Wichita State University will serve as host in partnership with Visit Wichita, Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita. The selection follows the NCAA’s decision in May to expand the tournament field from 68 to 76 teams, a change tied to how opening-round hosting will be distributed. Wichita’s previous tournament experience includes earlier hosting at Levitt Arena (1956), Kansas Coliseum (1994), and at INTRUST Bank Arena in 2018 and 2025.
The 2027 Opening Round is scheduled for March 16 and 17, featuring 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams, with matchups structured by seed numbers among both automatic and at-large games (subject to tournament principles being met). INTRUST Bank Arena will be the venue for the Opening Round the next two years, and Wichita’s partners said the selection is expected to have a significant economic impact to the city, county and state.