NCAA Tournament sites for 2019-22 announced

The NCAA has announced its preliminary round sites for the 2019-22 NCAA Tournaments, and that includes a return to hosting games in North Carolina.

The NCAA pulled its championship events out of North Carolina last year after the state passed the controversial HB2 law, better known as the “bathroom bill.” North Carolina has since repealed the bill, but has replaced it with HB142, which critics find equally discriminatory.

Nevertheless, it was enough for the NCAA to return its signature event to the state where it is most popular. Greensboro will host the first and second rounds in 2020 and Raleigh will do the same in 2021.

Outside of the Tar Heel state, Greenville, South Carolina earned another chance to host the first two rounds after a successful bid in 2017. The tournament will also return Hartford for the first time in 1998.

Future regional semifinal and final sites are almost all experienced with hosting the event. The exceptions are Brooklyn, which has hosted the first two rounds but never a regional final, and San Francisco, which has not hosted since 1960.

As expected, the First Four will stay in Dayton until at least 2022.

The complete list of announced sites can be found below:

2019:

First/Second Rounds:

Columbus, OH (Ohio State host)
Jacksonville, FL (Jacksonville host)
Columbia, SC (South Carolina host)
Salt Lake City, UT (Utah host)
Tulsa, OK (Tulsa host)
Des Moines, IA (Drake host)
Seattle, WA (Washington host)
Hartford, CT (UConn host)

Regionals:

East: Washington, DC
South: Louisville, KY
Midwest: Kansas City, MO
West: Anaheim, CA

2020:

First/Second Rounds:

Spokane, WA (Idaho host)
St. Louis, MO (Missouri Valley Conference host)
Tampa, FL (USF host)
Albany, NY (MAAC host)
Sacramento, CA (Sacramento State host)
Omaha, NE (Creighton host)
Cleveland, OH (MAC host)
Greensboro, NC (ACC host)

Regionals:

East: New York
Midwest: Indianapolis
South: Houston
West: Los Angeles

2021:

First/Second Rounds:

Dallas, TX (Big 12 host)
Detroit, MI (Detroit Mercy host)
Boise, ID (Boise State host)
Lexington, KY (Kentucky host)
Wichita, KS (Wichita State host)
Raleigh, NC (NC State host)
Providence, RI (Providence host)
San Jose, CA (West Coast Conference host)

Regionals:

East: Brooklyn
Midwest: Minneapolis
South: Memphis
West: Denver

2022:

First/Second Rounds:

Greenville, SC (Furman & Southern Conference hosts)
Pittsburgh, PA (Duquesne host)
San Diego, CA (San Diego State host)
Buffalo, NY (MAAC host)
Fort Worth, TX (TCU host)
Milwaukee, WI (Marquette host)
Cincinnati, OH (Cincinnati host)
Portland, OR (Oregon State host)

Regionals:

East: Philadelphia
Midwest: Chicago
South: San Antonio
West: San Francisco