In 2027, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will return to the Steel City. Duquesne and SportsPITTSBURGH will once again host the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds in 2027 at PPG Paints Arena.
“The enthusiasm and interest from around the country to host NCAA championships continues to be a testament to the quality of our events,” said Lynda Tealer, NCAA senior vice president of championships, in a press release. “For this cycle we incorporated more data into the process to help our sport and oversight committees through the evaluation and selection of sites as we had so many quality venues and locations looking to host during these two seasons. We will continue to evaluate and gather feedback on going from the traditional four-year cycle to awarding championship bids for two years to determine the right cadence for the bid process in the future.”
In addition, the NCAA announced that the Division III men’s basketball final four will take place in Pittsburgh in 2027 and 2028. The D-III men’s basketball final four will take place at Duquesne’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in those years.
The event will move from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Pittsburgh.
This year’s event will once again be played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. D3Hoops.com’s Pat Coleman reported that this year’s NCAA D-III championship game between Trine and Hampden-Sydney set an attendance record with 4,546 fans in the crowd.
Duquesne opened the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse — named after Chuck Cooper — in 2021.
“This is truly a transformation and will better position us for success competitively and academically,” Duquesne A.D. Dave Harper said when it opened. “It will be the epicenter of development and growth for our student-athletes. It repositions our brand and our recruiting strategies as well. In addition, campus life, the Uptown area, and the greater Pittsburgh community will benefit from another first-class facility that will host a variety of events and add vibrancy to the area.”
Pittsburgh is home to D3 programs Carlow, Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, and La Roche. Nearby programs include Geneva, Allegheny, Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, and others.
