Wichita to join Dayton as men’s March Madness opening-round host site

Wichita, Kan., will join Dayton, Ohio, as the second host for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s opening round in 2027 and 2028, the NCAA announced Thursday.

With the tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams, the NCAA required a second location west of the Mississippi River for teams that travel to western first-round sites. Wichita is a centrally located city with a history of hosting NCAA tournament games dating to 1956.

“Like Dayton, Wichita is a basketball-crazed community that we expect will embrace the reimagined start of the tournament,” said Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference and the chair of the Division I men’s basketball committee. “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.”

The opening rounds take place March 16 and 17 and feature the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.

Additionally, the men’s basketball committee will allow schools to play at a site where it is serving as the tournament host. The first- and second-round games in 2027 will take place March 18-21 in Charlotte, N.C., Fort Worth, Texas, Louisville, Ky., Minneapolis, Omaha, Neb., Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Calif. and Spokane, Wash. Regionals are held in Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles, New York City and San Antonio on March 25-28. Detroit hosts the Final Four.