Tournament Expanding to 76 Teams

[Uncle Rico]

The NEC, OVC, MEAC, A-Sun, etc., will gladly take a "watered down" share.

For now.  Next deal, they'll get far less until they're just cut out completely

[MU82]

For those who thought Dayton was a little too exotic a location for opening-round NCAA tourney games ...

Wichita has been selected to host the 2027 and 2028 Opening Round alongside Dayton for March Madness

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

[Nukem2]

For those who thought Dayton was a little too exotic a location for opening-round NCAA tourney games ...

Wichita has been selected to host the 2027 and 2028 Opening Round alongside Dayton for March Madness

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

Hey, it the Land of Oz!!   

[Billy Hoyle]

Hey, it the Land of Oz!!   

The Yellow Brick Road to the Final Four

[MU82]

Seriously, would have made more sense to pick a city in the Pacific time zone for TV purposes.

Also might have been nice to have at least one of the opening-round sites be in a place with a real airport.

I know ... kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

[JakeBarnes]

For those who thought Dayton was a little too exotic a location for opening-round NCAA tourney games ...

Wichita has been selected to host the 2027 and 2028 Opening Round alongside Dayton for March Madness

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

Shocker.

[The Sultan]

Seriously, would have made more sense to pick a city in the Pacific time zone for TV purposes.

Also might have been nice to have at least one of the opening-round sites be in a place with a real airport.

I know ... kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

They put it where it is easy logistically to send teams to their first round sites, where the locals would likely come out to watch, and where everything is pretty inexpensive. I'm sure between Dayton and Wichita they will stagger the game times to have one start at 9:30 pm Central or something similar.

[wadesworld]

They're putting it in cities with not much else to do that are passionate college basketball fanbases, with medium sized arenas.  Makes sense to me.  You want fans in your marquee events, so you put it somewhere that fans will show up even if their own team isn't playing in it.

[muwarrior69]

Seriously, would have made more sense to pick a city in the Pacific time zone for TV purposes.

Also might have been nice to have at least one of the opening-round sites be in a place with a real airport.

I know ... kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

They should have expanded to 80. Each Pod would have one play-in game and the winner would advance to the field of 64 in the same pod. That way there is no travel for the winner and they would select the Pod cities like they always do.

[Billy Hoyle]

Seriously, would have made more sense to pick a city in the Pacific time zone for TV purposes.

Also might have been nice to have at least one of the opening-round sites be in a place with a real airport.

I know ... kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

Since the NCAA charters flights for teams I'm not sure airports are a real issue. Hell, they send teams to Spokane, Boise, Greenville, and it works out just fine.

[We R Final Four]

Jack Straw's from Wichita.

[Nukem2]

Since the NCAA charters flights for teams I'm not sure airports are a real issue. Hell, they send teams to Spokane, Boise, Greenville, and it works out just fine.

Think MU82 was speaking from a fan perspective. Dayton and Wichita are not exactly destination sites.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Now we just need a catchy name to replace the First Four.

Terrible 12?  Spirit of 76?  Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money?

[JakeBarnes]

Now we just need a catchy name to replace the First Four.

Terrible 12?  Spirit of 76?  Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money?

Expand it to 13. make the low majors play 3 way Slamball to move on

[tower912]

Have Cotton McKnight and Pepper Brooks announce the game on the Ocho.

[Nukem2]

Now we just need a catchy name to replace the First Four.

Terrible 12?  Spirit of 76?  Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money?

Yeah, something better than just 'opening round'.

[JakeBarnes]

Yeah, something better than just 'opening round'.

The Round of Sweet, sweet network cash

[Scoop Snoop]

Now we just need a catchy name to replace the First Four.

Terrible 12?  Spirit of 76?  Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money?

Steal the name from an old movie -

The Dirty Dozen

[Hards Alumni]

Now we just need a catchy name to replace the First Four.

Terrible 12?  Spirit of 76?  Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money?

Fallout 76

[Galway Eagle]

For those who thought Dayton was a little too exotic a location for opening-round NCAA tourney games ...

Wichita has been selected to host the 2027 and 2028 Opening Round alongside Dayton for March Madness

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

During the selection they should play the one line from 7 Nation Army where they say "I'm going to Wichita"

[MU82]

Think MU82 was speaking from a fan perspective. Dayton and Wichita are not exactly destination sites.

Yes.

But Billy and others make valid points about Wichita.

[Billy Hoyle]

Think MU82 was speaking from a fan perspective. Dayton and Wichita are not exactly destination sites.

I don't think that matters since the turnaround time is so short that those games don't see as many people traveling for them. The biggest factor was local and regional fan support.