PITTSBURGH - Duquesne University has been chosen to host NCAA Men's Basketball Championship First and Second Round games in 2024 it was announced today by the NCAA. The announcement, which marks the seventh time DU will serve as a First and Second Round host, came as part of the NCAA's unveiling of championship sites for the 2022-23 through 2025-26 bid cycle.
Duquesne and SportsPITTSBURGH were also selected to host NCAA Women's Bowling Regionals in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 at AMF Lanes Mt. Lebanon, Pa. In addition, the new UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse will serve as the venue for the 2022 Division III Women's Volleyball Championship (hosted by St. Vincent), the 2025 Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight and inaugural Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Festival in 2026 (both hosted by Clarion).
"Duquesne Athletics is proud and honored to once again serve as a host for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship," said Duquesne Director of Athletics
Dave Harper. "This would not be possible without the strong partnership between VisitPITTSBURGH and SportsPITTSBURGH and PPG Paints Arena. We are truly blessed to work with all the entities involved.
"Hosting multiple bowling regionals will provide another chance to showcase the Pittsburgh region," continued Harper. "The opportunity to welcome the Division III Women's Volleyball Championship and Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Championship events to our UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse will enable the University to showcase this new facility on a national level. We are extremely proud to host multiple championships for the NCAA."
The basketball announcement will mark the fifth time in 13 years that PPG Paints Arena will serve as a host venue and seventh time the City of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University have been chosen to host the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Duquesne hosted the NCAA Men's First/Second Round in 1997, 2002 & 2018 the re-named Second/Third Round in 2012 & 2015 and will host First/Second Round games again in March of 2022. DU also hosted the NCAA Women's East Regional at Mellon Arena in 2001.
"This is a testament to our team and partners who have an unwavering sense of excellence and commitment to delivering the best championship experience possible for the student-athletes, coaches, and fans that will come to Pittsburgh for March Madness," said Harper.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS AWARDED TO DUQUESNE
2024 Division I Men's Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds
2023, 2024, 2025 & 2026 Women's Bowling Regionals
VENUE EVENTS AWARDED - ALL AT UPMC COOPER FIELDHOUSE
2022 D-III Women's VB (St. Vincent host)
2025 D-II Women's Basketball Elite Eight (Clarion host)
2026 D-II Women's Basketball Elite Eight (Clarion host)
2026 inaugural D-II Men's and Women's Basketball Festival (Clarion host)
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS PREVIOUSLY HOSTED BY/AWARDED TO DUQUESNE
Men's Basketball Championship First & Second Rounds
1997 & 2002 (Mellon Arena); 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2022 (March 18 & 20) (at PPG Paints Arena)
Women's Basketball Championship Regional
2001 (Mellon Arena)
Women's Volleyball Championship
2019 (PPG Paints Arena)
DUQUESNE AS AN ON-CAMPUS VENUE HOST
2018 Division III Women's Volleyball Championship (A.J. Palumbo Center)
2018 Division II Fall Festival Women's Field Hockey Championship (Rooney Field)
2018 Division II Fall Festival Women's Volleyball Championship (A.J. Palumbo Center)
2022 (March 18-19) Division III Women's Basketball Championship (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse)
DUQUESNE AS NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL HOST HIGHLIGHTS
1997 - The 1997 First/Second Round games - which marked the first NCAA tournament games played in Pittsburgh - sent Louisville and Texas to the Sweet 16. The six tournament games, including 15th-seeded Coppin State's 78-65 first round upset of No. 2 South Carolina and two second round games that were decided by one point each, were played before sellout crowds at the then-Civic Arena.
2002 - Pittsburgh was the second opening round site to sell out in 2002, which was the first year the NCAA adopted its "pod" system. The hometown University of Pittsburgh and UCLA both advanced to the Sweet 16 from the newly renamed Mellon Arena. UCLA's memorable 105-101 double-overtime win over No. 1 seed Cincinnati in the second round was the highest-scoring game of the 2002 Championship.
2012 - The 2012 event - the first at the then-CONSOL Energy Center - drew 56,928 fans for the three tournament sessions (six total games) as Ohio State and Syracuse moved on to regional play from the eight-team field. The opening day second session crowd of 19,413 was the largest for any indoor arena event in Pittsburgh history.
2015 - In 2015, North Carolina State and Notre Dame emerged from a Pittsburgh site that also included Butler, Lafayette, LSU, Northeastern, Texas and Villanova. Five of the eight games were single-digit affairs including a one-point NC State win over LSU, a three-point Notre Dame overtime victory over Butler and NC State's three-point upset win over No. 1 seed Villanova.
2018 - National Champion Villanova emerged from a star-studded field that included five of the first 10 picks of the June NBA Draft in Marvin Bagley, Duke (2nd), Trae Young, Oklahoma (5th), Wendell Carter, Duke (7th), Collin Sexton, Alabama (8th) and Mikal Bridges, Villanova (10th). In all, eight first round picks were on hand from the eight-team group that also included Rhode Island, Virginia Tech, Iona and Radford.
