All 14 March Madness 2023 Tournament Locations, Ranked

What are the 14 different locations for NCAA tournament games during March Madness 2023? We have opinions about each one.

Ranking Tournament Sites for March Madness 2023

Final Four 2022 in New Orleans, a March Madness location

When it comes to sporting events, nothing in the United States holds a candle to the sheer scope and spectacle of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It's a three-week celebration of college hoops that stretches from coast to coast and culminates in the Final Four, which has been played in front of football-sized crowds for the last 30 years.

But not all tournament sites are created equal. In my previous life as a sportswriter working for newspapers and websites, I traveled to games that included eight straight years of covering the NCAA tournament all over the country, from the First Four to the Final Four.

Here's a look at the 14 March Madness locations for 2023, ranked in terms of fan experience as well as my own personal recollections of traveling to some of the places that will host tournament games this year.

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14. NRG Stadium (Houston, Texas)

2023 NCAA tournament: National semifinals and championship

Dates: April 1, April 3

Hosts: University of Houston, Rice University, Houston Christian University, Texas Southern University

Population: 2.3 million

Bottom Line: NRG Stadium

Villanova against North Carolina in 2016 national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston

There is something about Houston that keeps the NCAA tournament coming back. This will be the fourth time the city has hosted the Final Four, dating back to 1971 when UCLA defeated Villanova for the national championship at the Astrodome. The next three times were played at NRG Stadium, although it was called Reliant Stadium the first time it was played there in 2011.

Houston isn't an ideal choice for an NCAA tournament spot because the stadium itself doesn't really have anything around it as far as nightlife and entertainment. And if you're going to the games, there's probably a massive commute involved just to get there. No thanks.

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My Inside Scoop: Houston (2011)

Kansas vs. VCU in San Antonio in Houston

In 2011, I was working at The Wichita Eagle and covering the University of Kansas in the NCAA tournament. I followed them to San Antonio, Texas, for the Southwest Regional finals, where they were a heavy favorite to win it all.

I made the 11-hour drive to San Antonio with our columnist, Bob Lutz. The plan was that we would drive over to Houston for the Final Four once the Jayhawks inevitably rolled through a pair of mid-major teams in Richmond and then VCU, a team that had been in the First Four.

Bob actually had great taste in music and let me listen to exactly one hour of music of my choice on the trip — the new Black Keys album — and I was grateful for that hour. Then, VCU upset Kansas in the Elite Eight, Bob went to Houston to cover the Final Four, and I drove home … 11 hours by myself.

Another distinct memory from this year is Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor throwing a temper tantrum when he realized the KU support staff had failed to cut the crusts off the peanut butter and jelly sandwich left in the players' lockers for an after-practice snack. He essentially shut down and refused to answer questions until a properly manicured sandwich was brought to him.

13. Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, California)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 16, March 18

Hosts: CSU-Sacramento

Population: 2.3 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Golden 1 Center

The thought of spending an extended amount of time in Sacramento fills me with an existential dread that is hard to put into words, but at least the Golden 1 Center is a step up from Arco Arena, which could only be described as being located in the middle of a dirt field.

I'm sure the basketball and hosting will be top-notch inside of the arena, but the destination itself does little for the imagination. There's a dullness to this area that's hard to explain unless you experience it firsthand.

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12. Legacy Arena (Birmingham, Alabama)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 16, March 18

Hosts: Southeastern Conference

Population: 1.1 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Legacy Arena

This is the sixth time that Birmingham's Legacy Arena has hosted the NCAA Tournament, but it's the first time since 2008 and the first time since the arena underwent a major facelift in 2021.

It will also serve as a tuneup for 2025 when Birmingham will be one of four host sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight for the NCAA women's tournament. They've also had experience hosting both the SEC Tournament and the Conference USA Tournament.

That said, there really isn't a whole lot to do in Birmingham. And that's with the city putting considerable resources toward trying to turn the downtown area into a "mixed-use" district, which usually just means adding more places to live and more bars.

Since the SEC is in charge of being the host, you know it's going to be top-notch, but this is football country. You won't have a hard time getting tickets.

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11. MVP Arena (Albany, New York)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 17, March 19

Hosts: Siena, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Population: 98,617

Bottom Line: MVP Arena

Albany is low on this list for the simple fact that any trip to upstate New York (is this considered upstate to New Yorkers?) in the middle of March runs the serious risk of getting stuck in some pretty awful weather.

Props to Albany for even securing an NCAA tournament bid, though, and it will be good for branding to get MVP Arena on national television after a name change in January 2022.

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10. Amway Center (Orlando, Florida)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 16, March 18

Hosts: University of Central Florida

Population: 2.5 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Amway Center

Orlando Magic play Atlanta Hawks at Amway Center

No matter what happens once you get to Orlando – no matter how invested you are in your team's success in the NCAA tournament — it will be impossible to escape the chokehold Disney World has on the town once you finally make it here. For some people, mostly those with small children, it's probably pretty awesome.

Otherwise, it can be a bit of a soul-sucking venture and not really in line with what we think of as a great time at the NCAA tournament. However, I'm not afraid to admit that I wouldn't mind spending an off day at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and drinking some of that blue milk.

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9. Nationwide Arena (Columbus, Ohio)

Iowa vs. Tennessee during 2019 NCAA tournament game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 17, March 19

Hosts: Ohio State University

Population: 2.1 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Nationwide Arena

Nationwide Arena at the 2015 NCAA tournament

I knew Columbus had a huge population when I watched the terrible, soul-sucking film "Ready Player One," but seeing that metro area number rise above the 2 million mark still gets me.

But perhaps an even bigger question on my mind is this: You know what's a fun sporting event to go to in Columbus? Ohio State football games.

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8. Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa)

Iowa State at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 16, March 18

Hosts: Drake

Population: 544,000 (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Wells Fargo Arena

Outside the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is a great sports town and only ends up this low on the list because I lived in the Midwest for a long time, which means I know that if you're there in the middle of March, you run a high chance of getting an icy blast of wind in your face every time you step outside.

We doubt many tournament sites in 2023 will roll out the red carpet for fans like Des Moines will. Just make sure you're wearing an extra layer of clothes when you go.

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7. Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 17, March 19

Hosts: Atlantic Coast Conference

Population: 298,203

Bottom Line: Greensboro Coliseum

Duke-Southern University during a 2006 NCAA tournament game at the Greensboro Coliseum

While Greensboro itself leaves a lot to be desired, please remember that the ACC headquarters are located here, and it has been the location of the ACC tournament 23 times since the late 1960s. So you're getting the very best basketball experience you can get when you walk into this stadium.

If you have any sense of basketball history, the trip to Greensboro will be worth it. And if you're one of the freaks who prefer Carolina barbecue instead of the way it's made everywhere else in the country, you're going to be in foodie heaven. But miss me with that vinegar-based sauce, thank you very much.

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6. KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Kentucky)

2023 NCAA tournament: South Regional semifinals and finals

Dates: March 24, March 26

Hosts: University of Louisville

Population: 1.4 million

Bottom Line: KFC Yum! Center

Louisville basketball game at KFC Yum! Center

Kentucky does more than two things really, really well. But the two we want to focus on right here are basketball and bourbon, which you'll find in abundance when you make it to Louisville for the NCAA tournament.

With a fun, walkable area around the arena, you aren't going to run out of things to do, and the stadium itself, despite its terrible name, is perfect for college basketball.

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My Inside Scoop: Louisville (2016)

Kansas-Villanova in 2016 NCAA tournament

I was covering Kansas again in the South Regional final in the 2016 NCAA tournament — they lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the Elite Eight — and it was a weird year to be there because it was the same year the University of Louisville served a self-imposed postseason ban for NCAA violations.

The thing I remember the most from this tournament isn't really the basketball but the off-the-hook party Woodford Reserve threw for the media at a local bar that made me a fan (and customer) of Woodford for life.

While I can't remember the name of the hotel I stayed at, I do remember the hotel bar had a great view of downtown. Plus, the bar, itself, was a live fish tank, which was pretty wild. Truly an epic trip.

5. University of Dayton Arena (Dayton, Ohio)

2023 NCAA tournament: First Four

Dates: March 14, March 15

Hosts: University of Dayton

Population: 814,049 (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: University of Dayton Arena

Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Prairie View A&M in 2019 First Four game in Dayton

It's only been 12 years since the NCAA tournament created the First Four games in Dayton. And there's already a rich history of great games and great teams coming out of those games, which occur on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the official first- and second-round games start.

Twice, teams have come out of the First Four and made it to the Final Four — VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021.

And let's be real: Dayton is never better than when the First Four comes to town.

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My Inside Scoop: Dayton (2016)

Wichita State's basketball team had one of the all-time runs for a mid-major team in the 2010s — a Final Four in 2013, an undefeated season and No. 1 seed in 2014, a Sweet 16 in 2015 and another NCAA tournament bid in 2016, which included a spot in the First Four in Dayton. For the group of sports writers I was traveling with, that meant one of the more insane travel schedules I'd ever been a part of.

After Wichita State received its NCAA bid on Sunday evening, within an hour we received a travel schedule that had us flying to Dayton early Monday morning to meet the team there for practice, and they played in the 9 p.m. game on Tuesday night — which they won around midnight.

From Dayton, our group flew to Boston the next morning around 6 a.m., rented a car and drove to the next site in Providence, Rhode Island, where Wichitat State won its first game against Arizona in a game that became famous for one coach's sweat-soaked shirt before they lost to Miami in the next round.

From there, we flew back to Wichita, Kansas, and two days later drove to Louisville to cover Kansas in the South Regional semifinals and finals. Makes me want to take a nap just thinking of it.

4. T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)

2023 NCAA tournament: West Regional semifinals and finals

Dates: March 23, March 25

Hosts: UNLV

Population: 2.8 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: T-Mobile Arena

Basketball game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Your luck is already starting to turn if your team gets pointed toward Las Vegas for the West Regional semifinals and finals in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

This is me at my most basic, but you can really curate any kind of NCAA tournament experience you want in Vegas. Want to go all-in and take your two off days posting up and watching games in a sportsbook and stack your cash? Go for it.

Want to turn it into a family trip and find something cool for the kids to do? You got this.

The only thing that will be hurting here is your pocketbook if you go too crazy, but flights are usually cheap, and you can find some affordable hotels, so you have that going for you.

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3. T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Missouri)

2023 NCAA tournament: Midwest Regional semifinals and finals

Dates: March 24, March 26

Hosts: Big 12 Conference

Population: 2.3 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: T-Mobile Center

Outside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City

You won't find anywhere in the country where the basketball fans are more tuned in and the tension is more ratcheted up than at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Can you imagine a possible Kansas-Kansas State game with a spot in the Final Four on the line?

The entire Big 12 marshaling its resources to host this locale makes it a first-class event. And you cannot beat walking directly out the doors of the arena and into Kansas City's sprawling, Power & Light District, which is filled with bars and restaurants and even has an area in the middle where they host concerts.

It's just an awesome time all around.

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My Inside Scoop: Kansas City (2013)

I covered Kansas and Kansas State in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament in Kansas City in 2013, and my two major memories from that year are:

Ole Miss star Marshall Henderson led his team to a win over Wisconsin to make the Sweet 16, and at the news conference after the game, he declared he wanted to go party in the Power & Light District. Fifteen minutes later, pictures of Henderson partying and drinking in the P&L District began popping up on social media. The group of us in the press room watched Ole Miss officials leave in a dead sprint to go pull him out of the bars in real time. Henderson really was a man of his word.
A steady snow was falling one day as my colleagues and I were walking over to the stadium from the hotel, and one of them started a snowball fight. I packed and threw exactly one snowball, which smoked the guy who started the snowball fight directly in the head from about 20 to 30 yards and almost took him off his feet. I consider it the greatest throw of my lifetime. I still think about it to this day whenever I see snow start to fall, which isn't very often because I've lived in Florida for almost six years.

2. Madison Square Garden (New York, New York)

2023 NCAA tournament: East Regional semifinals and finals

Dates: March 23, March 25

Hosts: St. John's University, Big East Conference

Population: 8.4 million

Bottom Line: Madison Square Garden

Wisconsin players practicing at Madison Square Garden in 2017

It's going to be a double check mark on the sports-fan bucket list when you make it to Madison Square Garden (MSG) for the NCAA tournament, and it's safe to say there's plenty to do before and after the games. With seating at just a shade under 20,000 for basketball games, you'll feel like you're watching with a group of your closest friends, and you'll probably catch a couple of celebrities courtside as well.

One thing to note: Beware of the absolute genius-level scalpers who seem to take up every inch of space around MSG and will convince you, despite all better judgment and advice, that you are getting the deal of a lifetime on some fake tickets. Either buy online or buy from the ticket booth. Accept no substitute.

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My Inside Scoop: New York (2017)

Exactly once in my life has an actual arena brought me to tears, and it was Madison Square Garden. It was before the East Regional of the 2017 NCAA tournament at MSG, and I was covering Baylor.

I flew in the night before the game and was waiting at the media entrance to MSG when the doors opened — three hours before any teams began to practice — and I walked directly to the middle of the floor and let it wash over me. For some reason, the thing I thought of when I was standing there wasn't basketball, despite all the amazing games I'd watched on TV there.

The thing that popped into my mind? I was standing right where the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight — The Fight of the Century — took place in 1971. Cue the waterworks.

1. Ball Arena (Denver, Colorado)

2023 NCAA tournament: First and second rounds

Dates: March 17, March 19

Hosts: Mountain West Conference

Population: 2.8 million (metropolitan area)

Bottom Line: Ball Arena (Denver, Colorado)

2016 NCAA tournament game at the Pepsi Center, now named Ball Arena

We cannot think of a better place to spend two or three days watching basketball than Denver, which has hosted NCAA tournament games before in 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2016.

You're surrounded by the mountains and in the middle of a thriving, vibrant downtown with everything you could want at your fingertips.

It's hard to explain why Denver is cool. It just is. And with that first round of games on St. Patrick's Day ... stay hydrated, my friends.

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