DATE: March 18 & 20, 2016 TIME:  TBD TICKETS: TBD Disabled seating, call 314-622-5420 SEATING: Basketball   Directions   Parking

Scottrade Center has been selected as a site for the first and second round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champonship.



After four straight years of a First Four winner advancing to at least the third round, highlighted by VCU’s trip to the Final Four in 2011 and Sweet 16 appearances by LaSalle in 2013 and Tennessee in 2014, the committee voted last week to rename the opening weekend’s games to first- and second-round games, beginning with the 2016 championship.



“The purpose of referring to those games as the second and third rounds was to sway people to use first round or better yet First Four when referencing the games in Dayton,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president for men’s basketball. “No one in our membership was fond of ‘play-in’ games because of the implication that you had to win those games to make the tournament, which couldn’t be further from the truth. People now understand the First Four is the start of the tournament, so it will continue to be branded as such, and the weekend games will now go back to being the first two rounds.”



The 2016 tournament features two brand new hosts as Brooklyn and Des Moines join Providence, St. Louis, Raleigh, Oklahoma City, Denver and Spokane as first- and second-round sites. The East Regional will be played in Philadelphia, which will be hosting the tournament for the 28th time. The Midwest Regional will take place in Chicago, while the South Regional will be played in Louisville and the West Regional will be held in Anaheim. Houston will host the 2016 Final Four.



“This is a national tournament and the sites selected by the committee being spread out geographically reflect that fact,” said Gavitt. “It’s also worth noting that the dozen regional sites chosen for this bid cycle do not include any domed venues, which emphasizes our commitment to not necessarily using future Final Four venues as regional sites.”