Inside Wichita’s winning bid that beat 7 cities to bring March Madness back
For days, Josh Howell waited for his phone to light up.
The NCAA had indicated an announcement was coming sometime during the week, but not exactly when. Each day brought the same mix of anticipation and uncertainty for the vice president of sports development at Visit Wichita.
“It was like sitting on pins and needles,” Howell said.
Then, about 30 minutes before the rest of the country learned March Madness was coming back to Wichita, the notice finally arrived.
The weeks of anticipation gave way to fist pumps inside the Visit Wichita office.
A bid assembled in less than a month had beaten out seven other finalists and secured Wichita one of the newest roles in the expanded NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Beginning in 2027, Wichita will join Dayton, Ohio as one of two host cities for the tournament’s opening round. INTRUST Bank Arena will stage three games on the Tuesday after Selection Sunday and three more Wednesday as the tournament grows from 68 to 76 teams.
Wichita also will host the opening round in 2028.
“There was a lot of competition for this,” said Brad Pittman, Wichita State’s senior associate athletic director for facilities and operations. “A lot of people wanted this in their communities. But they chose us. So to know the NCAA is trusting us with this event is a huge honor and something our city should be proud of.”
While the paperwork came together in less than a month, the foundation behind it had been built over nearly a decade.
Howell, Pittman and AJ Boleski, regional general manager for INTRUST Bank Arena, have worked together on NCAA bids and events since they successfully restored March Madness in Wichita in 2018.
Years of working together created a clear division of responsibility.
Pittman and Boleski oversee much of what happens inside the arena, including team accommodations, practice schedules, venue operations and NCAA requirements.
Howell and Visit Wichita spearhead much of the work outside the building, from hotels and community events to signage, transportation and police escorts.
That familiarity allowed Wichita to move quickly when the opportunity arrived.
The NCAA officially announced tournament expansion in early May, but the possibility had been discussed for months. Wichita’s group had stayed plugged into those conversations and anticipated another opening round host could be needed.
By the time the opportunity became official, local organizers were prepared to act.
A typical NCAA tournament bid can take three or four months to assemble. Wichita submitted this one in June after completing the process in less than a month.
“It was slightly different, but it was still the same message: this is what we’re built for,” Howell said. “Wichita is a sports city. We’ve proven we can host these events and host them well.”
The speed was possible because Wichita did not begin building relationships when the bid opened.
Howell and Pittman traveled to Indianapolis during the winter for an NCAA bid symposium focused on future championship cycles. While there, they continued reinforcing Wichita’s interest in hosting NCAA basketball.
Local officials stay in regular contact with NCAA representatives and, whenever possible at major industry gatherings and NCAA events, invite them to lunch to reinforce Wichita’s interest and express appreciation for each opportunity the city receives.
After submitting the opening round bid, they followed up with calls and text messages to make sure the NCAA understood how seriously Wichita viewed the event.
“If you’re waiting until the bid is announced to start developing those relationships,” Howell said, “You’re too late.”
No one can quantify how much those conversations affected the final decision.
But Wichita did not want its enthusiasm left to interpretation.
“This wasn’t just another event for us,” Pittman said. “We wanted it here and we wanted them to know how passionate we were about it.”
Wichita also did not rely solely on its previous hosting resume.
The bid included commitments beyond those made in past proposals, including welcome events for all 12 teams assigned to Wichita.
That promise now creates a significant planning challenge.
Unlike a traditional first- and second-round site, where eight teams arrive and four winners remain in the city for another game, Wichita will welcome 12 teams over two days.
Half of those teams will see their NCAA tournament experience end at INTRUST Bank Arena.
“For six teams, this is going to be their whole tournament experience,” Pittman said. “We want to make sure they have the best possible time here.”
Wichita’s pitch combined practical advantages with a proven record.
Its central location could simplify travel for teams that will not learn their destinations until Selection Sunday. The city also offered sufficient hotel capacity, an experienced arena staff and a history of drawing enthusiastic crowds.
Since INTRUST Bank Arena first hosted the men’s tournament in 2018, Wichita has remained a regular part of the NCAA basketball rotation.
The city was selected again for the men’s tournament in 2021 before the COVID-19 pandemic altered the event. Wichita hosted the women’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in 2022, welcomed the men’s first and second rounds back in 2025 and staged the WBIT semifinals and championship at Koch Arena in 2026.
The NCAA rarely gives host cities detailed feedback, Pittman said, so its actions can be more revealing than its words.
The organization has continued returning to Wichita, while teams and athletes routinely have praised the city’s basketball passion, hospitality and ability to stage a well-run event.
“When teams come to Wichita, they feel the love,” Howell said. “They know that Wichita cares about this event and our community does such a good job of welcoming them.”
The atmosphere surrounding previous tournaments also strengthened Wichita’s case.
The 2018 event represented a dream draw when Kansas arrived as a No. 1 seed during St. Patrick’s Day weekend. KU fans packed INTRUST Bank Arena and filled downtown.
But the 2025 tournament may have provided stronger proof of Wichita’s value as a host.
No in-state team was assigned to the site, yet visiting fan bases from Houston, Gonzaga, Texas Tech and Missouri joined Wichita residents in filling the arena and creating another lively atmosphere around downtown.
Wichita had shown it could succeed with the state’s most popular college basketball program in the field — and without it.
The local reaction to Thursday’s announcement offered another example of why Howell believes Wichita fit what the NCAA wanted.
The news immediately became a major story. Local media lined up for interviews and Wichita residents celebrated another national event coming downtown.
In a larger market, Howell said, the announcement might not have generated the same attention.
In Wichita, hosting March Madness matters.
Now comes the challenge of delivering the event on an unusually compressed timeline.
Host cities normally receive years to prepare for NCAA tournaments.
This time, Wichita learned in July that it would host the following March. The NCAA already has started planning for the 2027 tournament, meaning local organizers must quickly join a process already in motion.
The event itself also presents logistical challenges Wichita has not faced during previous NCAA tournaments.
The identities of the 12 participating teams will not be known until Selection Sunday, less than 48 hours before the first games begin.
Some nearby teams could arrive Sunday night.
Hotels, transportation, practice schedules, welcome events and arena operations must be ready before organizers know which schools are coming.
“From a preparation standpoint, one of the hardest things about putting on an event like this is not knowing who’s going to be in it,” Pittman said. “When we find out, there’s a lot of things that have to happen and they happen really, really fast.”
The same group that assembled a winning bid in less than a month now has eight months to prepare for 12 unknown teams, six games and an entirely new tournament format.
“Every hour matters for them,” Pittman said. “So it definitely adds some pressure. We’re going to have to have everything buttoned up beforehand because 12 teams is a lot of teams and a lot of questions and a lot of moving parts. It’s just a lot of things that we haven’t had to deal with in the past.”
Wichita built the winning bid in less than a month.
The reputation that helped win it took nearly a decade.
Now the city has eight months to prove the NCAA made the right choice.
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