The NCAA is bringing its Division I men's basketball tournament back to North Carolina.
Elsewhere, Dayton will continue to be the host of the First Four, and other dormant tournament sites will be involved for the first time in decades.
The NCAA announced on Tuesday its tournament sites through the year 2022. North Carolina had been stripped of hosting duties this past season, and swapped for Greenville, S.C. in light of House Bill 2. With recent proposed amendments (but not eradication) to North Carolina's laws, the NCAA changed its position. Charlotte will stay on as a regional host in 2018, while Greensboro will host a first-weekend site in 2020 and Raleigh a first-weekend site in 2021.
Dayton being the home of the First Four will continue as well, as expected. It has been such since the inception of the 65-, then 68-team tournament era, dating back to 2001. There have been 117 NCAA Tournament games played at Dayton, the most of any arena in the tournament's history.
In 2019, Columbia, South Carolina will host an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1970. Hartford, Connecticut will get the tournament for the first time in 21 years. The 2022 NCAA Tournament will be different, as San Francisco will host NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 1960. Fort Worth (1970) and Cincinnati (1992) also are in the mix that year for the first time in decades.
The Final Four sites up to 2022 were already decided previously.
Final Four sites thru 2022
2018: San Antonio
2019: Minneapolis
2020: Atlanta
2021: Indianapolis
2022: New Orleans
This November, the NCAA will again begin its bid process for Final Four hosting duties in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Here are the sites for 2019-2022 that were announced on Tuesday.
2019 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
First Four: Dayton
1st/2nd Rounds
Columbia
Hartford
Columbus
Des Moines
Tulsa
Jacksonville
Salt Lake City
Seattle
2019 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
Regionals
Washington, DC
Kansas City
Louisville
Anaheim
Final Four
Minneapolis#NCAAHost
2020 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
First Four: Dayton
1st/2nd Rounds
Albany
Cleveland
St. Louis
Omaha
Greensboro
Tampa
Sacramento
Spokane#NCAAHost
2020 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
Regionals
New York City
Indianapolis
Houston
Los Angeles
Final Four
Atlanta#NCAAHost
2021 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
First Four: Dayton
1st/2nd Rounds
Providence
Detroit
Wichita
Lexington
Dallas
Raleigh
San Jose
Boise#NCAAHost
2021 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
Regionals
Brooklyn
Minneapolis
Denver
Memphis
Final Four
Indianapolis#NCAAHost
2022 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
First Four: Dayton
1st/2nd Rds
Portland
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Buffalo
Cincinnati
Fort Worth
Greenville
San Diego
2022 #MarchMadness sites
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 18, 2017
Regionals
Philadelphia
Chicago
San Antonio
San Francisco
Final Four
New Orleans#NCAAHost
Certain cities that had either never hosted or had gone decades between hosting, have already earned another invitation. Seattle is back in the mix. Seeing San Diego is also a refreshing surprise. Overall, the NCAA will earn criticism for its waffling on the HB2 issue in North Carolina, but when you look across the next six years worth of men's tournaments, the cities selected and the variety (plus the reliable sites that host every 3-4 years) is great.