As Selection Sunday draws closer, we're starting to get a better idea of which the top teams will "host" the Second and Third rounds of the NCAA Tournament (although, keep in mind that teams can not play on their home court). For those who are unfamiliar with the process, the Selection Committee will give priority for the top four seeds in each region (or top sixteen teams) to play closest to their campus. For example, it's pretty well known at this point that Duke and Georgetown will likely get placed at the sub-regional site closest to their campus and/or largest alumni base, which is Philadelphia. So if you're a team like, say, Syracuse, hoping to get a top 4 seed and a quick trip to the City of Brotherly Love, you can pretty much forget about it. Let's list the sites that are locked up as of Monday, March 11th:
Philadelphia
Salt Lake City
Auburn Hills
Dayton
Kansas City
Lexington
Important notes:
- Arizona is likely to host in San Jose, but UCLA and Oregon cannot be ruled out.
- There are no potential host teams close to Austin. The lowest remaining 4 seeds will likely get sent either to Austin or San Jose.
- Big South Champion Liberty will almost certainly head to Dayton for a play-in game on Tuesday 3/19 or Wednesday 3/20.