NCAA women eyeing one site
San Antonio likely host for 64-team national tourney
Uconn coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t surprised that the NCAA women’s basketball tournament will be played in one geographical area. It just makes the most sense.
The NCAA announced Monday that San Antonio is the likely host site for the 64-team tournament next March. The move was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men’s tournament, which the NCAA said last month will also be played in a single area — most likely Indianapolis.
“If you’re in one place there’s one set of protocols for the entire state. That’s one positive to it,′ said Auriemma, whose team has been to every Final Four since 2008. “Trying to get 64 teams from all over the country to fly to all those places and deal with all the protocols involved everywhere, it made more sense I’m sure to bring in everyone to Texas.”
San Antonio was already the site of the 2021 Final Four. The NCAA has now begun talks with the city on hosting the whole thing and the organization hopes to have plans completed by the end of January. It is likely that the NCAA could play games as far away as Austin because of the need for hotels as well as practice and game venues for 64 teams.
The first two rounds of the women’s tournament have been played on campus sites the past few seasons with the top four seeds in each region hosting. The regionals were slated to be played this season in Albany, New York, Austin, Texas, Cincinnati and Spokane, Washington.
The NCAA expects the tournament to be played in late March and early April as usual, though there is a chance it could be shorter. The tourneys are typically just short of three weeks long.
“I think for the health and safety of the players you’re going to have to take a look at all these things,” Auriemma said of shrinking the timeframe of the tournament.
NCAA senior vice president Lynn Holzman said there are a host of logistics the women’s basketball committee needs to work out. Many teams have already had to pause their seasons because of positive COVID-19 tests. Holzman wouldn’t speculate what the protocols would be if a tournament team has a positive case.
“This is one of the topics both the men’s and women’s committees and any other championship committee will have to have,” she said. “We don’t have an answer for that today.”