The Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees have each identified seven finalist cities to host the Final Four from 2032 through 2036.
The selections follow the committees’ fall meetings and advance those cities to the next stage of consideration. NCAA staff and committee members will keep evaluating the finalists through meetings, site visits and additional submitted materials. Representatives from each city will present to the committees in July 2027 during summer meetings in Naples, Florida, and the committees will then formally announce the hosts.
The men’s finalists, in alphabetical order, are Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Kansas; Las Vegas; Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans. The women’s finalists are Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix and San Antonio.
Samford Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Martin Newton, who will serve as chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the upcoming season, said the committee was grateful for a record number of cities that expressed interest in hosting the Men’s Final Four. He said it continues to be one of the world’s preeminent sporting events.
“Narrowing it down to seven cities to host during this five-year cycle was challenging for the committee,” Newton said. He said the committee has a blend of experienced host cities and potential newcomers. He said the committee is confident each city will demonstrate that its competition venue, hotels and infrastructure will deliver at the level participating teams have come to expect at the Final Four.
Kansas City, Missouri, holds the record for most championship games hosted, with 10. It staged the Final Four from 1953 to 1955 and in 1957, 1961, 1964 and 1988, and it hosted the title game from 1940 to 1942. Indianapolis will tie that mark in 2029, when it hosts its 10th Final Four, after hosting in 1980, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2026.
New Orleans has been the site of six Men’s Final Fours, in 1982, 1987, 1993, 2003, 2012 and 2022. Houston has hosted four times, in 1971, 2011, 2016 and 2023. Denver hosted the 1990 Final Four, Las Vegas will host in 2028, and Nashville hopes to stage its first Men’s Final Four.
The 2027 Men’s Final Four will be in Detroit. North Texas will host in 2030, and Atlanta will host in 2031.
Liz Darger, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Brigham Young and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, said strong interest in hosting the Women’s Final Four reflects the championship’s stature as one of the premier events in sports. She said the committee is grateful to every city that participated in the bid process.
She said the finalists had demonstrated the infrastructure, competition venues, hotel accommodations and community support needed to deliver an exceptional championship experience. She said the cities also give the committee a chance to assess how each can support the Women’s Final Four’s continued growth, including competition venue options and evolving future needs.
Indianapolis, New Orleans and San Antonio have each hosted the Women’s Final Four three times. Indianapolis hosted in 2005, 2011 and 2016, New Orleans in 1991, 2004 and 2013, and San Antonio in 2002, 2010 and 2021. New Orleans was scheduled to host the event in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic led to its cancellation.
Indianapolis in 2028 and San Antonio in 2029 will each host the women’s championship for a fourth time. Minneapolis, which hosted in 1995 and 2022, is seeking to host for a third time. Phoenix, which hosted in 2026, would serve as host for a second time, while Detroit and Las Vegas would be first-time hosts.
Both committees discussed the possibility of hosting the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours at a single site on the same weekend. While neither committee currently supports pursuing a combined event, they have directed NCAA staff to study the feasibility of such an arrangement for 2037 or beyond. The committees will revisit the concept as the next bid cycle approaches, informed by the findings of that study.