Where is March Madness Final Four 2022?
March Madness is upon us as 68 teams compete for college basketball’s top prize tipping off with the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio.
March Madness is underway following the conclusion of Conference Tournament season with 68 teams in the mix to lift the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball title. Of the 68, 32 teams received automatic bids by winning their conference titles while the remainder were decided by the NCAA selection committee via at-large bids. Baylor are the defending champions after beating Gonzaga 84-70 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Baylor and Gonzaga are both number one seeds this year in the East and West Regional respectively, with the latter seeded one overall. Baylor are seeded fourth overall, with South and Midwest top seeds Arizona and Kansas at two and three, respectively.
The First Four round is being staged in Dayton, Ohio, where the eight lowest-seeded teams (four automatic qualifiers and four at-large teams) will duke it out for a place in the main bracket.
The first and second rounds of March Madness 2022 will be staged from 17-20 March at various locations, with the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games taking place from 24-27 March. The venues for the regional semi-finals and finals are: West Regional, Chase Center, San Francisco, California; South Regional, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas; East Regional, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Midwest Regional, United Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Final Four and Championship Game heads back to New Orleans
New Orleans has been selected as the host city for the Final Four, having staged the showpiece games five times previously in 1982, 1987, 1993, 2003 and 2012. Caesars Superdome will welcome the four finalists from 2-4 April, with the NCAA Championship Game to be played on 4 April.
Future Final Four host cities
The venues for the Final Four from 2023 to 2026 have already been decided, with Houston next up to host the Championship Game. From there, the Final Four will move to Phoenix (2024), San Antonio (2025) and Indianapolis (2026).
2022 NCAA March Madness schedule at a glance
First Four: March 15-16
First round: March 17-18
Second round: March 19-20
Sweet 16: March 24-25
Elite Eight: March 26-27
Final Four: April 2
NCAA Championship Game: April 4