Louisville Will Host 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball South Regional
November 17, 2014 | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville will serve as the host institution for the South Regional of the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship to be played March 24 and 26, 2016 at the KFC Yum! Center. The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee today announced the cities that will serve as hosts to first-round, second- and third-round and regional games for the 2016-2018 championships.
It is the first time in which Louisville has served as the site for an NCAA Regional since 1987, when a Rick Pitino coached Providence squad beat Georgetown in the Southeast Regional Championship to move on to the Final Four.
UofL and the KFC Yum! Center will also serve as host for the Second and Third Rounds of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship to be played March 19 and 21, 2015 at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville and the KFC Yum! Center served as the host for similar rounds of the 2012 Men's Basketball Championship as eight teams visited Louisville as one of eight sites for the Second and Third Rounds of the national event. Over 64,500 fans attended the three sessions.
U of L, partnered with the Louisville Arena Authority, the Kentucky State Fair Board, the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau and Greater Louisville Sports Commission hosted the 2012 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship on December 13-15, 2012 in the new 22,000-seat spectacular facility. U of L has also served as host for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds at the KFC Yum! Center in 2013 and the Regionals in 2014.
Thirteen previous NCAA men's basketball championship events have been played in Louisville. U of L served as host for the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Southeast Region in Freedom Hall in 1991. Additional NCAA events that have been staged in Louisville include the 1987 NCAA Southeast Regional, 1983 NCAA Midwest Region First and Second Rounds, the 1960, 1961 and 1976 Midwest Regionals, and six NCAA Final Fours (1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1969). U of L also served as host for 11 conference tournament championships between 1976 and 2003.
The 2016 event was the first NCAA Regional in which Louisville could enter a bid to serve as host in the KFC Yum! Center. The Mid-American Truck Show is often staged in Louisville on conflicting dates with the regional competition, with insufficient hotel rooms available to host both events simultaneously.
Further information on the event, including ticket availability, will be announced at a later date. The complete list of sites is available in the NCAA release here.
