No March Madness coming to Wichita in 2021: NCAA announces plans to play at one site
Wichita will have to wait until 2025 for its next taste of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee announced plans on Monday to shift from 13 predetermined preliminary-round sites for the 2021 NCAA Tournament to all games being played in one metropolitan area.
That means Wichita, as well as 12 other host sites, will not host March Madness games in the spring. Wichita is scheduled to host the regional rounds in the 2022 women’s basketball NCAA tournament and also the opening rounds of the 2025 men’s basketball NCAA tournament at Intrust Bank Arena.
“While we are disappointed to not be hosting NCAA Division I men’s basketball in Wichita in 2021, we understand the primary focus is safety and the well-being of the athletes, those associated with the NCAA and our community,” VIsit Wichita CEO Susie Santo said in a statement. “We look forward to 2022 when we are set to host Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Regional Rounds, 2025 for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds, and any other opportunity we have to host an NCAA competition.”
“Obviously we’re disappointed because these events are marquee events that you’re excited to have in your city and your community,” said Brad Pittman, an associate athletic director at Wichita State who leads Wichita’s bid for NCAA Tournaments. “They take a lot of work and a lot of effort, but with the trajectory everything is on right now you understand why the decision had to be made.”
The changes were made to March Madness in order to “enhance the safety and well-being of the event” during the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the NCAA to cancel the 2020 NCAA Tournament altogether last March.
According to the NCAA’s official release, the NCAA is in preliminary talks with Indianapolis to potentially host the 68-team tournament around its metropolitan area during March and April. Indianapolis was already scheduled to host the Final Four from April 3-5, 2021.
“We have learned so much from monitoring other successful sporting events in the last several months, and it became clear it’s not feasible to manage this complex championship in so many different states with the challenges presented by the pandemic,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball. “However, we are developing a solid plan to present a safe, responsible and fantastic March Madness tournament unlike any other we’ve experienced.”
Of the 13 host sites who lost out on the chance to host this spring, the NCAA has already made a commitment to return to all but two of those cities by 2026. But according to an NCAA spokesperson, that is unrelated to the host sites losing out on their 2021 bids.
So could Wichita potentially receive special consideration from the NCAA in approximately three years during the next bid cycle to select host sites for 2027 and the years beyond?
“It’s possible, though not guaranteed, that the NCAA could give consideration to what’s happened this year,” an NCAA spokesperson said.
In the NCAA’s official statement on Monday, Mitch Barnhart, the chair of the Division I men’s basketball committee and athletic director at Kentucky, said “we look forward to bringing the tournament back to the impacted sites in future years.”
“My committee colleagues and I did not come lightly to the difficult decision to relocate the preliminary rounds of the 2021 tournament, as we understand the disappointment 13 communities will feel to miss out on being part of March Madness next year,” Barnhart said.
“With the University of Kentucky slated to host first- and second-round games in March, this is something that directly impacts our school and community, so we certainly share in their regret.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 11:54 AM.
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