Wichita to Host Opening Round Games for Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament

March Madness is coming to Wichita.

The NCAA announced last week that the expanded Opening Round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament for both 2027 and 2028 will be held in Wichita, Kansas, at INTRUST Bank Arena. Next year’s tournament will be the first of the 76-team field, up from 68 teams, and Wichita will join longtime host Dayton, Ohio, in holding games on the first two days of the Big Dance.

Three games will be hosted by Wichita State University and played at INTRUST Bank Arena on March 16—17, 2027, and March 14—15, 2028. Visit Wichita, Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita will serve as partners in the effort to bring the men’s tournament to a city and arena that hosted games in 2018 and 2025.

Wichita was selected from among a group of several cities that had expressed interest in hosting, though those cities were not identified publicly. The Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee approved the selection recommendation from the Men’s Basketball Committee.

“We are honored that the NCAA has once again entrusted Wichita with hosting the Opening Round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship in both 2027 and 2028,” said Wichita State Director of Athletics Kevin Saal. “Wichita and Wichita State basketball has long been recognized as one of the nation’s premier basketball cities and programs, and we’re grateful to the NCAA, Visit Wichita, the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County, INTRUST Bank Arena and everyone whose partnership made this possible. Beyond this collaboration, this selection will have a significant economic impact to the city, county and state. These events provide an incredible opportunity to showcase our community’s passion for the game, create a first-class experience for participating student-athletes and fans, and welcome the country to a city that truly embraces March basketball.”

The Opening Round will feature the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams. The NCAA utilizes a number of bracketing principles in slotting the field, and if all principles are met, the AQ games involving the No. 16 seeds in each region will feature the No. 69 overall team in the field against No. 70, No. 71 against No. 72, No. 73 against No. 74 and No. 75 against No. 76. Among the No. 15 seeds would see No. 65 overall against No. 66 and No. 67 against No. 68.

Similarly for the last at-large teams, the final at-large team in the field will play the second-to-last at-large team and so on. Travel considerations for teams to the Opening Round and first-round sites could impact how teams are slotted on the seed line.

“Wichita is a great college basketball town,” said NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt. “In addition, its central location is a key factor in tipping off March Madness in that, like Dayton, countless teams and fanbases will be within 400 miles of all Opening Round games.”

Like its new Opening Round counterpart, the Dayton Flyers, the Wichita State Shockers have a passionate fan base and a respectable history. The Shockers, which play in the American Conference, reached the 2013 Final Four as a No. 8 seed and entered the 2014 tournament as a No. 1 seed with an undefeated record before losing in the second round. They made seven straight NCAA tournaments from 2012 through 2018 but have been just once since then. Among the NBA standouts the school has produced is veteran guard Fred VanVleet of the Houston Rockets.
Wichita was named Best Sports City Host City at the 2025 SportsTravel Awards. Among the events it is hosting this year is the USA Badminton’s YONEX Junior Championships, which was taking place when the NCAA’s announcement was made.

The NCAA Division I women’s tournament is also expanding to 76 teams, but those opening round games will take place on campus, just as the first- and second-round games do.