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The NCAA鈥檚 tournament expansion did not net a return to the Pit.

At least not for now.

The NCAA men鈥檚 basketball selection committee met in San Diego this week and announced on Thursday that Wichita State University will host a second 鈥減reliminary round鈥� set of games 鈥� along with preliminary-round holdover Dayton 鈥� for the 2027 and 2028 tournaments.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 was one of the handful of other cities on the committee鈥檚 short list.

鈥淲hile we are disappointed that The Pit - Powered by Nusenda was not selected as a host of NCAA Men鈥檚 Basketball Open Round Tournament games in 2027 and 2028, we are proud of our world-class venue and its importance to our basketball programs, fans and college basketball in general,鈥� UNM Athletics Director Ryan Berryman sent the Journal in a text message when asked for comment.

鈥淲e received great feedback on the facility and the City of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 during this process. From the beginning of the selection process, it was known that the NCAA had a preference to find a central location in the country in the Central Time Zone. We still pursued the opportunity fervently, anyway.鈥�

The expansion to a second city and arena for what was previously dubbed the "First Four" round of games was necessitated this past year by the expansion of the tournament field from 68 to 76 teams.

UNM has not been host to an NCAA Tournament game since 2012 and college sports' governing body has made clear the six-decade-old facility no longer meets minimum requirements to host games from the Round of 64 on, but the preliminary round of games faced no such hurdles for UNM to clear.

, geography did seem to be at least one major factor in Wichita winning out. 

鈥淗aving a city in Middle America will be advantageous for getting teams from various points around the country, many of which won鈥檛 be known until Selection Sunday, to the Opening Round and subsequently first-round sites,鈥� said Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference and the chair of the Division I Men鈥檚 Basketball Committee.

The University of New Mexico, partnered with Visit sa国际传媒官网网页入口, put a bid in to host the preliminary round and received plenty of support from national sportswriters pushing the venue for its unique setting, passionate fan base and deep rooted tournament history, including one of the most iconic Final Fours and championship game moments of all time in 1983 when NC State coach Jim Valvano ran around the Pit floor looking for someone to hug following his team鈥檚 historic upset of the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars.

The NCAA sent representatives to survey the Pit recently.

The Journal has learned that the facility itself, including oft-assumed roadblocks such as floor dimensions around the court and the lack of a central hanging video board, was not the ultimate deciding factor. Rather, a preference for a Central Time zone location won out.

Berryman told the Journal that the university will submit bids to host future preliminary round games as well as championship events for other sports.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .