Top Overall Seed in Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament Will Be Able to Pick First and Second Round Site

NEW YORK (AP) – The NCAA says the top overall seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament will be able to pick its location to play for the first and second round and regional sites.

The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee decided the geographic preferences would be made by teams in contention for the overall No. 1 seed far in advance of Selection Sunday. There is no indication whether the preferences will be guaranteed.

Teams will be able to choose from eight assigned cities for the first and second round.

The eight cities hosting the first- and second-round games in 2017 are Buffalo, Milwaukee, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Tulsa and Sacramento.

The site selection adds an incentive for top teams to push for No. 1 overall beyond starting with presumably the biggest seeding in the 68-team tournament.

In previous years, sites for the round of 64 and 32 have often fed winners into two separate regionals.

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