The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is getting bigger. And starting in 2027, it’s getting a second opening round host city.
Wichita, Kansas, will join Dayton, Ohio, as a host site for the newly expanded opening round — a two-day, 12-game event that replaces what used to be the First Four. The move follows a unanimous vote in May 2026 to expand the field from 68 teams to 76.
Under the new setup, both Wichita and Dayton will host three games apiece on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday. That’s March 16 and 17 for the 2027 tournament. Games in Wichita will be played at Intrust Bank Arena.
Why Wichita?
The NCAA’s Division I Men’s Basketball Committee chair Keith Gill made the case pretty directly.
“Like Dayton, Wichita is a basketball-crazed community that we expect will embrace the reimagined start of the tournament,” Gill said in a statement.
But there’s a logistical angle too. Wichita sits in the middle of the country, and that matters. Gill noted that having a host site in “Middle America” makes it easier to get teams from different regions without forcing someone to fly coast-to-coast just for a Tuesday play-in game. It shortens travel for the lower-seeded teams that tend to populate the opening round.
Other cities reportedly wanted the gig, but Wichita got the nod as a neutral site.
The New Format, Explained
The shift to 76 teams is the biggest change to the tournament bracket since 2011, when the field jumped to 68 teams with the First Four. Before that, the tournament had 65 teams and one play-in game starting in 2005.
Now, instead of four play-in games, the opening round will feature six games each day. That’s 12 total matchups over two days. The winners advance to the main bracket of 64 teams, which plays out just like the tournament always has — just with a slightly different path to get there.
Dayton has hosted the tournament’s opening games since 2001, and that isn’t changing. The city will still get its share of the action. But for the first time in over two decades, it won’t be the only place where March Madness starts.
The NCAA has not yet announced how the 12 opening round matchups will be assigned between the two sites. But the committee said more details on team selection and bracketing for the new format will be released closer to 2027.
Wichita’s basketball history is real. Wichita State made a Final Four run in 2013, and the city has hosted NCAA tournament games before. But this is the first time it’ll be the stage for the very start of March Madness.
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