NCAA Selects Wichita as Opening-Round Site for 2027 Men’s Tournament

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced that Wichita, Kansas, will join Dayton, Ohio, as a host site for the opening round of the 2027 men’s NCAA Tournament. This decision comes after a competitive bid process, with Wichita beating out seven other finalists, including Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Des Moines, Iowa.

The games will be held at InTrust Bank Arena, a downtown venue with a seating capacity of up to 15,004 people. This is approximately 5,000 more than Wichita State’s on-campus gym, Koch Arena. The selection committee cited Wichita’s geographically central location, hotel capacity, and passionate local fan base as major selling points.

Dayton has hosted all pre-field-of-64 games on the men’s side since 2001 due to its arena’s size, location, and dedicated fan base. The vision for Wichita is to be just as reliable in the next two years as the tournament’s format expands to include games in the late afternoon instead of solely primetime viewing.

The two sites will both host automatic qualifiers (No. 16 and No. 15 seeds) and at-large candidates (the final eight at-large teams selected to the field). The NCAA’s Wins Above Bubble (WAB) metric will be recalibrated to reflect the expanded field, with the average bubble team dropping in the hierarchy of teams competing for bids.

The selection committee also voted to remove the provision that prohibited a school from playing at a site at which it is serving as the tournament host. West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson was elevated to vice chair for the 2026-27 season, meaning he will be the chair of the men’s NCAA Tournament for 2027-28.

The NCAA approved expansion of the men’s and women’s tournament from 68 to 76 teams in early May. The men’s tournament had been at 68 teams since the 2010-11 season, and expansion had been extensively explored over the last four years.

The bid process was competitive, with several finalists putting on a big push in recent weeks for the chance to host the NCAA Tournament. However, Wichita’s proximity and location in the Central Time Zone were ultimately critical factors in its selection.

As a secondary consideration, the committee will weigh moving opening round teams along the same seed line to optimize their travel to opening round and first-round sites. The men’s basketball committee also voted to remove the provision that prohibited a school from playing at a site at which it is serving as the tournament host.

The selection committee’s decision is a significant development for the NCAA Tournament, which will feature 12 opening-round games split between two sites on the men’s side next year. The expanded field will provide more opportunities for teams to compete and advance to the later rounds of the tournament.