March Madness Dates, Locations Officially Announced by NCAA
It was previously announced that the NCAA would conduct its entire March Madness men's basketball tournament in the state of Indiana, with Indianapolis hosting the bulk of the tournament.
But on Tuesday afternoon, the tournament dates and locations for each round have been finalized. Here's how the 2021 Men's Basketball Tournament will break down:
First Four
The four "First Four" games will be played on Thursday, March 18 and split between two venues. Two games will be played at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette (Purdue's campus) and the other two will be at Assembly Hall in Bloomington (Indiana's campus).
First round
The entire first round will take place over two days (March 19 and 20) at six different venues around the state. They include: Mackey Arena, Assembly Hall, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.
Second round
The second round games will take place at the same six previously mentioned venues on March 21 and 22.
Sweet 16
This is where things will change a bit from year's past. There are only two venues for this year's Sweet 16 matchups - Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse. The games will happen on Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28. As usual, the game times will be staggered. Usually the Sweet 16 takes place in four different cities.
Elite Eight
From here on out, all games will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. These four games will be played in primetime slots on Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30.
Final Four
These two games will be played on Saturday, April 3.
National championship
The final game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday, April 5.
Selection Sunday is March 14 after all of the conference tournaments wrap up!
Ohio State is currently ranked No. 15 in the country with a record of 11-3 as they prepare to host Purdue tonight at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes will play warp up the regular season on March 6 before the start of the Big Ten Tournament and hope to clinch a spot in this year's Big Dance after the 2020 tournament was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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