Advancing in this year’s March Madness won’t require TCU’s women’s basketball team to travel far.
With their strong season, they could host the first and second round games of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. The Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight are scheduled to play in Dickies Arena, less than three miles away.
This tournament has a chance to be an even more Fort Worth-themed March Madness, though, as with wins in the first and second rounds, women’s basketball could advance to play at Dickies Arena for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. If this worked out, TCU could play all of its March playoff games in Fort Worth.
“We’re excited to bring championship-caliber women’s basketball to Fort Worth, where outstanding teams will compete for the opportunity to advance to the Women’s Final Four,” Lynn Holzman, the NCAA Vice President of Women’s Basketball, said.
Dickies Arena will be a host site for March Madness Regional Round games
(Photo by Alexa Hines)
The first and second round games are scheduled to be played March 20-23 and the regional rounds (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight) will be March 27-30. The dates and bracket are shown on the NCAA’s website.
TCU was supposed to host the games at Dickies, but the team’s winning season sparked worries of a potential conflict.
Teams aren’t allowed to play in games their university is hosting for the regional rounds of the playoffs.
So, when this became a possibility with women’s basketball, “the Big 12 decided to step in and serve as the host alongside the Fort Worth Sports Commission” instead of TCU, said Kyle Neaves, TCU’s senior associate athletic director for strategic communications.
The Horned Frogs have a chance to stay at home, and students could potentially go to the majority of the tournament.