS College Basketball writers are picking the cities that they would like to see picked as the second host location for the NCAA Tournament’s expanded opening round.
The Pit in Albuquerque
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.
I love those places.
Of the options under consideration here, the Pit on campus at New Mexico is the closest to one of those things. Albuquerque (and New Mexico for that matter) doesn’t have big-league professional sports, so the opening round of the NCAA Tournament would matter and resonate locally. The Pit seems like a cool place to take this expanded event.
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
The Pit in Albuquerque
Before I get to backing my selection, one thing I’m going to encourage the NCAA to do is to rotate the second site for variety’s sake. We know Dayton is a staple. I’d like to see the other opening round rotate between four or five cities. Hopefully that becomes protocol.
Now, as for ABQ, I’m not the only one advocating for New Mexico’s home venue to get first crack at the expanded opening round (keep scrolling). I think THE key element that has made Dayton a reliable First Four staple was the community’s care and passion, specifically, for college basketball. Dayton is not close to an NBA franchise. It’s in a state that loves high school sports nearly as much as its college teams. It’s got one of the best mid-major brands, which has boosted the city’s affinity for college basketball.
Albuquerque is very similar, albeit much more of an outpost. The venue is iconic, which I think should carry significant weight. It has NCAA Tournament history attached (most notably NC State’s 1983 national championship) and can seat more than 15,000 people, making it larger than UD Arena by nearly 2,000. It would also shine a light on a mid-major arena, in a mid-major conference, on the stage of the NCAA Tournament. — Matt Norlander
Premier Center in Sioux Falls
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. Whether it’s an early-season MTE or the Summit League Tournament, which has been staged annually in Sioux Falls since 2009, you typically only hear great things about the Sioux Falls basketball experience.
It hosted second-weekend NCAA Tournament action on the women’s side in 2016, but it has never hosted men’s NCAA Tournament games. That is why it would be an awesome choice for the opening round. This would be Sioux Falls’ version of hosting a Super Bowl. The city has proven for years that it does college basketball well, and it would roll out the red carpet to ensure an elite experience for NCAA Tournament participants.
Reports of its remoteness are exaggerated. Sioux Falls is an easy drive from places like Minneapolis, Des Moines and Omaha. The perfectly-sized Denny Sanford Premier Center is also literally around the corner from an airport that features direct flights to over a dozen big markets.
We aren’t talking about the Final Four here, but you want a host city that will treat it like one. Sioux Falls would, and it has the track record to back that up. — David Cobb
The Pit in Albuquerque
Dayton is a terrific First Four venue because so many people care about basketball in that neck of the woods. The Pit would provide a similar atmosphere just to the West. It’s a fantastic venue in a state with deep basketball roots and could serve as a glorious stage to kickstart the NCAA Tournament. Plus, we’d get to see clips of guys trying to attempt the iconic Ramp Challenge (98% would fail at it). — Isaac Trotter
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
It was mentioned that Las Vegas didn’t submit a bid to host. If it were up to me, that would be my first choice. Sin City is synonymous with madness. The first regional I covered (2023) was at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was an epic atmosphere. Las Vegas would be the perfect place to host. Las Vegas has already held a regional in the city and will host the Final Four in 2028. Why not bring the opening round to the city, too? There are a few viable arena options you could go with. 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
