The Twin Cities will host the 2027 NCAA men’s basketball tournament first- and second-round games at Target Center and the 2028 NCAA wrestling championships at U.S. Bank Stadium.
It will be the first time the men’s March Madness tournament will be held at Target Center; Minneapolis most recently hosted the early-round games at the Metrodome in 2009. The 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four was at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The two upcoming tournaments will be hosted by the Gophers and Minnesota Sports and Events, the NCAA said.
“Minneapolis continues to be a top choice for hosting premier sporting events,” Wendy Blackshaw, President and CEO of Minnesota Sports and Events, said in a statement. “After the pandemic upended the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2020, MNSE sought to re-secure the event for Minnesota as soon as possible. We are proud to deliver on that goal, and we look forward to hosting a championship that will be unlike any other.”
The wrestling championship will move from an arena to a stadium in 2028. It will be a reboot of the 2020 tournament that was set for U.S. Bank Stadium before it was canceled due to COVID-19.
Target Center hosted U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials and 2024 Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments earlier this year and the women’s Final Four in 2022.
“Target Center has hosted some of the biggest events in college basketball during the last three years,” Amy Rahja, Target Center’s assistant general manager, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to host the NCAA Men’s Tournament and showcase March Madness in Minnesota.”
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