2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments To Be Held in One State
The NCAA announced Monday morning that the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournaments will be played in Indiana. Every. Single. Game. A total of 67 Division I tournament games will be played in Indiana, with 68 total teams, as the NCAA tries to avoid a repeat of 2020 when the entire tournament was canceled.
According to ESPN, the tourney games will be played at three locations in Indianapolis, along with some games being hosted in Bloomington and West Lafayette, in the home arenas of the Indiana Hoosiers (Assembly Hall) and Purdue Boilermakers (Mackey Arena). In Indiana's capital city of Indianapolis, games will be played inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum (home of IUPUI--Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), Hinkle Fieldhouse (home of the Butler Bulldogs), and Bankers Life Fieldhouse (home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers).
ESPN says teams will stay on "dedicated hotel floors," all in hotels that are adjacent to the Indiana Convention Center, where teams will hold practices. An Indianapolis health partner will handle COVID-19 testing of everyone from players to coaches to game officials.
Eric Holcomb, Indiana's Governor, announced Monday morning that Evansville, Indiana will host the Division II men's tournament, while the Division III men's tourney will be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The first month-plus of the Iowa men's basketball season has confirmed what we thought we knew. The Hawkeyes have a very talented team in a Big Ten Conference that's deep. Real deep. After just a few weeks of conference play, only Michigan remains undefeated in the Big Ten, at 4-0. Iowa is currently 3-1 in conference play. That's good for third place behind 4-1 Illinois.
This week, the Hawkeyes visit Maryland (Thursday, January 7 at 6 p.m. on ESPN 2) and host Minnesota (Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network).
It's going to be an exciting couple of months ahead of Selection Sunday on March 14. I just hope my heart can take it...