FanPost

Discussing the NCAA 2019-2022 Men's Basketball Tournament Sites

Hello, college basketball fans!

It's probably a slow day in the sports world but today (April 18, 2017) the NCAA announced all of its men's basketball tournament sites until 2022. I previously suggested sites a little over a year ago. Let's see if the NCAA listened. Chris Dobbertean of Blogging The Bracket posted recent site history.

First off, the NCAA announced New Orleans as the site of the 2022 Final Four. I had proposed it being in the eventual Los Angeles Rams' new arena.

Now to the regionals or the highest level a city without a retractable roof stadium can strive for.

My list:

2019: Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Oklahoma City, OK, Denver, CO

2020: Brooklyn, NY, Columbus, OH, Orlando, FL, Portland, OR

2021: Pittsburgh, PA, St. Louis, MO, Nashville, TN, Phoenix, AZ

2022: Charlotte, NC, Minneapolis, MN, Tampa, FL, San Antonio, TX

The actual list:

2019: Washington, DC, Louisville, KY, Kansas City, MO, Anaheim, CA

2020: New York, NY, Indianapolis, IN, Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA

2021: Brooklyn, NY, Memphis, TN, Minneapolis, MN, Denver, CO

2022: Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL, San Antonio, TX, San Francisco, CA

I am happy my hometown Philly made the list even though I didn't have them hosting a regional when I wrote this. I had three different western states hosting regionals with none in California (the 2022 Final Four was meant to be in place of having a regional in California). But the NCAA gave three of the four regionals to California, two back to back in the Los Angeles area. The Staples Center hosted regionals in 2013 and 2015 while the Honda Center in Anaheim hosted regionals in 2014 and 2016. This year, San Jose broke up the LA monopoly but next year it's going back to the Staples Center. So that means Los Angeles will host regional action seven of eight years between 2013 and 2020. I am happy Denver made the cut in 2021. I didn't pick the new Warriors' arena for regional action because I think they should host an opening weekend before hosting a regional.

I had Brooklyn hosting a regional (its first ever) but not Madison Square Garden, who will host their third regional since 2014. It's not as bad as Los Angeles but it seems repetitive for four regionals in the New York area in eight years.

On the other hand, the state of North Carolina, home to two of the most successful basketball programs (North Carolina, 2017 National Champions, and Duke, 2015 National Champions), hasn't hosted a regional since 2008 when Charlotte hosted. Raleigh has never hosted a regional. Since then, it's been or will be Boston (2009, 2012, 2018), New York MSG (2014, 2017, 2020), Newark (2011), Philadelphia (2016, 2022), Syracuse (2010, 2015), Washington (2013, 2019). That's 14 years in a row at a northeastern site. Also, Florida was shut out of regional play for this cycle. No Florida city has hosted a regional since 2000. Texas gets two regionals in the next four years, Houston in 2020 and San Antonio in 2022. Nashville hasn't hosted a regional since 2000 but Memphis hosted three times since 2009 and will host again in 2021.

Finally, the 2019-22 Opening Weekend:

2019: Hartford, CT, Jacksonville, FL, Des Moines, IA, Salt Lake City, UT; Columbia, SC, Columbus, OH, Tulsa, OK, Seattle, WA

2020: Albany, NY, Tampa, FL, St. Louis, MO, Spokane, WA; Greensboro, NC, Cleveland, OH, Omaha, NE, Sacramento, CA

2021: Providence, RI, Detroit, MI, Dallas, TX, Boise, ID; Raleigh, NC, Lexington, KY, Wichita, KS, San Jose, CA

2022: Buffalo, NY, Cincinnati, OH, Ft. Worth, TX, Portland, OR, Pittsburgh, PA, Greenville, SC, Milwaukee, WI, San Diego, CA

Sites I chose but the NCAA didn't: Lincoln, NE, Las Vegas, NV/Albuquerque, NM, Fresno, CA, Syracuse, NY, Charlottesville, VA, Madison, WI, College Park, MD (essentially Washington, DC, which was chosen), Charlotte, NC, Orlando, FL, Nashville, TN, Oklahoma City, OK. I was guessing they finally would choose Las Vegas and they didn't. Charlottesville and Fresno were long shots. I think Lincoln (Pinnacle Bank Arena) probably should have been chosen. I am surprised that Charlotte, Orlando, Nashville, and Oklahoma City weren't chosen (even though I chose them all for regionals).

Sites the NCAA chose but I didn't: Jacksonville, FL, Albany, NY, Spokane, WA, Greensboro, NC, Providence, RI, Boise, ID, Wichita, KS, Buffalo, NY, Ft. Worth, TX, Greenville, SC,Milwaukee,WI

I had said Boise and Spokane don't deserve to host and the NCAA didn't listen ... again. Spokane will host its sixth NCAA Tournament since 2000 while Boise its fifth. I don't see why Las Vegas doesn't get to host while Spokane and Boise do. No one outside the west wants to go out west but I'm sure they'd rather go to Vegas than Spokane or Boise.

Albany essentially took Syracuse's spot which I don't think is bad since Syracuse has hosted a lot and Albany hasn't hosted since 2003. Wichita will host the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 in 2018 and will host again in 2021. I would've seen if Wichita can make a good site before letting them host again, especially with Lincoln on deck. I'm not in favor of Providence and Buffalo either. I had mentioned that I would've replaced Charlottesville with Greensboro. Jacksonville essentially took Orlando's spot. Florida only gets to host two times between 2019-2022 (and don't host in 2018 either). I didn't have Lexington but I had Louisville in 2020 and 2022 and since I said no arena gets to host twice in a three year span I'm guessing one was meant for Lexington. The NCAA must have liked Greenville last year even though South Carolina upset Duke because of home court advantage which hurt the tournament's popularity. I'm thinking Greenville took Charlotte's spot. I had Madison instead of Milwaukee (forgot about Milwaukee's new arena).

I give credit to the NCAA for choosing Hartford (XL Center) and Cincinnati (US Bank Arena) (the NCAA had mentioned the two cities haven't hosted in a while). Of the arenas that I chose to host for the first time, the NCAA chose Columbia, SC (Colonial Life Arena) and San Francisco (Chase Center). At least South Carolina can't go to Columbia.

I'll eventually write a list for the next cycle. Hopefully the NCAA will come to its senses about Las Vegas (and Boise/Spokane).

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