It will be until at least 2022 before the NCAA Tournament returns to normal.
The NCAA said Monday that it plans to hold next year’s entire Division I men’s basketball tournament in one geographic area and has already begun talks with the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis about hosting. Indianapolis was already supposed to host the Final Four.
The NCAA Tournament is typically contested across multiple sites across the country. Next year’s tournament was to take place in Dayton (OH), Boise, Dallas, Detroit, Providence (RI), Lexington (KY), Raleigh, San Jose, Wichita, Denver, Minneapolis, Brooklyn and Memphis, in addition to Indianapolis. Of those cities, only Denver is scheduled to host again in the next three years.
Next year’s NCAA Tournament would be the first in two years after this year’s edition was canceled. Prior to the cancellation, the NCAA had taken steps to adjust the tournament around COVID-19 precautions, including playing in empty arenas. At one point, a reduced 16-team, single-site event was considered.
In other college basketball scheduling news, the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut is slated to host 45 games between November 25 and December 5, including the four-team Empire Classic involving #2 Baylor and #3 Villanova on November 25-26. Each of the games would be televised by ESPN, Fox Sports, or the streaming service Flo Sports.
As has been the practice for any number of sporting events this year, the participating teams will be insulated in a so-called bubble. Organizer Gazelle Group has dubbed the event “Bubbleville.”
No college basketball games have been played since March 12.
[NCAA 11.16, Gazelle Group 11.12]
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