The NCAA announced Tuesday that the men's basketball tournament should be held in one geographic area as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee determined playing the tournament at 13 preliminary sites across the country would be very difficult amid the pandemic, according to the NCAA website. The NCAA is in preliminary talks with the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis to host the 68-team tournament around the metropolitan area of Indianapolis during March and April.
“We have learned so much from monitoring other successful sporting events in the last several months, and it became clear it’s not feasible to manage this complex championship in so many different states with the challenges presented by the pandemic,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, in the NCAA press release.
The city of Indianapolis was already set to host the 2021 Men's Final Four from April 3-5.
